Rees Hughes - Crossing Paths: A Pacific Crest Trailside Reader

CROSSING PATHS

CROSSING PATHS

A Pacific Crest Trailside Reader

Edited by Rees Hughes and Howard Shapiro

Illustrations by Amy Uyeki

MOUNTAINEERS BOOKS is dedicated to the exploration, preservation, and enjoyment of outdoor and wilderness areas.

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Copyright 2022 by Rees Hughes and Howard Shapiro

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Copyeditor: Chris Dodge

Design and layout: Heidi Smets

Cartographer: Martha Bostwick

Cover art and illustrations by Amy Uyeki

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication data is on file for this title at https://lccn.loc.gov/2021050090 and ebook record is available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2021050091.

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Printed on recycled paper

ISBN (paperback): 978-1-68051-570-1

ISBN (ebook): 978-1-68051-571-8

To Jim Salt Lick Peacock, who for forty years has been as integral a part of my PCT experience as the trail itself. His willingness to continue to share our grand adventure despite living 3,000 miles away is a demonstration of friendship that very few would be willing to make. Thank you, brother.

Rees Hughes

I would like to dedicate my small part of this book to my wife, Kathy, whose unwavering support makes all the difference in the world. From the very first spark of intention to develop this collection, she intimately understood the draw these stories and project had on me. Her many years of urging me on to complete the trail and her consistent encouragement to make this book a reality have been priceless gifts. I am, and will always be, eternally grateful for her love.

Howard Shapiro

When I was hired to lead the Pacific Crest Trail Association (PCTA) in 2001, I had no idea where the job would take me or whether it would last. The organization was small back then. I was one of three employees, and I shared a phone line in our small office with a fax machine and a credit card reader. Weve certainly come a long way.

Even as I reflect on that modest beginning, Im not surprised to be in my twentieth year leading the organization. Ive walked much of the trail and have come to know it intimately, so Im not surprised that its kept my interest or that I still enjoy getting out there. I still feel like there are so many places to see, people to meet, and much to learn.

Knowing the people who care for the trailvolunteers, government employees, donors, trail lovers, and our dedicated PCTA staffIm not surprised by how much energy I get from the work we do together. Theres so much passion behind this effort. Thats why the last two decades often seem like a blur.

What do surprise me continually are the stories. This amazing trail that winds through three states, across sparse deserts, through dense forests, and up and down rugged mountains intersects with us in many different ways. The trail is certainly about place, but its about us, the people who love and use the trail, even more. Its about our times in those places and what they mean to us. We find solace or build bonds of love and friendship. We discover humility, our physical limits, and whats most important to us. We connect with nature in meaningful ways. We rise above our troubles and differences and discover what matters most.

Each of us who has experienced the Pacific Crest Trail (PCT) or has a passion for the outdoors is a part of this ongoing story. The tales unfold season after season and generation after generation. Were all on the same path, traveling separately and together at the same time. We are writing our individual stories and building on the collective. The PCT connects us all.

Ten years after the original publication of the two volumes of The Pacific Crest Trailside Reader, this new anthology incorporates dozens of stories, many collected over the last decade and many written for this edition. A look at the long list of stories reminds me of how special our vast and diverse community is, how it continues to grow and change, and how it is shaping the trail and its future.

There are stories about place and about the trail community and the relationships forged along the path. There are stories about the wildlife one encounters, about the unselfish gifts of trail angels and the simple hard work of climbing a mountain pass or fording a rapidly running stream. The book includes the sad account of an accidental death of a young hiker, stories about the reality of the trail experience for Black and Indigenous people and other people of color, and stories about the increasing effect wildfires and our changing climate are having on the trail experience.

Love. Happiness. Humor. Hardship. Daring. Fear. Racism. Rescue. Music. Passion. Peace. They are all here, in these pages, in deeply personal accounts. Thats what the trail is really about. Life and death. Especially life.

On it goes, inexplicably, twisting along a dirt path. Each of us intersects the trail in our own way. The trails amazing power to connect us is inspiring. It breaks us down to the essentials and helps us see that were all the same at heart as we celebrate the wild places, the intense experiences, and our glorious differencescreating stories for the ages that will never end.

Liz Bergeron, executive director,
Pacific Crest Trail Association

In late 2011, Mountaineers Books published two anthologies, The Pacific Crest Trailside Reader: California and The Pacific Crest Trailside Reader: Oregon and Washington. About half of the nearly one hundred stories included in those books were written by hiker-writers regarding their contemporary PCT experience. The remainder were split between classic environmental literature (by authors such as Wallace Stegner, Barry Lopez, and Gary Snyder) and historical accounts about the area traversed by the PCT (such as Winter on Donner Pass, The Battle of Castle Crags, and Triumph and Tragedy at Stevens Pass). Since those books were published, we have managed a companion websitepcttrailsidereader.comwhere hundreds of additional stories, poems, photos, art, commentary, and trail news have been posted.