Note: This is the first part of our trail maintenance highlights series, featuring Southern California and the High Sierra. Stay tuned for part 2 covering the Oregon Cascades and the North Cascades.  SoCal crew in collaboration with the American Hiking Society, Angeles National Forest, PCTA staff, and the PCTA’s longtime Trail Gorillas volunteer group. Each year, the Pacific Crest Trail Association facilitates a wide variety of trail maintenance projects on the Pacific Crest Trail. Projects range from general annual maintenance – like brush and blowdown clearing and tread work – to reco ..read more

The PCT is above 13,000 feet only at Forester Pass for about a half-mile. It’s above 12,000 feet at Forester, Mather, and Pinchot passes in the High Sierra, accounting for about 4.3 miles of PCT. The trail is above 8,000 feet for 435 miles. Research from Colorado shows that 25% of visitors sleeping at elevations above 8,000 feet are affected by acute mountain sickness. We write to raise awareness about the risk of altitude illness on the PCT. We write in memory of Maddie Magee, a thru-hiker who died of high-altitude pulmonary edema on Forester Pass in 2022. Altitude illness is divided into 3 s ..read more

Introducing… Lindsay Miller “Upbeat”. Mid-shot of Lindsay Miller on the Pacific Crest Trail. Photo by Kevin Scott Lindsay is a Ph.D. student in the Department of Communication at the University of California, Santa Barbara. During the 2022 hiking season, she set out to create the PCT Class of 2022 Research on Environmental Support and Trends (CREST) Project. She and her research team conducted interviews and online survey data with PCT hikers to learn about their experiences with wildfires, beliefs and attitudes about climate change and wildfire, pro-environmental behaviors, and so forth. Th ..read more

Easy, 2,650 Miles, right? Well… not quite. The question of the PCT’s length comes up often, with guidebooks, phone apps, and other sources across the internet offering varying figures. In recent years, PCTA has come a long way in better tracking and calculating distance. While we regularly reference the rounded figure of 2,650 miles as shorthand for the trail’s length, our current best estimate places it at approximately 2655.8 miles. It’s complicated because the length actually varies year by year, and homing in on highly accurate mileage for a trail that spans thousands of miles can pose sig ..read more

Taken on Sept. 27, 2023, of Washington state legislators and staff touring the bridge Oregon lawmakers allocated $6 million to support engineering studies focused on preservation and seismic resiliency for the Bridge of the Gods, the official route of the Pacific Crest Trail across the Columbia River between Oregon and Washington. The March 7 vote is a significant step toward safeguarding the iconic, nearly 100-year-old bridge in the heart of the Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area. The PCT is the first step in a long process that we hope will result in constructing an additional trave ..read more

Anna Dearybury was born and raised in South Carolina, where she grew up enjoying nature walks with her family. However, for the majority of her adult life, she has called the West Coast home. She loves the West for how it invites adventure and embraces wanderers. It is only natural she would want to experience it on foot. Anna’s Pacific Crest Trail hike in 2023 was a personal love letter to a place that has given her so much. The PCT created space to reflect on the life she wants to live and the relationships she values. She is filled with gratitude for the PCT and the people who make it possi ..read more

This blog post is part two of a two part series featuring the reflections of PCT volunteer Brian Wagenaar. Check out part one in this post from February, 2024. ACE visits The Notch The crew works with Thomas Calvery to clear a rock from the trail in the beautiful high alpine setting. Our second backcountry hitch took us up to The Notch, a beautiful section of trail that is dotted with alpine lakes and, apparently, is also quite prone to high winds. Joined by Calvery, our project manager, PCT legend Tyler Lau, and a team of AmeriCorps members selected to aid our pack-in before heading off t ..read more

Photo provided by Darn Tough Vermont By Darn Tough Vermont A note from PCTA Staff: this post is part of a blog exchange with Darn Tough Vermont. Check out their blog to see an upcoming article about volunteering on the PCT.  “Cotton kills” – since you’re here reading this, high likelihood that you’ve heard this mantra. Maybe even shared it as a sage piece of outdoor wisdom. We’re not here to repeat the lessons your troop leader or mountain guru friend taught you about the dangers of cotton when you’re breaking a sweat in the wild. Instead, we’re here to offer an update: Cotton kills ..read more

Note: this is the first part of reflections from PCT Volunteer Brian Wagenaar. Stay tuned for part two in March! Photo: Clare Major I am tremendously lucky. Over the last six years, I’ve spent much of my time engaged in conservation, crisscrossing the country to find myself in  beautiful, diverse places, working outside alongside many amazing young people. But when I showed up for my first day of orientation at American Conservation Experience’s (ACE) Sacramento office this last August and was asked if I could lead four backcountry hitches in September and October, my excitement to get ..read more

Left to right: PCTA Board Chair Kevin Bacon, PCTA Board Member Ashley Martinez, PCTA CEO Megan Wargo, PCTA Director of Advocacy Mark Larabee Hike the Hill 2024: Taking our message to Congress  The Pacific Crest Trail Association’s most public face comes in the form of the incredible efforts volunteers make to maintain the trail. Crew members from all walks of life and communities coming together to do back-breaking work in scenic landscapes epitomize public service. They inspire us all to help sustain the effort to provide one of the greatest and most scenic long-distance adventures in ..read more