Pacific Crest Trailside Reader

PCTTrailsideReader.com is an extension of the PCT anthologies, and a place for PCT stories and images from the long-distance trail to be shared and expanded upon....

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This post is a part of our series on Oregon mountains touched by the PCT.

The PCT skirts the east and north side of Mount McLoughlin, 9,493′, as it passes through the notoriously mosquito-infested Sky Lakes Wilderness area.  Similar to Mt. Jefferson, the conical Mt. McLoughlin looks like the classic volcano as serves as a prominent landmark for the Rogue River Valley. The 6-mile long non-technical summit trail crosses the PCT before climbing 4,000′ to the view-filled top.

Mt. McLoughlin is a steep-sided stratovolcano, or composite volcano, although the most recent eruptive period took place more than 20,000 years ago. Although the mountain’s initial English name was Mt. Pitt to local residents, it came to be referred to by other names including Mt. John Quincy Adams, Mt. Clear View, Snowy Butte, Mt. McLoughlin, and Mt. Madison, also appearing in maps as Mount Pitt, Mount Simpson, and Mount Jackson. It was officially renamed in 1905 by the Oregon Legislative Assembly after John McLoughlin, the Chief Buyer or ‘Factor’ for the Hudson’s Bay Company.

Of course, McLoughlin's prominence has made it a landmark to Native American populations for thousands of years. The Takelmapeople referred to it as "Mal-sr" or "Alwilamchaldis", one of their mythical heroes, and they considered it the home of Tasuune, or the "Acorn Woman", a being that helped their acorns grow every year. In the culture of the Shasta people, McLoughlin was known as "Makayax"; the Klamath people named the volcano "Walum" and "Kesh yainatat", meaning the home of the "dwarf old woman" that controlled the west wind. McLoughlin was called "Melaiksi" by the Modoc people.

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A Fork in the Trail

Here we are approaching a fork in the trail. Rees and I have been actively hiking together since 1980. Beyond hiking our friendship has endured across great distances bringing us back, always back, for another experience and adventure. These experiences and adventures have often included our families and friends. Rees and I completed the PCT separately but most of it together along with our long time hiking partner Jim Peacock. To say our PCT experiences have been life changing is an understatement. As section hikers over the many years we spent hiking the PCT our trail confidence, insights, and friendship have only deepened. Ultimately leading to a series of three books of PCT stories and this website.

Rees began the Pacific Crest Trailside Reader website after publishing the first two volumes of stories devoted to the PCT in 2011. His intent was to keep the spirit of those stories and books alive by posting additional stories and pictures frequently on the Pacific Crest Trailside Reader website. I was an occasional contributor in those early days and later joined as a co-editor in 2017. Since then Rees and I have co-edited and published another volume of hiker/writer stories that Mountaineers Press put out in 2022 entitled ‘Crossing Paths’. For Rees and myself these efforts have represented a labor of love for the PCT. We have continued to find and write stories about the PCT for over a decade. All proceeds from the sale of the books has gone to the Pacific Crest Trail Association, something we are quite proud of.

With some sadness we have come to a point where we have decided to make some changes in how often we post stories. The sadness is derived in how much we have enjoyed the journey maintaining the website. Keeping the website going also comes with a lot of responsibility. Like any commitment we have assumed that our readers/followers look for the next post so we have strived to continue to find and write stories/pictures reflecting the trail and the people who are on it, maintain it, while sharing our own affection for it.

Sharing stories and pictures from others has truly been a highlight over the years. In addition it has been a positive growth experience as we have honed our writing skills and shaped stories that we believed others would enjoy and relate to. The sadness lies in the fact that by posting less often we risk losing our followers and ultimately any continued interest in the Pacific Crest Trailside Reader books and website.

Like any good trail experience there are surprises and challenges. We have often been surprised by the enthusiasm of our followers and challenged by seeking, finding , and writing posts that are meaningful and relatable. We have written and posted the stories of others around such topics as fire, climate change, along with the trials and tribulations of trail life. We have also written with humor relating stories that brought smiles to our faces and we hoped yours.

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Ending an Era

The Pacific Crest Trail has been an important part of my life since I first learned about the PCT in 1979 when I read Eric Ryback’s account of his early thru-hike.  In the summer of 1981, I arranged to take a month-long leave from work and, along with Howard Shapiro and Jim Peacock, walked the Washington PCT.  This experience solidified a life-long relationship with both ‘Rocky’ and ‘Pierre’ and a commitment to complete the trail.  This history and deep friendship is the subject of “Breaking the PCT Speed Record” that I included in Crossing Paths: A Pacific Crest Trailside Reader.

For years I worked to balance my career and family commitments with my goal of finishing the trail.  It meant that there were often significant gaps in my time on the trail until I retired in 2008.  But, I was always thinking about the PCT.

During our section hikes, we each would take a book often with some connection with the PCT and the environment.  A couple of years before my retirement, it became clear to me that the pantheon of PCT literature was dominated by the accounts of thru-hikers.  Missing were anthologies that brought together classic environmental literature, historical accounts related to the PCT and its antecedents, and stories reflecting the diversity of trail experiences.  The idea of curating such an anthology was a vision that Corey Lewis, a colleague at Humboldt State University, and I came to share.  Corey, a member of the English faculty who specialized in environmental literature and had authored Reading the Trail: Exploring the Literature and Natural History of the California Crest, knew far more than I about this literature.  I had a more current connection with the hiker community and, upon retirement, had more time to contribute.

We initially focused on the trail in California and prepared a proposal that we sent to several publishers.  We were delighted to receive an offer from The Mountaineers Books but on the condition that we would release the California volume and the Oregon/Washington volume at the same time.  We accelerated our efforts and by fall, 2011, The Pacific Crest Trailside Reader: California and The Pacific Crest Trailside Reader: Oregon/Washington were available (and remain in print).

With the increasing ease of hikers authoring on-line blogs and websites, trail journals, and the growth of the PCTA, we became aware of just how many hikers and trail angels and those who loved the trail had stories to tell.  Concurrent with the release of the books, I began www.pcttrailsidereader.com.   I would search the internet for photos and stories from the trail and ask to post them on the website.  When out on the PCT, I would encourage people to contribute to the website.

In 2017, my friend and hiking partner, Howard Shapiro agreed to join me as co-editor of this website.  He provided an infusion of energy for the website and, with his enthusiasm, we again proposed another anthology to The Mountaineers Books that would focus exclusively on the stories of hiker/writers in the period since the Trailside Readers had been published.  In early 2022, Crossing Paths: A Pacific Crest Trailside Reader was released.

By this time both Howard and I had finished the trail.  Since, we have tried our hand at other adventures with our third, Jim Peacock – the Long Trail in Vermont, the Colorado Trail, and soon the Boundary Waters in northern Minnesota.  We have tried our hands, with our spouses, on trails in England, Spain, Portugal, Australia, Nepal, and elsewhere.  And now, there have been some 2,000 posts on the website.

We’re both over 70 and finding that we are increasingly disconnected with the people and events on the PCT.  I find that I don’t have the interest in doing what needs to be done to drive readership to the website . . . pushing content to new social media platforms.  Although there continue to be important PCT stories to be told and trends to observe, I hope that there will be a new generation of passionate hikers prepared to collect those stories.

We have had a great run over the past 13 years.  We still love the PCT and consider walking it one of the great American experiences.  It deserves to be protected for generations to come.  Efforts like ours help to build public awareness about the PCT and a broad recognition that it is worth preserving.  We hope that others will step forward to fill any void that we might leave.

I end by acknowledging that we may still periodically post but it will be sporadic.  The PCT is part of our DNA.  It has been a thread that has connected my youth with my old age, my career and family.  My experiences on the trail had helped to build my character and my values and a number of lifelong friendships.  Thank you.

With much gratitude,

Rees Hughes

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Oh Yes!?...Oh No!?

I can recall two among many images walking the Pacific Crest Trail. One of those is the vast clearcut landscape near Snoqualmie Pass back in 1981 and walking through miles and miles of burnt out forests in California in 2018 and 2019. Seeing these impacts in person have never left me. In the middle of that range of years the Forest Service put into place the Northwest Forest Plan. The plan was enacted in 1994 and included 24 million acres across federal land. The intent was to preserve mature and old-growth forests and protect species, including the marbled murrelet, salmon and the northern spotted owl.

The Biden administration has begun a process to update the plan. This update would address changes that include the loss of nearly 7% of protected old-growth forest within the plan area because of wildfire. The loss has eliminated gains of old growth that were achieved during the first 25 years of the plan.

Existing Northwest Forest Plan area

The Forest Service wants to issue a final environmental impact statement (EIS) on the proposed amendments in 2025, under the imminent Trump administration. What the impact of that will be are not totally clear.

Wildfire in old growth forests is sure to increase due to climate change and a long history of fire suppression that has added to forest density and fuels throughout the plan area. The plan area impacts forests from the Canadian border south to just north of San Francisco...encompassing large parts of the PCT.

The public has until March 17 to comment on the Forest Services draft EIS on proposed amendments. Some potential positives in the draft amendments include long overdue tribal co-stewardship in implementing managment practices, along with other reforms to enhance the relationship between tribes and the national forests on their ancestral lands. Tribes were not consulted back in 1994 when the original NW Forest Plan was put into place.

The proposed changes would also greatly increase logging, burning and thinning within the national forests in the plan areas. For the past three decades trees 80-120 years old in national forests west of the Cascades within the plan area, including Olympic (not along the PCT), Mount Baker-Snoqualmie and Gifford Pinchot national forests have been off limits to logging. Under the proposed changes these areas would be open to logging for restoration and economic benefits to rural communities.

Within this expansive area are trees that are nearly 200 years old. These giants could also be logged for the purpose of ecological restoration. Trees older than 200 years would be off limits to logging in most circumstances.

Forests east of the Cascades in the plan area would also be open for burning, mechanical thinning and cutting for both restoration and to provide jobs for timber workers and mills. The volunteer federal advisory committee that included scientists, tribes, and academics had a goal in mind when they drafted the amendments. The amendments east and west of the Cascades are meant to create more economic opportunity for rural communities while making forests more resilient to increased fires frequency and severity of those fires.

Whether or not economics, fire/forest management are the key drivers in the proposed amendments is open to discussion. We know that fire is natural in forests. The goal of the amendment appears to also bring fire back where it has been suppressed and to tame risk by removing fuel where forest have gotten too dense. Differentiating between moist and dry forest types and young and old forests, with more logging recommended in younger and drier forests.

Ryan Talbot, Pacific Northwest conservation advocate for Wild Earth Guardians, suggests that fire is being used to justify more cutting. He says, "Fire is kind of being used a means to do more logging with a lot of code words like restoration and resiliency." Public meetings on the plan amendments outlined in the draft EIS begin in January. The Forest Service has published a calendar of meeting times and locations, links to webinars, tips on how to comment and a draft EIS (DEIS) document library in its most recent newsletter about the plan amendment.

Your thoughts and feelings about the amendment are important. If you have walked anywhere in the west, including the PCT, you have witnessed the effects of logging and fire. With each hiking season on the PCT being more and more impacted by climate change and subsequent fires is reason enough to weigh in on the DEIS. We hope you will consider adding your voice. The images of vast clearcuts and greyed out acre upon acre of burnt forest land has never left my memory. For the short time we are here on the planet maybe we can influence the life of forests along the PCT long after we have hiked our last mile and taken our final breath leaving a thriving landscape for those coming behind us.

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Winter scenes along the PCT include Benjamin Newkirk's wonderful photo of fresh snow at Rae Lakes. It is a perfect photo to remind us that the cycle is starting again . . . as the winter rejuvenates the Sierra with life sustaining precipitation that will help the plants and animals (including backpackers) of the high country get through the dry days of the summer and fall some six months from now.

Happy New Year . . .

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Dark Skies and the PCT

I recently re-read Paul Bogard's contribution to The Pacific Crest Trailside Reader: Oregon/Washington. Bogard's piece "Night Rise on the Pacific Crest Trail" captures the magic of dark skies and the radiance that emerges. "for me," he beings, "the best sections of the Pacific Crest Trail are those that travel through the dark." He notes that it is estimated that 90% of North Americans and western Europeans live in places polluted by light. Two-thirds of Americans no longer experience real darkness EVER and most children born today will never see the Milky Way.

Photo credit: Nok Yan Joshua Leung

Of the many wild and rare experiences to be had along the PCT, the true experience of earthly night must be included among them as well as the natural rhythms of our planet . . . from the rise of the sun and the coming of dusk to the blackness of night.

It is a wonderful essay and well worth remembering as we 'endure' these longest nights of the year.

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Larry Olson's amazing photo of Herman Creek reminded me that another very viable winter hike on the PCT is the area near Cascade Locks and the Columbia River Gorge. The low elevation of these trails minimizes the risk of snow (the nearby Bridge of the Gods is the lowest point on the entire PCT at about 180 feet above sea level). The Eagle Creek PCT alternative as well as the main PCT route dropping down along Herman Creek into the Gorge look their most lush and verdant thanks to winter rain.

Of course, one must be prepared for rain and a day hike make be a more attractive option. I like ending these days with a hot shower (or hot tub) and a warm bed. It is unlikely you will encounter others.

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Another reasonable winter walk along the PCT is from the southern border to Lake Morena and on to Boulder Oaks Campground. If the weather permits, one can continue to Mt. Laguna although at over 5,700 feet one needs to be prepared. ( We included in Crossing Paths Phillipe Gouvet's story of disorientation and frostbite on a spring day climbing the PCT to Mt. Laguna . . . so be forewarned. But check out "Une Promenade de Sante".)

Boulder Oaks is a several day walk from the border and generally four days to Mt. Laguna. Should you hit a particularly long period of pleasant weather, consider pushing ahead all of the way to Warner Springs.

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The high desert can make for excellent winter walking. However, depending upon the weather, it can be as cold and wintry as anywhere on the PCT. We included "Winter Hiking in the Tehachapis" by Karen 'Whisper' Friedrichs in Crossing Paths. In her end of December walk, she experienced the beauty and isolation of winter hiking in the desert but also the cold, short days. Of course, she wisely delayed the start of her walk to allow a storm to blow through, she took appropriate cold weather gear, and did make the trip with a companion.

Gone are the crowds of April and May . . . as a result she encountered a herd of feral horses and a very different PCT experience.

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Winter on the PCT . . . there are a number of segments of the trail that are best walked in the winter months. I thought that I would highlight several of these sections. The first that comes to mind is the Whitewater and Mission Creeks area with the caveat that this section of trail was seriously damaged by Hurricane Hilary in 2023. Reports indicated that miles 235 - 238 in the upper segment of Mission Creek are the most impacted still . . . but there are plenty of other PCT miles in the Sand to Snow National Monument particularly in the area of Whitewater Preserve.

We have talked about the Preserve in the past and, if you are not aware of it . . . please read this profile.

I have been so very impressed with the work of the Wildlands Conservancy. I was first introduced to their impact in my own backyard in North

From the beginning of human history Natural Beauty has been one of humankind’s great standard bearers. The Wildlands Conservancy, whose long

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Walk: Slow Down, Wake Up and Connect at 1 -3 Miles per Hour

I recently received this book by Jonathan Stalls from a friend of mine who knows (and shares) my passion for walking. Stalls is a evangelist when it comes to walking. It is his contention that walking nourishes our soul with the connection it offers to the natural world. His is a call for us to slow down, look around, and engage. I must say that this is a lesson embraced by virtually all PCT hikers and one that, if they do not know it when beginning their time on the PCT, soon learn it.

Stalls refined his thinking while on a 242-day walk across the United States some years ago. His experience was often on roads and his insights include critiques of our car-centric country. It reminds me just how unique the PCT is with 2,650 miles of trail with a minimum of interface with roads and automobiles.

Stalls includes a number of reflective exercises to be done while walking. His suggestions draw from mindfulness and meditation . . . part Thich Nhat Hanh and part Mary Oliver. "Protect some time next to a flowing water source near you," he advises. "Allow the water to calm your mind, inspire your heart, and nourish your journey." He has similar recommendations about listening . . . listening to your own footfalls while walking, to animal sounds, to the sounds of the wind, to your own breath.

I believe that this philosophy is one that every person who spends time on the PCT should fully consider. While I admire the determination and physical achievement of those who aspire to break PCT speed records or do the 30 mile days, it has been my experience that there is so much more to the PCT journey that can only be fully appreciated when one slows down.

I will share more of Stalls' thinking as I digest his book.

RH

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Which Do YOU Have?

As we look back on 60 years since the passage of the Wilderness Act and the half century plus of a recognized Pacific Crest Trail it brings to mind a concept a friend shared with me recently. As we were talking the idea of a renter's mentality vs. an owner's mentality came up. This is a concept that has numerous applications to be sure. Using the context of the PCT I found this concept really struck a chord with me.

I have, and maybe you have too, heard the tales of clusters of TP just off the trail and near campsites along the PCT. You have probably also heard about the proliferation of campsites that are not in designated areas or too near sensitive ones. Many of us have heard the phrase, "We are loving this, that, or the next thing to death." Is it love or something like not caring near enough?

Many people venture out and walk all or parts of the PCT every year. Since the publication of Cheryl Strayed's 'Wild' the numbers have exploded into what is referred to as "the Wild Effect". For so many it is the beginning or a continuation of a love affair with nature and the out of doors. So much so that it could be likened to the birth of an owner's mentality.

Having an owner's mentality informs the way one chooses to treat and respect something important enough to recognize its value over the long term. There is a felt investment in the overall care and wellbeing of this entity. Obviously the Crest trail is an eco entity. It lives, breaths, and reflects an importance for preserving and protecting. No, you and I, if you claim any kind of ownership to it, don't hold a deed or bill of sale. What we do have is a collective set of memories, feelings, and experiences that give us the agency to respect it like we are owners. To recognize its value and treat it with respect and loving care.

Renters, on the other hand take a different view. They have little to no investment in the upkeep and well being of the PCT. They happily have used it, made memories, had experiences on it, and not had any kind of mindfulness for its long term value to the next person or generation. A renter's mentality is at best, short term. Being short term it makes little to no difference how one leaves it. Someone else (the 'landlord') will fix it. A renter's mentality is not hard to understand it is just challenging to accept.

For a dedicated thru or even section hiker there can be a 'one and done' approach to walking the Pacific Crest Trail. For more and more people it is a third of a 'Triple Crown' experience. To me, that is fantastic. What an accomplishment! It is especially fantastic if we embrace the owner's mentality. Some of us may never set foot on the PCT ever again but it remains, stretching from Canada to Mexico and Mexico to Canada. The PCT doesn't disappear if enough owners claim it as their own. As owner's we sing the praises of a PCT experience. We hold dear the sights and sounds we encountered on the trail. We acknowledge the strangers that became our friends and friends that became our brothers and sisters. Owners take responsibility for the longterm health and upkeep of trail. Owner's hope to pass it on and on and on.

As owners we can't control for fires, droughts, floods, etc. but we can convey to anyone who wants to listen and see that ownership is not exclusive. All that is required is some basic caring with a dose of thoughtfulness thrown in. So, which do you have? A renter's or owner's mentality? You can go from owner to renter and renter to owner without much effort. It lies in your willingness to or lack of willingness to step up or out for the PCT. Which do you have?

Oregon PCT

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Suggestions from Halfway Anywhere

We tend to follow Mac at Halfway Anywhere. Mac maintains a website that offers reviews, offers insights to particular hikes and trips, and also conducts a yearly survey from PCT, AT, and CDT hikers. The information derived from those surveys is insightful and informative. We featured the most recent survey here a few months ago. https://pcttrailsidereader.com/post/754687559668482048/the-interesting-weird-division

With the holidays approaching, Mac has posted some suggestions for the thru hiker you may know or to put on your own holiday wish list. In Mac's very organized way he has broken his suggestions down from gifts under $25.00 and over $100.00. To check out his list of suggestions check out the link below.

The Thru-Hiker Gift Guide: Top Picks for 2024

The best gifts for thru-hikers, backpackers, and adventure seekers for 2024. Awesome gifts from the ultra-affordable to the ultralight.

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Happy Birthday - pcttrailsidereader.com

Nearly 2,000 posts and 13 years ago, we initiated this website. We recognized that the stories shared in the original Pacific Crest Trailside Reader: California and Pacific Crest Trailside Reader: Oregon and Washington would never change to reflect the changing times on the PCT. But, the flexibility of a website would allow for new waves of stories from the trail that would capture the new trends and faces on the PCT.

Many of the new stories from the website served as the basis for a third book, published a decade later. Will there be a fourth book that draws upon a new generation of PCT stories? It may depend upon you. Please consider submitting your stories or photos from the trail to [email protected]

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One of the PCTA Photo Contest winners in the Human Spirit category (photo by Michael Gubi). This is Silver Pass Creek . . . I can hear the roar of the falls, feel the spray, and appreciate the total focus of 'Lost and Found' as he makes this gnarly crossing.

For a slightly lighter treatment of the serious issue of river crossings, I would encourage you to consider reading Gail Storey's contribution to Crossing Paths about river crossings, "Please Don't Drown, He Said".

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A friend, Steve Salzman, sent this photo from his visit to the Sedona area. When we walk on a trail, like the PCT, it is worth appreciating all that went into its construction and maintenance. The countless hours that often go into the preparation, the routing, the staging of tools and materials, and construction of a trail . . . all so that we can walk on it (often months and years later).

I'm involved in trail building and maintenance in Northern California as a volunteer. What an education it has been! I'm increasingly appreciative of the 'crib log' that has been positioned to support a section of trail or the purposeful effort made to build a trail that manages the corrosive effect of water or the work required to brush a trail.

(Photo by Clare Major . . . along the PCT in Hoover Wilderness)

Walking on a section of the PCT that is in real harmony with nature is such a treasure . . . one that we often do not appreciate or even notice. Take a little extra time on your next trail walk to honor what lies beneath your feet.

Bob Birkby has written eloquently on this theme in Crossing Paths and in The Pacific Crest Trailside Reader: Oregon and Washington.

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On November 3, we posted three images from the PCT along the Hat Creek Rim. Another nearby feature, just a short detour from the PCT as it climbs to the Rim, is the Subway Cave. This lava tube is very dark and requires a headlamp to illuminate and sturdy hiking shoes (not flip flops) to safely navigate the one-third mile trail. It is not all as pictured . . . some areas have experienced roof collapses over the years resulting in difficult navigation.