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.