Top Ten PCT Books
There is an overwhelming abundance of books in the pantheon of PCT literature. I have read many over the past 40+ years (often in the process of developing the three anthologies . . . see #2). I have given some thought recently to my Top Ten PCT books. It is a rather arbitrary list certainly influenced by my own preferences and the reality that many of the early voices were male. I am confident that I have missed some worthy choices and would invite readers to submit their favorites.
RH
The Pacific Crest Trail: Exploring America's Wilderness Trail by Mark Larabee and Barney Mann
My rationale for putting this beautiful coffeetable book at the top of my list is that it captures the spectacle of the PCT in photos, includes essays about the history and culture of the trail, and rounds things out with profiles of the people of the trail. I never tire of flipping through and relishing the photos. There are other excellent books of photos from the PCT, but this is a comprehensive resource under one cover.
2. The Pacific Crest Trailside Reader: California; The Pacific Crest Trailside Reader: Oregon and Washington (Edited by Rees Hughes and Corey Lewis) and Crossing Paths: A Pacific Crest Trailside Reader (Edited by Rees Hughes and Howard Shapiro)
While I admit to a certain bias, the 150 short stories captured in this trilogy reflects the full range of PCT people and experiences in, for the most part, their own words. It really is a 'must read' for those interested in a full appreciation of the PCT. It also draws from many of the individual accounts of walking the trail that would otherwise dominate your bookshelves.
3. The Great Alone by Tim Voors
Of all of the many accounts of walking the PCT, why did I elevate this particular account? I have read countless memoirs written by PCT hikers. They are all deeply personal accounts of hiking the same 2,650 miles, generally with a few variations here and there. Most are enjoyable, a few are tedious or self-important, but virtually all suffer from following a similar formula. Any of you who have read even a handful know the formula – preparing for the trail, physically and mentally adjusting to trail life through the desert and the High Sierra, marveling at trail culture, persevering through the monotonous Northern California and Oregon stretch, and the race to the end through the wet and often white spectacular North Cascades. It is delightful to find a memoir that carves its own unique path. Tim Voors in The Great Alone has done just that.
Throughout his time on the trail, Voors spends some serious time devoted to reflection that he gracefully weaves into the story of his walk north. He manages to share his introspection in a way that never seems tedious and rarely seems forced. What if I die tomorrow? Quitting. Restructuring your life around your dreams. Do I believe in God? Much of what he learns comes from the wisdom of hikers a generation younger than him. I believe his honesty and candor makes his reflections engaging as does his self-deprecating humor. It may help that Voors shares my own belief that walking the PCT is richest when it includes a spiritual experience where hikers think about themselves and the world around them and their role in the world.
Voors, who is Dutch, demonstrates his command of English throughout the book. In addition, his simple watercolor paintings (he is aptly known as ‘Van Go’ on the trail) and the photos he has included enrich the total experience of reading the book. I would rarely comment on the choice of paper used in printing the book, but I really liked the thick, textured paper (which seems to be a trademark of the publisher, Gestalten). The graphics throughout the book are exceptional and add measurably to the quality of the reading experience.
4. Wanderlust: A History of Walking by Rebecca Solnit or On Trails: An Exploration by Robert Moor
Pick one of these two books. Although Moor talks about the PCT in On Trails, both Solnit and Moor offer the best homage to 'walking' among the many philosophical treatments available. They are the books I wish I had written about pedestrianism.
5. The High Adventure of Eric Ryback by Eric Ryback
Ryback's account of his 1970 hike from Canada to Mexico on a trail that was often just a concept elevated the profile of the PCT. Read by dreamers like me (and thousands of others), Ryback's book was my first exposure to the PCT and the impetus for me to walk the PCT. It captured the spirit of adventure that has drawn hikers to the trail in the decades since.
6. A T'hru-Hikers Heart: Tales on the Pacific Crest Trail by Ray "No Way" Echols
Ray Echols collection of essays, compiled following Ray's tragic death along Deep Creek by his widow, Alice Tulloch, is also not your typical PCT account. I have kept this book in my collection because I find the depth of Ray's experiences, the strength of his feeling, the wisdom of his writing so exceptional. In it all, he manages to capture why I return to the trail year after year.
7. Seven Summers (and a few bummers) by Bob Welch
As I mentioned before, I am disinclined to include accounts of walking the Pacific Crest Trail that begin in the desert south and proceed linearly and predictably. However, I found Bob Welch’s account of completing the PCT with his brother-in-law, Glenn, refreshingly bumpy (and very real). Written with self-deprecating humor, Seven Summers seems part Bill Bryson’s A Walk in the Woods, part Barney Mann’s Journeys North, but all uniquely the Oregon Boys (Bob and Glenn’s trail name). The Oregon Boys dealt with hypothermia, fire, quitting (and starting again), the realities of work and family, snow, injury, and more, but in the course of 11 years they finished the PCT.
The book captures the special challenge of being a section hiker. As Welch observes near the end of the book, section hiking necessitated thirty-two travel days,“ just getting to and from that trail, that encompassed more than 17,000 miles, just so I could hike 2,650 miles.” He continued, “Some 180 miles of extraneous hiking miles [were] needed to get to and from trail heads; to follow “workarounds” because of fire closures; to get off-trail water and food; and to return to points that we overshot”.
Welch, a lifelong journalist and author of a number of other books, makes the book an enjoyable read. By the end of the book you feel a special connection with Bob and Glenn and their spouses. Seven Summers touches on the changing nature of the PCT, profiles a number of hikers on the trail, captures the essence of trail culture, and the PCT experience. In addition, it is a pleasure to read a well-crafted book. And only a few times did I tire of Welch’s humor.
I appreciated the inclusion of photos, maps, special charts (“Breakdown of the 17 Section Hikes”, how he put everything in his pack, his equipment list, a best and worst list, the PCT experience by the numbers, etc.), and some delightful illustrations by Don White.
8. The Pacific Crest Trail: A Visual Compendium by Joshua M. Powell
This is another unique and very entertaining treatment of the PCT. I loved his collection of lists and notes of every possible (and some I never would have thought of) aspect of a thru-hike on the PCT. Powell shows us the various flora and fauna he discovered along the trail. Everything from pileated woodpecker to lupine. Paintbrush to rattlesnake and many, many more. He goes on to create illustrations of notable buildings found in trail towns and illustrates an alphabet from scripts seen along the trail. He describes his mental struggles, landmarks, weather, and specific trail notes. There are numerous easy to read charts and graphs and stunning graphics. Everything from elevations of various sections to traits shared by thru-hikers and characters in Steinbeck novels.
9.Journeys North by Barney 'Scout' Mann
Scout's treatment of his PCT thru-hike experience is the most traditional of those included in my top 10 list. He has the advantage of a long and rich association with the trail . . . as a hiker (along with his wife Sandy . . . aka 'Frodo'), as a long-time devoted trail angel, as a PCT board member, as an advocate for the PCT and for the national trail system. That history gives his account additional 'heft' often missing in other accounts.
10. Thru-Hiking Will Break Your Heart by Carrot Quinn
Carrot Quinn authored one of my favorite PCT blogs/journals; one I followed religiously on her trek north. Cleverly written and insightful, I think I appreciated it even more because Carrot's take on the experience was so different from my own. Written with humor and, at times, a biting insight, I think that Carrot's writing helped me take my own PCT experience a little less nobly and self-importantly.
Other Contenders: I really like Suzanne Roberts's Almost Somewhere: 28 Days on the John Muir Trail, but did not include it because it is limited to the JMT. Roberts is a wonderful writer. I also enjoyed Gail D. Storey's I Promise Not to Suffer: A Fool for Love Hikes the Pacific Crest Trail. It is clever and fun but did not make the cut because, like Cheryl Strayed, Gail walked less than half of the PCT. I also tend to discount books written about fast-walking the trail because, while I admire the tenacity and strength for such an achievement, I am biased against those that don't savor the PCT experience.