The John Muir Trail runs 219 miles southbound from Yosemite Valley to Mount Whitney. This trail coincides with the Pacific Crest Trail, and covers what many consider the very most gorgeous parts of the famously gorgeous Pacific Crest Trail. Most John Muir Trail (JMT) hikers choose to do this trail in July and August when the snow is mostly gone. This is different from Pacific Crest Trail hikers who are forced to enter this section (The...

Oregon is the anti-Florida. Let’s face it: when people retire to Florida, they are more often than not pursuing a sedentary lifestyle. I had never been to Oregon until I hiked the Pacific Crest Trail (PCT). I was blown away by what I saw. Oregon’s culture is decidedly outdoor-oriented. The kind of people who move there are gung-ho on an array of outdoor activities, ranging from mountaineering, sailing, and kayaking, to all team...

PCT (Pacific Crest Trail) hikers receive loads of advice on how to handle the snowy passes in the ‘High Sierra’. Generally, it is suggested (Yogi’s PCT Handbook) to attempt to clear the mountain pass in the late morning after the pass is no longer icy. Then the hiker should try to get down from the mountain pass in the early afternoon before the snow turns mushy, thus avoiding postholing. Often thru-hikers will glissade down a...

Most PCT (Pacific Crest Trail) hikers expected the desert to be table-top flat and monotonous. How wrong we were! In fact, the desert proved quite mountainous and jagged at various points. We even ran into heavy snow fields on Fuller’s Ridge. The good news is that in this so-called high desert, the PCT hiker gets some breathtaking views out into the vast expanses of the desert. Only when we got to the Mojave, were we walking all day in the...

The first 703 miles on the Pacific Crest Trail (PCT) are in the desert. As you might imagine, water is the key variable. Hikers plan their days around reliable water sources and much hoped-for water caches, filled by dedicated trail angels. At the PCT Kickoff held annually the last weekend of April, trail veterans give detailed water reports to the current crop of thru-hikers. “You cannot rely on caches,” they repeatedly told us....

The Pacific Crest Trail begins at the California-Mexico border in the desert. It proved to be more varied than most hikers had imagined, with high desert, windswept scenes, as well as the desert floor of the daunting Mojave. Ultimately, most found the desert stark, forbidding, and implacable. But to be sure, the desert also offers its own brand of haunting beauty.