Pacific Crest Trail Interest Grows
At the 25th annual Appalachian Trail Days Festival this weekend, there was great interest in the nation’s other great national scenic trail–the Pacific Crest Trail (PCT). Indeed, sales of Skywalker–Highs and Lows on the Pacific Crest Trail were double the sales of my Appalachian Trail book. This was in spite of it being an Appalachian Trail event. Also, the fine documentary–Six Million Steps– drew alot of great interest, as well as a very funny film by well-known Appalachian Trail personality, Jester. All good stuff.
The upshot of this is that traffic on the PCT is going to steadily increase in future years. If you ask me, that’s nothing but good news. The PCT is plenty isolated enough as it is. If you require living in monastic-like solitude, perhaps the Continental Divide Trail is where a person should go.
Finally, it’s important to say that the fact that the PCT is becoming popular is nothing but good news. Because the Appalachian Trail and the PCT are so very different, they are complementary. So many people like myself in 2005 set off on the Appalachian Trail on the journey of their lifetimes. But when they’re finished, they don’t want to immediately go back to the old acquisitive, bourgeouis lifestyle. I had never thought a trail could even remotely match the wonders of the Appalachain Trail. But now there is one that many people feel does just that. Better yet, they’re both here in the United States.
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