Record Crowd of Pacific Crest Trail Thru-Hikers Racing to Beat Winter
Folks, let’s hope for no more drama. Last year three hikers were rescued by helicopter, and another outright cheated death by developing an escape plan from an early blast of snow in the northern Cascades, which PCT (Pacific Crest Trail) hikers traverse to complete the trail at the Canadian border.
How about this year? There has already been one helicopter rescue for injury. And the Dinsmore hostel located in Skykomish–about 175 miles south of the Canadian border–is entertaining record numbers of hikers, some days as many as forty. So my guess, human nature being what it is, would be to expect more drama.
But heck, when you walk 2,663 miles through dramatically diverse terrain and weather conditions, what else would you expect. It is indeed the journey of a lifetime for most of these hikers and my hat is off to them (and the Dinsmores for the yeoman service they perform).
Bill Walker is the author of a series of popular hiking books, including Skywalker–Highs and Lows on the Pacific Crest Trail, Skywalker–Close Encounters on the Appalachian Trail, The Best Way–El Camino de Santiago, and Getting High–The Annapurna Circuit in Nepal.
Follow Us!