Pacific Crest National Scenic Trail

The Pacific Crest National Scenic Trail (or PCT) is a nationally designated hiking trail on the West Coast of the United States. Covering a distance of 2,650 miles, it stretches continuously from the border of Mexico and crosses California, Oregon, and Washington before reaching its terminus at the border with Canada. The PCT is mostly set on federal lands, but 10 percent of its total land area is in private hands. It passes through seven national parks and twenty-five national forests, and it covers a diverse terrain, ranging from high mountain ridges to lakes, deserts, and meadows. The name Pacific Crest is derived from the fact that large stretches of the trail pass along the high crests of the Cascade and Sierra mountain ranges on the Pacific coast. The PCT contains dramatic vistas of mountains and other scenic views. Together with the Appalachian National Scenic Trail and the Continental Divide National Scenic Trail, the PCT is part of the so-called triple crown of American long-distance hiking.

Brief History

The PCT was established through the National Trails System Act of 1968. Prior to this, the federal government's authority was limited to the construction of new pathways as well as the maintenance of trails already found on federal land. The aim of the National Trails System was to provide an avenue for the appreciation of America's natural beauty while creating increased opportunities for exercise.

The history of the PCT began with the Oregon Skyline Trail, which was a 260-mile trail created by the US Forest Service that reached from Mount Hood to Crater Lake through the Cascade Mountains. By 1937, Fred W. Cleator of the Forest Service had extended this hiking trail to stretch from Canada to the Oregon-California border. He also had trail markers posted for the route, which he called the Cascade Crest Trail.

In California, Clinton C. Clarke of the Mountain League of Los Angeles County began a campaign in the 1930s to create the Pacific Crest Trail System, which he envisioned as a continuous wilderness hiking trail fully crossing the expanse of the Pacific coast. He established the Pacific Crest Trail Conference with the goal of seeing his vision to completion.

By the 1960s, there was increased interest among Americans in hiking and backpacking. The Bureau of Outdoor Recreation, a former agency in the US Department of the Interior, began exploring the creation of national hiking trails. As an outgrowth of the bureau's efforts, the National Trails System Act was established. However, creating a route for the newly created PCT was not an easy process. Federal lands did not stretch that far, and the changes in land ownership since Clarke's day had made his hypothetical route unrealistic. The Forest Service created an advisory council of the PCT to draw a potential route. However, confusion between various agencies led to the release of a route in 1972 that did not correspond to the planted place markers. In fact, some listed areas had no existing trails whatsoever.

Even more problematic was the necessary inclusion of lands outside of the federal government's control to make the PCT continuous. Through trial and error, the trail was eventually reworked to eliminate some of the more problematic areas, including one marshy stretch known for heavy mosquito infestations and some inclines of more than 15 percent that were difficult to hike. Once a route had been selected, arrangements to secure permission for hikers to cross private lands and the construction of pathways on federal lands took decades to complete. However, in 1993, the PCT saw completion as a continuous route with a ceremonial golden spike ceremony at Soledad Canyon in southern California.

The PCT is designated as a National Scenic Trail, which is a congressionally mandated area that has been deemed as of national and historic importance. The PCT is managed jointly by the US Forest Service, the Bureau of Land Management, the National Park Service, and California State Parks. As of 2022, the PCT was one of eleven National Scenic Trails and nineteen National Historic Trails in the United States.

Highlights of the Trail

The trail starts near the small town of Campo, California, near the Mexican border. In southern California, it moves through the desert where a rare variety of desert bighorn sheep thrives. This area is also the site of a rich fossil bed and American Indian rock art. From here, the PCT moves into the forests of the San Bernardino and San Gabriel ranges. Hikers have broad views of the Mojave Desert and Los Angeles Basin from these areas. After moving across the Angeles Crest Scenic Byway, the PCT stretches through the dry scrublands of the Sierra Pelona Mountains.

In central California, the trek takes hikers through the remote Chimney Peak Wilderness, a region of high-altitude forests and meadows. People taking this relatively strenuous hike will pass by several picturesque lakes formed from glaciers in the High Sierras. This route also takes hikers along the John Muir Trail, which is named after the famed naturalist. It includes high alpine forests and secluded stretches of untouched wilderness. This stretch marks the highest altitudes on the PCT at 13,513 feet above sea level.

When the trail reaches northern California, the Sierra Nevada Mountains transition into the Cascades. There, hikers can see Mount Lassen, the largest plug dome volcano in the world, and Mount Shasta, a potentially active volcano. Moving north, PCT hikers will pass through the Siskiyou Mountains into Oregon.

The trails in Oregon are among the most established and easiest to hike. This stretch boasts Crater Lake, the Columbia River Gorge, and Mount Hood. Traveling into Washington State, hikers cross the Bridge of the Gods, a steel bridge over the Columbia River near where the Lewis and Clark expedition traveled in 1805. Along the way to the Canadian border, the PCT traverses below both Mount Adams and Mount Rainier and near the Packwood Glacier. After passing Glacier Peak, the PCT reaches its northern terminus near Manning Park in British Columbia, Canada.

Topic Today

The PCT is maintained in part by the Pacific Crest Trail Association, a group dedicated to preserving the private and federal lands that make up the trail. In addition to helping preserve the trail, the group purchases private lands along the travel route. The PCT gained increased attention in the twenty-first century with the release of Cheryl Strayed's best-selling 2012 memoir Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail and a subsequent 2014 film starring Reese Witherspoon.

By the 2020s, conversations related to the PCT had also centered more and more upon how climate change had already begun having an impact on the trail and its many, diverse ecosystems. Experts noted that ever-warming temperatures, which had often led to severe heat waves such as those experienced in states like Oregon and Washington in June 2021, had already resulted in recordings on the trail of decreased early-season snowpack. At certain elevated points on the trail, glaciers that had once been prominently visible had reduced in size or, in the case of the Salmon Glacier, had disappeared. Additionally, wildfires had become increasingly common in areas along the trail, making smoke and fire exposure more likely for hikers who would also have less shade available, and experts warned of longer hikes proving less physically achievable overall due to higher temperatures and droughts lessening the amount of available water sources. The Dixie Fire of 2021, which impacted parts of the Plumas and Lassen National Forests, had stretched over the furthest expanse of the trail since its establishment. Heavier rainfall had also prompted more concerns regarding trail erosion and maintenance.

Bibliography

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Gerety, Rowan Moore. "Heat, Water, Fire: How Climate Change Is Transforming the Pacific Crest Trail." The New York Times, 31 Aug. 2022, www.nytimes.com/2022/08/31/travel/climate-change-pacific-crest-trail.html. Accessed 24 Oct. 2022.

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Larabee, Mark, and Barney Scout Mann. The Pacific Crest Trail: Exploring America's Wilderness Trail. Rizzoli, 2016.

O'Brien, John, and Brad Marston. "A Changing PCT: Climate Change Is Already Altering the Trail Experience." Pacific Crest Trail Association, 31 Mar. 2022, www.pcta.org/2022/a-changing-pct-90289/. Accessed 24 Oct. 2022.

"Pacific Crest National Scenic Trail." United States Department of Agriculture, www.fs.usda.gov/pct/. Accessed 3 Nov. 2016.

Schaffer, Jeffrey P., and Andy Selters. Pacific Crest Trail: Oregon and Washington. Wilderness Press, 2004.