Pacific Crest Trail in the Winter

Pacific Crest Trail in the Winter

This photo was taken by Walter Siegmund looking south toward Old Snowy Mountain on the Mt Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest in WAshington.

This photo was taken by Walter Siegmund looking south toward Old Snowy Mountain and the Pacific Crest Trail on the Mt Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest in Washington.  This photo was taken in June.  Imagine the view and the traveling conditions in the winter!

The Pacific Crest Trail follows the crest of the Cascade and Sierra Nevada ranges through Washington, Oregon and California where it reaches a peak elevation of 13,153 feet at Forester Pass in Central California. It sees a lot of use in the summer, including many hikers that cover long sections or even the whole 2,650 mile trail in one trip. Winter is a different story.

While the winter of 2014-2015 was warm and delivered relatively little snow, that was small solace for the two hikers, Shawn Forry and Justin Lichter, that recently completed the first through-hike of the Pacific Crest Trail in the winter.  They experienced back-to-back storms through much of the trek.  The wet snow led to blisters, trench foot, athlete’s foot and even frostbite.  All manageable issues in the summer, but potentially deadly in the winter when far from help.

Shawn said, “I jokingly gave ourselves a 17% chance of success at the beginning of the trip. Without resources to pull from the experiences of others, we have been heading chiefly into the unknown, despite months of planning and years of prior experience. The reality of attempting something for the first time necessitates a lot of flexibility, creative problem-solving along with a bit of determination and stubbornness.”  He added, “The margin of error is incredibly small in winter conditions above and beyond the effort is takes to successfully complete a summertime hike of the PCT.”

If something like this appeals to you,  I strongly suggest that you try some segments of the trail in the winter to get an idea of what you would be facing.  For all the details on the trail, check out the Pacific Crest Trail Association website.

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