Nick's Long Walk || Pacific Crest Trail 2001

Border to Border

The Pacific Crest Trail is a wilderness footpath that stretches over 2650 miles and across three western states. The trail meanders along the crest of the Sierra Nevada and Cascade mountains and along the way passes through some of the most spectacular scenery in the United States, including 7 National Parks, 24 National Forests, and 33 Wilderness Areas.

The hallmark of the PCT and that which sets it apart from other long trails is the diversity of environments through which it passes. Between Mexico and Canada the trail goes through six of the seven North American life-zones (These zones are based on climate and the distribution of plants and animals and generally correspond to latitude and/or elevation). The PCT ranges in elevation from just above sea level (150 ft.) along the Columbia River in Washington to 13,180 ft. atop Forester Pass in central California. From the soaring granite peaks of the Sierra Nevada, where the trail crosses eight passes over 11,000 ft., to the searing heat and prickly cactus of the Mojave Desert - from the jagged and otherworldly lava flows in central Oregon to the lush Cascadian old-growth forests in northern Washington, the Pacific Crest Trail reveals the beauty of the western landscape in all of its many forms.

Along with the Appalachian Trail in the east, the Pacific Crest Trail was established as one of the first national scenic trails in 1968 when Congress passed the National Trails Systems Act. The trail was formally dedicated in 1993 at a ceremony in southern California. A golden spike in Soledad Canyon marks the completion of the nation's longest continuous footpath.

Come along for a journey on the crest!