Tag Pacific Crest Trail

Walk the Longest National Scenic Trail

Reg Spittle 4 Comments

Of the 11 National Scenic Trails, which is the longest? The Appalachian Trail or the Pacific Crest Trail?

The answer (Neither) may be a surprise, unless you are a fan of the North Country Trail, which stretches 4,700 miles from Vermont to North Dakota. We walked two spectacular sections of the path in Wisconsin today within Copper Falls State Park. Hikers in the northern Wisconsin park can view Copper Falls, Brownstone Falls (pictured above) and Red Granite Falls from the trail’s viewpoints, which are accessed via several bridges.

Smokejumper Flips His PCT

Reg Spittle Leave a comment

On the Camino de Santiago, the world’s most-traveled long-distance trek, pilgrims like to say, “Everyone walks their own Camino.”

In Hiking the Pacific Crest Trail: Mexico to Canada, Bruce Wilson describes how he inserted a “flip” in his 2,650-mile endurance test. He began at the Mexican border in April and arrived in the Southern Sierra Nevada early, with dangerously high snow levels ahead. He got rides to Ashland, Oregon, where he flipped his PCT and walked back to the southern Sierra, where he left off. He still faced snow and snowmelt-fed waterways, but his PCT was safer, more passable. To complete his flip, he got rides back to Ashland and resumed his trek.

Nelson’s book brings home the challenges of backpacking for months on difficult terrain that reaches more than 13,000 feet. I am addicted to experiencing the PCT through hikers’ books and YouTube posts and, like many I have followed, Nelson paints a vivid picture of the beauty and the problems he faced. A retired smokejumper from Alaska, he preferred walking on his own, but accompanied others for stretches. There are days that sound just like other days and I yearned for more about his personal journey, but, in the end, I was drawn to turn the pages by an appreciation of his strength, physical and mental.