“Give me a hug man!” I said to my friend Tommy, “Walkie Talkie,” as we reached Monument 78, the northern terminus and finish line for a northbound Pacific Crest Trail thru-hiker. Walkie was only about 20 yards in front of us. My friend Kayla, “8 Track,” was directly in front of me. We checked the maps at the last water source and knew we only had five miles to go. It started pouring with rain, slowing our progress. The three of us were dead quiet. You could hear every drop of rain. An hour and a half goes by – but nothing comes into view. Suddenly, there is a large clearing up ahead. Walkie reaches a switchback, turns, and looks to us with a big Cheshire cat grin, bouncing up and down with his backpack on, waving his hiker poles in the air saying, “I can see it, I can see it!”

Kayla didn’t want to believe him because Tommy was known to be a jokester on the trail, but your eyes don’t lie. Tommy took off running, as Kayla sung her way dancing towards the monument, and I was simply in complete shock. I didn’t think it was real: 2,650.10 miles and 180 days and now, it was all over.

It was never a vacation. It was never a sojourn, or a journey, trip, excursion, or trek. It was a dream. I had to do it. I couldn’t think of anything better than to be in nature, spending around 180 days in a sleeping bag, while stinking at such unfathomable levels that people at McDonald’s and grocery stores couldn’t stand to be within ten feet of me. I did however, find comfort in the strangest places, found love where I wasn’t looking, and ultimately found the change I was looking for.

The Pacific Crest Trail Thru-hiking Experience

Change came in the course of landscape and trail, but more importantly, I changed. And the transformation I experienced on the trail could be considered as stark as night is to day and summer is to winter. Change inside, change outside, change in appearance. Change emotionally, physically, and mentally. If there is a single word to describe the trail, it is change. The trail changed me as much as it changes in elevation throughout its course – and with the sheer amount of climbing and descending that takes place on a PCT thru-hike, something life altering was bound to happen. I could tell you about how gorgeous the trail is and use all kinds of words from a thesaurus to convey its beauty, and I will, but there is something very special to be said about what it takes to wake up after a day and to hike on despite the challenges of the trail.

Whether it was watching the sun rise over a Joshua tree, carrying eight liters of water for a 38-mile dry section in 90-degree heat, or simply freezing in a tent at 9,000 feet during an unexpected snowstorm – Southern California was made up of a series of extremes, moments that, even at the most difficult, were all insanely gorgeous. From desert to alpine and back to desert within 100 miles of trail can bring the extremes of cold in the morning, to altitude in the San Gabriel Mountains, to afternoon heat waiting in the shade under a Joshua tree in the Mojave Desert. But after walking through what many said was the worst section, I was now at the doorstep of the Sierra itching to open it. And the only way to describe what I saw when I opened that door was nothing short of breathtaking.

When my muscles started to hurt more than usual, and I wished I could literally buy oxygen, I knew I made it to the Sierra. The Sierra brought granite peaks, extreme altitude, and a view that high definition couldn’t bring life to. Many lost up to an extra tenth of their body weight in this section because of the sheer effort it took to go over some of the passes. Waking up at 7,000 feet only to know that in 20 miles, I had another 6,600 more feet up and the equivalent down, the physicality was ever present. The orange glows of granite walls at sunrise or sunset, and my camera’s memory card reminding me that you can’t take any more photos when the card is full can sum up the Sierra. I averaged 9.8 miles a day for 20 days going through this section – not because I was tired or because it was hard, but it was purely because I wanted to. I let my friends go and hike their 18 mile days while I basked in the beauty that John Muir inspired us to see.

I am certainly convinced, after hiking through the Sierra Nevada and the famed section named for John Muir (see A Hike Along the John Muir Trail), that he himself had to have been a fly fisherman. You can’t just create a trail that meanders next to some of the most gorgeous and un-fished waters on this planet and not want to cast out at sunset to rising trout that make the lake look like it was raining on a clear day. Many took off and sprinted ahead, while I casted out to the pure gold – in the form of golden trout – making the 200 or so miles through the Sierra a 20-day odyssey.

Transitions were abundant along the PCT. The descent out of the Sierra was slow but obvious. When the highest elevation I hit for the day was around 7,000 feet and not over 10k, I knew Northern California and Oregon were knocking. The temperatures began to climb again, but the terrain got easier. The climbs were far mellower and the days were getting longer and longer. Pretty soon the slow casual pace through the Sierra, turned into marathons and the occasional ultra.

This part of the trip turned out to be a highlight, despite the fact that it wasn’t quite the jaw-dropping scenery of what I just went through. It was because it was different. It was social hour. Here is where I met some of the most incredible humans that I still call friends to this day. Having the ability to share 20 plus mile days through some gorgeous terrain made the rest of the trail fly by. Some of the fondest memories of the entire trip are from the people. Simply the passion that we shared for hiking the trail is all we ever needed to strike up a decent conversation and connection – we would often joke about how some lost more weight on the trip from laughing than actually hiking.

But passing Mount Lassen and the lava beds of waterless, heat-soaked Northern California, then meandering past Mount Shasta, the feel of volcanoes were always present. Scattered dense forested patches mixed in with open fields mimicking deserts without cacti were prevalent. The creeks shrunk in size and flow, and temperatures climbed. We all knew another state beckoned, but what was in store in Oregon blew us all away. Nearly 1700 miles of hiking in one state, almost four months of walking, and the border of Oregon and California was finally here.

Need to Know

Information

The California section of the PCT is nearly 1700 miles in length out of the trail’s total 2,650.10 miles. California is longer than both Oregon and Washington combined. You will reach the half way mark of the trail in California. In order to hike any part of the PCT, you must first obtain a permit. You can apply for one on the Pacific Crest Trail Association website and book a date that works best for you. Best to apply at the beginning of the year to hopefully get the date desired. Find out more about the PCT hiking experience in the article, Thru-hiking the Pacific Crest Trail: Lessons Learned.

Best Time to Go

The preferred start date for a California summer hike on the PCT typically starts anywhere from mid-April to early June at the latest. These dates vary of course depending on snow pack, but this usually the optimal time to hike before the hotter summer in the desert and to allow for snow melt in the Sierra.

Getting There

In order to get to the southern terminus of the PCT, you can fly into San Diego or Los Angeles as they are the closest airports to that location. Campo, California is the official start of the trail for the southern terminus. Either have a friend or family member drop you, or there are trail angels that can take you to the monument. Taxis can be arranged. The northern border of California and Oregon is inaccessible directly. You can get dropped off a mile north of California via forest service dirt roads or from Seiad Valley and dirt roads surrounding. However, besides the southern and northern borders, the trail is accessible throughout the state as there are many trails connecting as well as sections that are popular for any type of hike.

Maps and Books

Downloading topo maps online and printing them for each section you hike is highly advised. I also found the PCT Halfmile App very useful. For larger scale maps National Geographic offers their individual PCT section maps that are also available in the PCT Map Pack. See also the Pacific Crest Trail Data Book.

Editor's Note: This article by contributor Sean Jansen originally appeared in Issue 40 of TrailGroove Magazine. You can read the original article here for additional photos and content and you can find part 2 of the story online here or in the HD Issue 40 PDF download.