Why I’m Hiking the Pacific Crest Trail After Finishing the Appalachian Trail

Promoting the PCT was never part of the plan.

When I was about 7 or 8 years old, I read a book about a girl who hiked the Appalachian Trail. I dreamed of being like her. Around the same time, during a family road trip to Boston, I distinctly remember my father excitedly pointing out an AT sign on a bridge over the Massachusetts Turnpike. That was the first time I saw the AT.

Even when I grew up, I never stopped dreaming. At some point, I learned about the Triple Crown of Hiking (the Appalachian Trail, the Pacific Crest Trail, and the Continental Divide Trail). I got chills when I heard that only a couple hundred people in history had completed it. I also wanted to make history.

However, completing the Triple Crown seemed like a distant idea. I was intrigued, but I never thought it would happen.

Then, I moved south and found myself living closer to the Appalachian Trail. Obviously, I was drawn to the trail. So, on a rainy Saturday in October, I drove to one of the trailheads for a short out-and-back hike. From that day on I was hooked!

I returned the following weekend to the next trailhead so I could do another out and back and complete the section I had left off.

At that point, I realized that walking back and forth was not the most efficient method if I was going to continue walking, so I learned to use shuttles. Gradually, I started walking longer distances and took my first night walk. Along the way, I set out to complete the entire AT in Georgia. Then I heard that the mountains in North Carolina were even bigger and more beautiful.

When I reached the state border, I wanted to continue. So I did it.

Completing the AT in Georgia!

I’m not sure exactly at what point I decided I was going to hike the entire trail. It was very exciting and rewarding to read about parts of the trail like Max Patch and Roan Highlands and finally be able to see them with my own eyes.

I couldn’t imagine how I was going to walk to Maine. All I knew was that I had to do it step by step.

I lived in the South for only a short period of time. As I continued to plan and hike, I set out to hike to Damascus, Virginia, completing North Carolina and Tennessee, before heading back north.

Damascus felt appropriate. It’s just across the Virginia border. It is known as Trail Town USA. It is the location of the AT Trail Days festival. It was almost ¼ of the way. Lastly, it was still within driving distance that I could drive while only walking on the weekends.

Arriving in Damascus, VA on the AT!

After returning north, I was very lucky to be able to continue riding the AT primarily on the weekends. For the sections that were too far away to complete in a weekend, I did them as longer sections and used vacation time for them. I saved Mount Katahdin, the northern terminus, for my last day on the trail. It was certainly an epic way to end, with a freezing storm and rainbows to congratulate me on the descent.

Phew! What a long way to answer a question! Well, the answer is that my ultimate dream is to complete the Triple Crown of Hiking. Once I realized I could hike the entire AT, I knew I could hike all three trails.

Finishing the Appalachian Trail was not the end. It was just the beginning.

Now that I’ve done the AT, I chose the PCT as my next route to tackle. From the pictures I’ve seen, the PCT looks very beautiful. Lihat juga tgb6. I was very excited to experience it.

Even before I finished the AT, I had already started dreaming about the PCT. When I was especially suffering from rain or humidity on the AT, I was especially looking forward to the drier weather on the west coast.

As they say on the road: «No pain, no rain, no Maine!»

The Continental Divide Trail also scares me a little more due to its remoteness and ruggedness, and I would like to have more experience with long-distance hiking before undertaking it.

Who knows what will actually end up happening, but that’s the current plan. Plus, as long-distance hikers know, it’s the journey that’s important, not the destination. I don’t know exactly where this path will lead, but I’m excited to find out, step by step!

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