Thru-Hiker who died on PCT was Trek Blogger

tThe hiker who died on the PCT on Thursday in what officials described as a “medical emergency” has been publicly identified as Ian Maclurg, 43, of San Diego. Maclurg was a blogger and The Trek tracking correspondent who was tackling the PCT as part of a long-term plan to complete the Triple Crown.

The Riverside County Sheriff’s Office received a 911 call around 11:30 a.m. Thursday reporting that a hiker was suffering from medical issues near mile marker 140 of the PCT. Officers were unable to reach Maclurg’s location on foot and eventually called the department’s aviation unit. Rescuers pronounced Maclurg dead at the scene. No further details regarding the nature of his medical emergency have been released at this time.

“Ian was one of us,” said Trek owner and founder Zach Davis. «Losing him is devastating, for his loved ones, the PCT community, and everyone here at The Trek. From our brief exchanges and contributions, it was clear that Ian had a deep passion for hiking and the trail community. His voice will be deeply missed.»

Although Maclurg described the PCT as his first hike, he was already an accomplished outdoorsman whose adventures, both on and off the trail, took him around the world. His writings and remarkable life story paint the picture of a person who embodied the ideal of living life to the fullest.

Maclurg grew up in Melilla, Spain, an autonomous Spanish city on the northern coast of Africa, bordering Morocco. He attended boarding school in Germany before coming to the United States alone as a college student.

In his Trek blogs, Maclurg credited his father for introducing him to hiking and the outdoors, but said it wasn’t until adulthood that he became an avid hiker and camper after taking up the hobby to impress his then-girlfriend.

He began his adult life in the corporate world before leaving to pursue a successful career in distilling in Washington, DC. When the distillery was acquired by a larger company, he traveled around the world, including hiking the Camino de Santiago, Kilimanjaro, and the W Circuit in Patagonia.

In his Trail Correspondents application, Maclurg had told The Trek that the Triple Crown had been his lifelong dream and that he had chosen to start on the PCT because it was “the most beautiful.” hThis stated reason for wanting to become a trail correspondent was to wake people up to the reality that life is short and taking risks can be life-changing.

“If there’s one thing I’ve learned in recent years, it’s that once-in-a-lifetime adventures only become that if you don’t give them competition,» Maclurg concluded in his first blog published on The Trek. «Happy Trails.»

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