An Interview with Two Eastbound Hikers “Although most use of long-distance trails is for day hiking, the romantic lure and ultimate justification of such routes lie over the horizon.” -Ron Strickland, The Pacific Northwest Trail Guide, 1983 Even before trail founder, Ron Strickland had proven a path for the Pacific Northwest Trail, he imagined that…
Each year, the American Long Distance Hiking Association-West brings together a diverse group of hikers for a series of fun backpacking clinics, called “Rucks” across the Western States. New for the 2018 season, ALDHA-West and the Pacific Northwest Trail Association formed a partnership to host the first-ever Ruck in Northwest Washington. The mission of ALDHA-West…
With the Pacific Northwest Trail buried under heavy snow and with some mountain roads blocked by avalanche debris, thru-hiking season is still months away. Until then, here is a collection of some of our favorite videos about the trail made by PNT thru-hikers. We hope they help inspire you to #findyourtrail in 2018. This assortment…
Hikers “Tinkerbell,” “Roadrunner,” “Iceberg” and “Pacer” travel the Pacific Northwest Trail from Glacier National Park to the Pacific, stopping in trail towns like Republic for supplies and human contact. Photo by Artie McRae. Trail Towns Offer Business, Friendships By Artie McRae This article originally appeared in the September 8th edition of the Ferry County…
Ron Strickland and Ted Hitzroth arrive at the Pacific Ocean on their 1983 exploratory thru-hike. Photo by Ron Strickland. Record numbers of thru-hikers have flocked to attempt the Pacific Northwest Trail in 2017 — the Pacific Northwest Trail Association estimates that over 100 hikers have attempted end-to-end treks this year, nearly double the largest…
So you’ve decided to attempt a thru-hike? Congratulations, that’s the first step of millions you’ll take by the time that you see this thing through! It’s a common sentiment among long-distance hikers that the first step is the hardest one to take… but that doesn’t mean that it’s all going to be downhill from here….