Blog Posts of the Pacific Northwest Trail Association

Trail towns offer business, friendships

Trail Towns Offer Business, Friendships By Artie McRae This article originally appeared in the September 8th edition of the Ferry County View. Have you noticed an increase in the number of people around town with backpacks and trekking poles and wondered what they are up to? They are hiking the 1200-mile Pacific Northwest Trail,…

Making Progress at Swift Creek

HAZARDOUS CROSSINGS The Swift and Rainbow Creek crossings in Mount Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest (MBS) have presented formidable challenges on the Pacific Northwest Trail for decades. Without bridges in place, PNT hikers make two back-to-back, heart-pounding crossings. The ford across the icy waters of Swift Creek can be waist deep, even in early August. Both of…

The 1,200 Miler Project

Above: 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…

Celebrating our 40th Anniversary

Above: PNT founder, Ron Strickland summoned 2017 PNT thru-hiker, Tyler Yates, to the stage to speak about the wilderness character of the PNT. Celebrating our 40th Anniversary On a foggy August morning in the Puget Sound, Pacific Northwest Trail enthusiasts from all over the country joined the Pacific Northwest Trail Association to celebrate two…

Volunteer Spotlight: David Zermeno

Before setting out on his Crown-to-Coast adventure on the Pacific Northwest Trail this summer, thru-hiker David Zermeno spent an entire month volunteering with the PNTA! David gave a whopping 177 hours in service to the trail and helped make our 2017 mapset possible. I first met David at an outreach event, called “Plan Your…

National Trails Day, 2017

Above: PNTA staff and SWITMO volunteers pose in front of new PNT signage on the John Tursi Trail on National Trails Day, 2017 National Trails Day, 2017 The Pacific Northwest Trail Association celebrated National Trails Day on the newest addition to the PNT, the John Tursi Trail, with two exciting events. Thanks to the American…

How PNTA Leadership Could Become a Model for the Trails Stewardship Act

IN THIS ARTICLE: Meeting the Challenge of Maintaining the PNT With Less Funding, How Will Trails Stay Open? Challenges to Maintaining the PNT in the Colville National Forest How the Colville Model Suggests a Way Forward Collaboration with the Back Country Horsemen of Washington Teaching Trail Skills to the Student Conservation Association Providing Job…

What a Difference a Mile Will Make

How the Finished Tursi Trail Perfects the PNT on Fidalgo Island History has shown that achieving the best possible route for a National Scenic Trails can take decades of collaboration and effort to accomplish. The John Tursi trail, finished in 2016, will trade traffic for tread on Fidalgo Island. The details: the PNT makes use…

Welcome to our team!

The Pacific Northwest Trail Association is pleased to introduce Eric Wollborg as the newest member of our growing team. After thru-hiking the PNT end-to-end, Eric knew he found his favorite National Scenic Trail. He saw the untapped potential of this adventure-packed trail to satisfy the need for wilderness in the next generation of hikers. A…

PNTA’s Next Executive Director

The Board of Directors has selected Jeff Kish as PNTA’s next Executive Director. Jeff is an accomplished thru-hiker who comes to the PNTA with completed end-to-end hikes of both the Pacific Northwest Trail and the Pacific Crest Trail under his belt. As a outdoor industry journalist, he brought the story of the PNT to an…

How to Prepare

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.…

Blog Posts of the Pacific Northwest Trail Association

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