Looking Southwest from the...

Looking Southwest from the top, a climber can take in practically the entire 13 miles of Pacific Crest Trail just traversed en route to the summit! With good weather, the summits of Thomson, Huckleberry, and many other PCT peaks look incredible--certainly more impressive than this dorky little low-res image can hope to suggest. One unanticipated benefit of travelling this far back on the Crest Trail is the solitude; most day hikers simply don't trek this far. Most of the people you do meet are so-called "thru-hikers," members of a dedicated and tough fraternity of long-distance walkers with huge packs and the ability to survive in a self-sufficient manner for weeks or even months at a time. On my exploratory hikes on the PCT this season I met several "thrus" who were hiking from Canada to Mexico! The idea of thru hiking, which used to make me shudder, has actually started to appeal to me, and I hope that in a few years I'll be able to try it. Maybe start out small...you know, crossing a state or two and then working up to the more serious hikes [sheesh!].