Thru-Hiking Culture
Congratulations to These 2026 Pacific Crest Trail Finishers (Part 3)
The Pacific Crest Trail is one of North America’s most beautiful and iconic thru-hikes, stretching 2,650 miles from the Mexican border all the way to Canada. Every year, thousands of...
Opinion: I Hate This Roadless Area on the PCT. Help Me Protect It
This is a guest post by Josh Sanders, a PCT thru-hiker with a background in environmental policy. It may sound strange, but I’m going to spend the next few minutes...
Congratulations to These 2026 Pacific Crest Trail Finishers (Part 2)
The Pacific Crest Trail is one of North America’s most beautiful and iconic thru-hikes, stretching 2,650 miles from the Mexican border all the way to Canada. Every year, thousands of...
Congratulations to These 2026 Pacific Crest Trail Finishers (Part 1)
The Pacific Crest Trail is one of North America’s most beautiful and iconic thru-hikes, stretching 2,650 miles from the Mexican border all the way to Canada. Every year, thousands of...
Grit & Glam: 60 Glorious Hiker Portraits From PCT Days 2026
Whether you’re a SOBO marking your first state down, a NOBO pre-partying the end of your thru-hike as you head into Washington, or just a hobo like me returning for...
2026 PCT Thru-Hikers: Submit Your Finish Photos To Be Featured on The Trek
Did you complete the Pacific Crest Trail in 2026? We insist, simply INSIST that you allow us to congratulate you. Finishing a thru-hike means one chapter of your life is...
Lost on Mount Whitney: This Hike Was No Picnic, Despite the Picnic Table
This is a guest post by Andrea Ehrgott. Full bio at the end. My two daughters, Alex and Anna, and their friend Mikaela, had permits to climb Mt. Whitney, the...
The Real Hiking Viking’s 10 PCT Hot Takes
You know, a lot of people say that hiking the PCT is the easiest of all the Triple Crown trails. Well, I’m here to tell you—it’s not like that. If...
7 Future Thru-Hikers Share Their “Why”
Why do people thru-hike? Thru-hiking attracts people for all sorts of different reasons. So, we asked 2026 thru-hikers: Why are you hiking? What are you looking for? What are you
I Worried That Quitting To Hike the PCT Would Mess Up My Career. I Was Totally Right
This is a guest post by Tim "Darko" Mathis (full bio at the end). Submit your own thru-hiking story to The Trek here. 10 years ago my wife and I...
