The Pacific Crest National Scenic Trail (PCT) is a 2,650 mile footpath spanning the Western United States from Mexico to Canada. It is open only to hikers and equestrains. Bikes and motorized vehicles are not allowed. The trail crosses California, Oregon, and Washington though I’m hiking it Southbound (SOBO) meaning I am walking from the Northern Terminus to the Southern. I set out with the intention of thruhiking the trail, hiking it in it’s entirety in one multi month adventure. It didn’t work out this way though. After hiking all of Washington, ~500 miles, I hit a wall of forest fires closing most of the trail through Oregon and Northern California. Instead of hopscotching around all the closures and skipping hundreds of miles, I decided to change up my plans. I hitched to Oregon with some trail-friends and picked up a friends van which I drove all the way to Bishop, California to hike an off-trail route through the High Sierra: Andrew Skurka’s Kings Canyon High Basin Route (KCHBR). My PCT thruhike awaits another year.