The Best Moments of the Pacific Crest Trail (2023 Survey)
As part of the Pacific Crest Trail Hiker Survey, I ask hikers to share their hikes’ scariest and lowest moments. However, I recently began asking hikers to share the best moments from their PCT hikes as well.
It’s good to remember that there will be difficult times on the Pacific Crest Trail, but also, there are some damn good reasons that inspire people to begin (and stick out) a PCT thru-hike.
Some common responses to the question “What was your best moment on trail?” include:
- All of it
- Forester Pass (Sierra)
- Crater Lake (Oregon)
- Goat Rocks (Washington)
- Mount Whitney (Sierra)
- and “the Sierra”
But there’s a lot more to tell than simply the names of some of the most scenic and most recognizable places along the PCT. Here are the best moments of this year’s PCT hikes.
Notes on the Data
- This year, there were 751 completed surveys. Hiking next year? Sign up to take the survey here.
- The Pacific Crest Trail and thru-hiking generally use acronyms and jargon. The thru-hiker glossary may help clarify anything that needs to be clarified. Please comment if you still can’t find what you’re looking for.
- I refer to survey respondents collectively as this year’s “class.” Remember, this is a sample (albeit a large one) and not a comprehensive survey of every person on the PCT.
- Lastly, remember that each bullet point below comes from a single hiker.
- To be notified of new survey posts, click here.
Trail Magic
- After a late-in-the-day nearly hip-high water crossing in an area I didn’t expect to see water above the knee, I arrived at a campground to find that trail angels were waiting with a warm fire, hot soup, snacks, and beverages.
- I woke up after my first night camping alone with my feet in terrible pain (bad footwear). My only remaining “water” was half a liter of Gatorade, and my phone and battery died in the night. I went for my morning poop and very sadly bideted with Gatorade when I saw someone running down the trail. Luckily I got my pants back on before more runners arrived, and I realized I was camped in the middle of a trail race! I sadly and painfully set off down the trail with no water to make breakfast or coffee, no maps, no music, and no camera. Just 0.5 mi / 800 m from camp, I ran into the most glorious aid station I had ever seen! I was the first thru-hiker to arrive, and I was treated like royalty. Over 25 race supporters cheered me on, clapping and blowing horns. They pulled a chair up for me and handed me a mimosa! I got to cheer on the racers as they went by, and I ate donuts and watermelon. I got my water bottles refilled, my phone recharged, and one woman even offered to GIVE ME HER ALTRAS!
- It was 109°F / 43°C when we left Mount Shasta (California). I was hot, tired, and feeling pretty miserable. We decided to take a road walk shortcut. We stumbled across a natural hot spring that we camped at. The next morning, a man on a four-wheeler drove by and asked where we were going. He gave four of us hikers a ride over 20 mi / 32 km away on his four-wheeler. One of my worst days ended up turning into one of the best.
- Tehachapi to Walker Pass, we were in a big bubble with all our friends, getting close to the Sierra and encountered the most amazing trail magic. It was a stretch of pure bliss, enjoyment, and privilege that I got to experience nature, love, and friendship in this way. While it wasn’t the most scenic, it was the most content I’ve ever felt living in a single moment.
- Coming into the Mike Urlich Cabin after a hot, long, exhausting day, trail angels had set up with sodas/beer and meatball subs, then made pancakes and breakfast sandwiches in the morning. Enormous.
Trail Surprises
- After Cascade Locks, Oregon, I felt really good, so I did two of my biggest days to reach Washington. I ended up running into trail magic three nights in a row on my way to Trout Lake, Washington, since it was after Trail Days. I ended up in the bubble of hikers, and we hiked the rest of Washington together. We took it easy, fished, swam at every lake in this section, and enjoyed ourselves. Then we had a zero in town and floated a river!
- Honestly, every day was the best. The people, the trail, the towns. I loved it all. Even at my lowest moment, when I broke my big toe, people helped me every which way, and I was back out hiking in less than a week.
- A friend from home/Germany surprised me on the trail on the last day before hitting Kennedy Meadows South (KMS). He was on vacation with his wife and child in the US and stalked my Garmin GPS data for weeks. Eventually, he waited three hours for me on a dirt road in the middle of nowhere just to cheer me up on what was the darkest day for me on the trail so far. This saved me and motivated me to hike after KMS.
- My husband surprised me on my birthday by showing up at my campsite. He drove nine hours to get there.
- The best moment on the trail was two days after my worst day. I’d just had an amazing time at the hot springs, and on my hike out of there towards Silverwood Lake, I met some hikers who were headed to the Joshua Inn for the night. My plan was to make more miles, but I decided to take a chance and join them. We opened the bar and closed the bar that night. We drank so much, danced, ate some weird food a random biker gave us, and I learned how to play shuffleboard. After the bar was closed, we sat around a burn barrel for a couple more hours before finally going to sleep. These people became my trail family after that.
Doing Hard Things
- After getting up in a thunderstorm in the Sierra and racing over Pinchot Pass and later Glen Pass, the feeling of accomplishment and pride was overwhelming. Knowing that we had taken a risk and made a truly insane effort felt so good—it was the proudest I had been on the trail.
- Getting to the top of Forester Pass and being on top of the world and like we could do the rest with no problem.
- The day I got to Sonora Pass. It was a pretty tough climb through the snow to get up to the final 10-mi / 16-km ridge walk before descending into the pass. Once I got to the top, it was mostly snow free and 360° views. Then, the last 2 mi / 3.2 km leading down to the road was one long, low-consequence descent that was entirely covered in snow. I got to boot-ski all the way down from the top of the ridge to just before the road at Sonora Pass. Between the beautiful views, the excitement to be finishing the high Sierra and the extended snowy stretches, and the fun of boot skiing down the mountain, Sonora Pass will stand out as one of my best hiking days of all time.
- Glenn Pass was by far the most exhausting pass due to the powdery/postholey snow. There, I really pushed myself to the limit – my “why” for doing the PCT.
- Reaching the summit of Mount Whitney was a huge highlight (although not technically on the trail). Until then, given everything we’d heard about how hard it would be, I didn’t feel sure I could do the Sierra. On the way to Whitney, my hiking partner and I accidentally took an ice chute directly up (we were the first ones up that day and didn’t realize there were switchbacks and boot track), so we were holding on with our crampons and ice axes. Once we made it up, I was so elated to be alive. We also managed to stay calm under a highly dangerous and stressful situation. The deliriousness and the beautiful views were hugely energizing for me. I realized I could do hard things. I felt like I could handle anything in the Sierra after that. Forester, by comparison, felt totally manageable, and everything else after that was fine as well. Nothing felt insurmountable at that point.
- We entered the Sierra as the second group of the year, not knowing what was ahead of us as the first person hadn’t exited yet. For six days, we knew the crux of the section was if we could make it over Forester Pass. The morning of the last day, we woke up at 4 am, 4 mi / 6 km south of the pass. Everything was completely covered in snow except for the top two switchbacks. Crossing over the ice chute was absolutely terrifying, but when we got to the sign at the top, a week of fear melted away, and I knew we had done it.
- Saying yes to going into the Sierra with a fantastic, amazing group of people from all around the world, I am so glad I didn’t skip or flip-flop. It was the best decision I ever made. It was so challenging both physically and mentally, but it was the part of the trail I had the most highs.
Magical Nature
- We camped at the top of a pass in Northern Washington just as the Perseid meteor showers were peaking. Getting up at midnight and lying in the grass in our sleeping bags, watching countless shooting stars across the Milky Way, I felt more at peace than at pretty much any other point on the trail or in my life.
- After getting to the first ridge overlooking Goat Rocks in Washington, I felt like I was again in the mountains. I had lost that feeling through Oregon, and it had been raining the past few days, so to see the Goat Rocks open up with clear skies and hear pikas squeaking from all around the talus fields was an absolute joy.
- Goat Rocks Wilderness was insane. We had perfect weather, so we cowboy camped up Old Snowy. It was such an incredible place, and we saw an amazing sunset and sunrise and the Perseid Meteor shower. It felt like a once-in-a-lifetime kind of experience.
- Seeing Crater Lake for the first time. After so much time in beautiful nature, you sometimes get kinda blind to it, but Crater Lake was so overwhelmingly beautiful that I cried happy tears.
- There is no one moment – that would be like trying to name your favorite leaf on your favorite tree. One of the most impactful moments was summiting Old Snowy (tiny side quest, do it!) by myself and thinking how far I’ve come. I would never have done that just a year ago, but being on the PCT made me so much braver.
Zero Days
- After night hiking the Aqueduct (Desert) and passing out alone under a tree, I woke up in the afternoon with all my friends sleeping in the shade around me. We all then took an on-trail zero hanging out under the tree. We were ahead of schedule, so we slowed down and enjoyed reading and meditating at camp earlier in the afternoon.
- Our zero day in Stehekin, Washington, was absolutely magical. We spent it with our second trail family, eating baked goods from the bakery, hanging by the lake drinking beers, swimming, and soaking up the sun. A close second was summitting Mount Whitney, which marked the end of our thru-hike. All the emotions came out for what we had just accomplished.
- Spending the day on the boat dock in Shelter Cove, Oregon, where we drank beers, kayaked, and had a silent disco around the campfire.
- I got a suite in Leavenworth, Washington, and had a great time with a bunch of new friends I had just met. We had a jacuzzi, lots of beer, great meals, and an ad-hoc birthday party. So rejuvenating having that experience before heading back on the trail and into a huge storm.
- Zeroing in Hisperia with locals we made friends with on their ranch, a trail zero at Deep Creek Hot Springs, and a trail nearo on our way back to Harts Pass after reaching the border.
Photo: Jen Provance, PCT Class of 203
Trail Moments
- Everyone applauded me as I walked into Kennedy Meadows. That felt pretty special.
- Hitting the terminus was such an incredible moment. After a crazy year, it felt incredible to make it there finally, and I probably saw 50 hikers that day between my walk to and from the terminus I had met on the trail but had not seen in months. It was so fun to catch up with so many old faces on that last day.
- I loved Kennedy Meadows South. Such good vibes! Everyone was drinking and socializing on the general store deck, everyone was so happy to have finished the desert—such a good time.
- My best moments on the trail were celebrations of SNOBOS finishing at Kennedy Meadows South. A storm had forced us all into a bubble of 30-ish hikers. It was so fun celebrating finishes at KMS, on top of Whitney, at Cottonwood Pass, and at Walker Pass. Those few days felt like a party.
- I was alone hiking on a mountain in the desert as the sun was setting and the wind was blowing. I took off my underwear for the first time while hiking (I was chaffing so bad), and I took off my hat and let my hair just blow, and I felt so free—Cheryl Strayed moment for real.
- My friends and I had eaten at Timberline Lodge that morning/afternoon and then did the Paradise Loop trail to get right under Mt. Hood. I think we could see Portland, and it was an easy day. I was with my trail family (one of the last times I would camp with them before I sped up). It was the most beautiful sunset, and then it rained in the morning while I was cowboy camping.
- I Reached Timberline Lodge (Oregon) at the end of my 24-hour challenge. It was a beautiful day, the people were so kind, and I felt so strong and accomplished. I had the best dinner and the best night’s sleep I’ve ever had.
Photo: Alec “Snapshot” Anderson, PCT Class of 2023
The People
- In South Lake Tahoe (California) at the campground. A big family was camping right by the PCT area, 6 feet from my tent. They were playing lots of music all day, and they were not slowing down going into the night. At 10 pm, all the other hikers went to sleep, and I knew I wouldn’t be able to with the music and noise they were making, so I walked up to them and said, “Hey, my tent is right here, you guys are super loud, and there’s no way I can sleep like this…can I join you?” They happily welcomed me, I had drinks and s’mores and played beer pong with them until 1 am. It was one of, if not the best, night I’ve had on trail. When they left, they called me over to take a picture with them, about 20 people.
- Reunited with my trail family in Idyllwild, a friend made a comment that reminded me of a song I liked to play on the guitar. As it happened, the AirBnB had a toy guitar with plastic strings. I had never really played for people before, but I tuned up the guitar and started playing the song. A couple of verses in, everybody was into it, much to my astonishment. I was so happy to have created a moment for other people.
- All my best moments on the trail involved the hikers I was hiking with. They got me through the journey.
- In Idyllwild, we had a hiker meetup in the bunkhouse parking lot. I saw people I hadn’t expected to see again and had great conversations. It was a lot of fun, and everyone was excited and grateful to be on the trail because we were all so new to such a long thru-hike.
- It isn’t easy to say because I loved every moment of the trail. The people I met made it my home for six months. But I remember this beautiful moment somewhere in the desert with the super bloom and the sunset. It was magical to see and experience with my trail family.
Have a tale of greatness from a Pacific Crest Trail hike? Leave a comment below to share it with future PCT classes!
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