Wildlife Of The Pacific Crest Trail
Reading Time: 4 minutes Spending months (or maybe a month) out on the Pacific Crest Trail, you are guaranteed to run into some wildlife.
This wildlife could be as boring as the “cheeseburger” birds taunting you with reminders of food you can’t eat (Cheeseburger bird? Yes, cheeseburger bird. Go hike the PCT and you’ll know what I’m talking about), or as exciting as a predatory mountain lions stalking you over the course of a day and night (and then killing you).
The desert offers PCT hikers chances to see countless rattlesnakes, infinity lizards, and a healthy helping of cattle. The Sierra introduces the chirpy bastards that are marmots and maybe a bear or two if you’re lucky. Northern California to the Canadian border? Best just check out the photos and see for yourself.
The following photos are in chronological order (beginning at the PCT Southern Terminus) and reflect only a sliver of the animals I encountered hiking the PCT.
Getting ready for a Pacific Crest Trail thru-hike yourself? What animal(s) are you most looking forward to seeing? To not seeing?
Leave a comment below and let me know!
Hi. The 4th pic, anybody know exactly what kind of lizard that is?
Thanks.
A delicious one?
Well, it is protein.
The snake is a milk snake. Also sometimes known as a scarlet king snake, which is more apt since it is closely related to the more common yellow/black king snakes. Anyway, non-venomous. It is sometimes confused with the highly venomous coral snake, which have a similar coloration scheme. I steer clear of the scarlet king snakes because I am never 100% sure that I am remembering correctly which coloration variation indicates the safe snake.
Cool! I saw that guy on my last day in the desert. Even if he had bitten me and turned out to have been poisonous, I don’t think my spirit would have been the least bit crushed.
I will update the caption. Thanks for the info!
‘Red on black, venom lack; red on yellow, deadly fellow.’
I like it.