Hiking the Pacific Crest Trail is Hard. And Climate Change Is Making It Harder.

KQED's Forum

Stretching 2,600 miles from Mexico to Canada, the Pacific Crest Trail winds through the Mojave Desert, up to the Sierras and along the Cascades. Backpackers who have hit the trail rave about its beauty and many include “thru hiking” the entirety of the trail on their bucket lists. But what has always been a difficult journey is now getting even harder due to climate change. We’ll talk about how extreme weather, drought and wildfires have impacted the trail, known as the PCT, from beginning to end. Have you hiked the PCT? What was your journey like?

Guests:

Rowan Moore Gerety, Reporter, Gerety's recent piece for the New York Times is titled "Heat, Water, Fire: How Climate Change Is Transforming the Pacific Crest Trail."

Jazmin Ortega, Pacific Crest Trail Thru Hiker, Ortega thru hiked the Pacific Crest Trail in 2019. Her trail name is Flamethrower.

Scott Wilkinson, Content Development Director, Pacific Crest Trail Association, a nonprofit focused on protecting and preserving the

Pacific Crest National Scenic.