Pacific Crest Trail - Notable Hikers

Notable Hikers

Before the PCT was planned, Martin Papendick was the first known person to hike across the three states of the PCT in 1952. After being one of the first to finish the Appalachian trail in 1951, Papendick hiked between July 4 and December 1, 1952, from British Columbia to the Mexican border over the crests of the mountains along the Pacific Coast, a feat he reported in a periodical under the title "Pacific Crest Trails". Predating the trail by several decades, Papendick necessarily walked a different route than the current PCT, but the Pacific Crest Trail Association (PCTA) acknowledges him as the first thru-hiker.

In 1971, Eric Ryback, an 18-year-old student, was popularly credited as the first thru-hiker on the trail. Ryback's 1971 book The High Adventure of Eric Ryback: Canada to Mexico on Foot focused public attention on the PCT. Ryback carried an 80-pound pack on his 1970 thru-hike. He had only five resupply packages on the entire trip, and was loaded with 40 pounds of food at the start of each leg. He often ran out of food and foraged or went hungry. Ryback also helped the Forest Service lay out future plans for the PCT. The guide books "The Pacific Crest Trail: Volume One and Volume Two", raised doubts about Ryback's claim and produced evidence that he accepted rides for some of the journey. Ryback and Chronicle Publishers sued Wilderness Press, the publisher of the guide books, but the suits were dropped in 1974.

The first person to hike the PCT from south to north was Richard Watson, who completed the trail on September 1, 1972. Watson was often credited as the first PCT thru-hiker, because Papendick was generally unknown, and Ryback may have accepted rides. The first woman to complete the PCT was Mary Carstens, who finished the journey later in 1972 accompanied by Jeff Smukler.

The first person to thru-hike the entire PCT both ways in a single continuous round-trip was Scott Williamson, who completed the "yo-yo" circuit on his fourth attempt in November 2004. Williamson traveled a total of 5,300 miles (8,530 km) in 197 days, covering an average of 35 to 40 miles (56 to 64 km) per day when not in snow – an overall average of 27 miles (43 km) per day – wearing an extremely ultra-lightweight pack, which "without food, weighed about 8.5 pounds (3.9 kg)". Williamson then went on to complete a second round trip on November 28, 2006, cutting two weeks off his 2004 time. Williamson also holds the speed-record for the trail, walking solo and without a support team north to south between August 8 and October 11, 2011, in 64 days, 11 hours, 19 minutes, for a average of 41 miles per day.

The youngest person to thru-hike the trail is Mary Chambers, who hiked the route from April – October 2004 at the age of 10. She completed the trek with her parents, Barbara Egbert and Gary Chambers. Egbert wrote a book about their experiences on the trail titled Zero Days. It was published in January 2008 by Wilderness Press.

An autobiographical account of a woman hiking the PCT alone at age 26 was written by Cheryl Strayed. Her memoir Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail was published in 2012.

The oldest person to thru-hike the trail is not known.