A rough year on the Pacific Crest Trail

There are hikers - and then there are hikers like Paula Berry of Sisters. As a warm-up for hiking the Pyrenees in France and Spain next year, she decided to hike all of Oregon's Pacific Crest Trail (PCT) this summer. By all accounts, 2011 has been a rough year on the Pacific Crest Trail, and Berry saw plenty of evidence to bear that out.

On the trail - and in her local business - the 61-year-old fitness buff is known simply by her middle name of "Isabella." She tends to scoff at the notion that her all-across-Oregon hike is a big accomplishment.

"I didn't do that much," she said. "I only did about 375 miles."

For most hikers, covering 15-20 miles per day for days on end is a monumental achievement. Still, she points to PCT thru-hikers who cover up to 30 miles a day over the entire 2,650 mile trek from Mexico to Canada.

"They are the real story," she insists.

According to Isabella, every year, about 300 hikers begin the northward trek in April. Less than half finish. This year, she said, fewer than 100 are likely to complete the entire trail. Still, with trail names like Tweener, Flop, Roadrunner, Cisco, and the Flying German, they keep coming. In spite of the growing number of hikers on the trail, the fraternity of those who have completed the entire trek remains small.

"Marcus, the Flying German, was the front-runner of the thru-hikers," Isabella said. "He came through 500 miles of snow in the Sierras." Snow, of course, was the big story on the trail this year. Isabella said that the Flying German broke his sunglasses and became snow blind for three days. Still, he pressed on by following other hikers while his eyes healed.

Locally, snow buried much of the PCT and other trails well into the hiking season. Numerous hikers in Central Oregon became lost when they were unable to find their way over the snow-covered countryside.

Forest Service officials repeatedly warned hikers about early season trail conditions; and, at one point, reported coming across "an exhausted and distraught" hiker who had been struggling in the snow on the PCT south of McKenzie Pass for two days. According a Forest Service representative, the hiker "reported hiking nearly solid snow and postholing for two days south of Mckenzie Pass before turning around, returning to Highway 242 exhausted and with leg injuries."

Such tales were common this year, but hikers like the Flying German were hardly phased by the daunting conditions. Nor was Isabella. She reported "tons of snow," but didn't feel that it slowed her down much. "I felt like a walking advertisement for the Sisters Athletic Club," she said. "I felt like my athletic routine at the club prepared me perfectly for the challenges I faced on the trail." Her training routine at the club includes swim team practice, spinning classes (stationary bicycle), and circuit fitness training.

"We were constantly having to climb over snow and search for the trail," Isabella said. "We had to sharpen our trail-finding skills this year and compassed off-trail a bit on our own. Sometimes there were footprints in the snow we could follow. Other times we were able to hook up with folks with GPS units.

"I had been telling my hiking partner about the beautiful lupine fields south of Opie Dildock Pass south of McKenzie Pass, but the whole area was buried under snow for over 20 miles. That was the worst stretch of snow we encountered. Darrell, a thru-hiker with a GPS, helped us through that stretch."

Actually, Isabella had two separate hiking partners for her PCT adventure this year. The first joined her for the stretch from southern Oregon to McKenzie Pass. The second was to join her at McKenzie Pass for the northern portion to Cascade Locks. That hiker was delayed, however, so they set out from Santiam Pass to make up for the lost time. Then she hurried back to Sisters to complete the local middle portion with yet another hiker, a friend from Sisters Athletic Club.

For Isabella, the biggest treasure along the PCT is the camaraderie of the hiking community. News flashes up and down the trail by word of mouth, and everyone kind of keeps track of and looks out for everyone else. There are multiple PCT websites, and the PCT Association maintains an official one.

The PCT began to form in the 1920s; and, by the 1930s, the conceptual framework for today's PCT began to take shape with the idea of linking Washington's Cascade Crest Trail, Oregon's Skyline Trail, and California's John Muir Trail. In 1968, the trail was formally designated, but the final dedication of the entire system did not take place until 1993.

The trail is rife with stories from the past and present; some are life-changing. A current Central Oregon schoolteacher, for example, was originally from California but met her future husband - a Bend resident - on the PCT when they unexpectedly shared a campsite.

The logistics of hiking the trail can be daunting. As a result, the hiking community strongly supports its own; and creative means of support and resupply have sprung up all along the route.

Next week: more of Isabella's experiences hiking Oregon's Cascade Mountains and some the planning, equipment, and customs that have become part of life on the trail.