In 2019 we undertook our latest adventure: hiking in California, Arizona, and Washington in what we called Trekking the U.S. West. During our three treks, we hiked 550 miles. Our routes included:
- Pacific Crest Trail Lake Fire Detour – 3 days, 33 miles
- Arizona Trail: Northern Section – 14 days, 13 stages, 200 miles
- Pacific Crest Trail Washington – 22 days, 20 stages, 317 miles
At the conclusion of each trek, we made short summary videos that you can watch below.
Pacific Crest Trail Lake Fire Detour – April 2019
The PCT Lake Fire hike provided us with an opportunity to trek a section of the trail that we had to skip in 2016, due to a fire closure. It also gave us a chance to complete a training hike before our longer treks later in the year. During this hike in April, we encountered heat, snow, eroded trail, and many river crossings. We also gained over 7,000 feet of elevation as we climbed from the California desert into the mountains.
Arizona Trail: Northern Section – May 2019
In May we traveled to Flagstaff, Arizona to begin hiking north toward Utah. This 200-mile section of the 800-mile Arizona Trail is one of its most scenic, traveling through the Grand Canyon before ending at the red cliffs of the Arizona and Utah border. We were fortunate to stay at Phantom Ranch at the bottom of the Grand Canyon. And hiking rim to rim through the canyon was a highlight for us. Our summary video focused on our time there.
Pacific Crest Trail: Washington – July 2019
After our Pacific Crest Trail trek in 2016, we had about 800 miles left to complete the 2,650-mile path. Washington has some of the highest daily elevation gains and losses on the entire PCT. Our hikes in April and May prepared us well for the 317-mile distance that we covered over three weeks in July.
Before injuries forced us to end our hike prematurely, we marveled at the beautiful forests, rivers, and lakes that we saw in Washington. We enjoyed the variety of blooming wildflowers as we trekked. And we never tired of the mountain vistas we saw as we passed Mount Adams and Mount Rainier before entering the heart of the North Cascades.