In part one of our conversation with Mark Larabee, editor of PCTA’s Pacific Crest Trail Communicator, he shared his early memories of hiking the Pacific Crest Trail, and how he came to turn his passion for the trail into a career to help promote and protect it. Last year, Larabee teamed up with thru-hiker and outdoor …
Spring may be in the air, but winter is still in the mountains. This past season, the West Coast experienced record snowfall. Some regions in California’s Sierras and Oregon’s Siskiyous received up to 180% of their normal snow levels. Even now, many of Oregon’s mountain passes are still snowed in and receiving new snowfall. This signals …
When it comes to drinking water in the backcountry, you can never be too careful. There are some nasty bugs and viruses that inhabit mountain streams and lakes. Contracting one of these bugs can lead to some very discomforting experiences—to say the least. That’s why, as one of hiking’s Ten Essentials, you should always carry (and …
In typical Northwest fashion, we ushered in spring of this year under chilly, gray skies with scattered showers and snow still falling across the Cascade Range and Pacific Crest Trail. This past winter was especially brutal in Oregon and Washington, and has resulted in widespread damage to trails in both states—and that’s just what we’ve been able to see so …
This spring, we’re touring the Northwest to showcase the new guidebook, Hiking the Pacific Crest Trail: Oregon. We’ll be appearing at bookstores, gear shops, hiking clubs and local hiker hangouts. At each event, guidebook author Eli Boschetto breaks down the state’s 455 miles of Oregon’s PCT into manageable sections—each with stunning routes that can be …
At his core, PCT Communicator editor Mark Larabee is an outdoor lover. He plainly admits that he would rather be out hiking, rock climbing, bicycling or playing in the water than anything else. He took his first hike on the Pacific Crest Trail in 1990 in the Ansel Adams Wilderness, in California. Larabee concedes that he didn’t know much …