In Journeys North, legendary trail angel, thru hiker, and former PCTA board chair Scout spins compelling tales of hikers on the Pacific Crest Trail in 2007 as they walk from Mexico to Canada.

That year terrible snow storms rocked the Canadian border starting the last days in September.

Barney (Scout) Mann hiked with wife Sandy (Frodo) Mann, and recounts fascinating stories of others they traveled alongside that season.

For me, Blazer was the most interesting.

The book is unusual.  Not your standard step-by-step trail journal.

Instead the time line jumps forward and back along the trail, using PCT anecdotes to illustrate bigger life lessons.

If asked to recommend just one book on the PCT, Journeys North would be it.  The best starting point for a hiker considering it. 

Other excellent and inspiring reads include:

• • Last Englishman: A Thru-Hiking Adventure on the Pacific Crest Trail by Keith Foskett
  • Thru-Hiking Will Break Your Heart … An Adventure on the Pacific Crest Trail by Carrot Quinn

Amazon

Barney Scout Mann has hiked the Appalachian, Pacific Crest, and Continental Divide Trails. He has been board chair of the Pacific Crest Trail Association and is president of the Partnership for the National Trails System. Mann has been recognized with a Lowell Thomas Journalism Award and is the coauthor of The Pacific Crest Trail: Exploring America’s Wilderness Trail and author of The Continental Divide Trail: Exploring America’s Ridgeline Trail. He and his wife, Sandy, live in San Diego and have hosted more than 7,000 PCT hikers. Visit him online at BarneyScoutMann.com.

Trip report by BestHike editor Rick McCharles

Click PLAY or watch a short video on YouTube.

See how poorly my own video compares with that one.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

Easy access from Campbell River on Vancouver Island.

The up-and-back Elk River trail to Landslide Lake is one of the best hikes in Canada. 

• 22km return
• 1-3 days
• 875m elevation gain/loss
• Landslide lake  890m
• pay camping fee at trailhead (CAD $10 / person in 2020)
• no electricity nor mobile phone service. I carried a solar charger.
• Phillip Stone – Exploring Strathcona Park guidebook

This is classic temperate rain forest. Old growth following the Elk River.

I got to the trailhead late in the afternoon early September.

Made the decision to hike only as far as the Butterwort campground (6km) rather than the more popular Upper Gravel Bar campground (9km).

The two campgrounds are literally gravel bars. Nothing fancy.

Next morning I headed on towards the Upper Gravel Bar campground.

In 2020 the old pit toilets were being replaced. Temporary tent toilets in place.

Both campgrounds offer a chance to protect your food from bears.  I also had cheeky rodents appear twice at dinner while camping in the Elk River.

The highlight of the Elk River Trail is the last 1km scramble up to Landslide Lake.

The colours are gorgeous.

Landslide Lake was changed to the current form in 1946 by Canada’s largest recorded earthquake on land, measuring 7.2, centred in the nearby Forbidden Plateau area. The North Tower of Mount Colonel Foster sheared off, much of it collapsing into the lake.

related – MB Guiding – Elk River Trail

Tune in to this week’s episode of the Out and Back podcast as Mary tells a thrilling tale about her early days as a wilderness ranger in the Lake Tahoe Basin.

Hear about her first night spent alone in the wilderness and what happened months later when she discovered that a man had been following her around the backcountry. …

Mary … is the Out and Back podcast producer and a writer and editor at Gaia GPS.

When she is not in the office, Mary works as a guide for Andrew Skurka Adventures in wild places around the west, like Rocky Mountain National Park, Yosemite, and the Brooks Range in Alaska. …

Click through to listen to the story online:

Solo Backpacking with a Stalker

Our favourite hiking area in the Canadian Rockies is Lake O’Hara. 

But it’s extremely difficult to get a reservation.

Our friends at travel2walk did the famed circuit the hard way:

• distance: 14.3 miles (23.0 km)
• elevation change: 4651 ft. ascent (1418 m) & 3228 ft. descent (984 m)
• time: 8:23 hours (7:17 moving)

They hiked in 6.9 miles (11 km) on the Lake O’Hara fire road.  Did the Circuit.  And were lucky enough to get seats on the 4:30pm bus out (CAD$9.75 fee per person cash).

Read their August 2019 Trip Report:

Yoho National Park – Lake O’Hara Alpine Circuit

To learn more check out Lake O’Hara Alpine Circuit information page.

Autumn is a good time to make the long day hike, by the way.

On a recent backcountry hike my friend Karen brought super-lightweight Birkenstocks as her camp shoes.

She loves them.

Very easy to clean, they are made of ethylene vinyl acetate (EVA) which is a something between foam and rubber.

Like many plastics, EVA is difficult to biodegrade. 

There are many different styles for both Men and Women.

Planned is a a 12,000-mile loop of existing trails, roads, and off-trail travel.

Something like this.

Rue McKenrick, a triple crown veteran, walked away from his home in Bend.  And is inventing the route as he goes along.

When COVID-19 hit, Rue kept hiking — but

“no longer resupplied in towns, relying on a 7 day resupply box which was sent to remote post offices. I utilized lesser known trails and continued up the east coast on the avoiding the popular, but closed Appalachian trail. …”

It’s a work in progress.

Click through for details:

americanperimetertrailproject.weebly.com

I learned of this project via the Out and Back podcast interview – episode 10 – Rue McKenrick and the American Perimeter Trail