To Measure a Mile | A Pacific Crest Trail Documentary

i think it's the reminiscence of journeys  that paints them with so much beauty it's that constant story playing in your mind  drawing you back to the thousands of miles   the millions of memories and images they all come  crashing around you at the end of a journey like   this a 2 650 mile pilgrimage that brought us from  the blistering desert all the way to this it's   crazy to think this day has actually come you use  it as abstract motivation for months pushing you   through the monotony motivating you through the  pain it's the conclusion we all look forward to   the ultimate finish line but now that we're  here we don't want it to be over these crashing   memories remind us how you fork these months  were despite the heat the rain the incessant snow   these final emotions make us want to just stop and  take it all in but all good things inevitably end   and this day is the closure we  may dread but undoubtedly need this story like the trail starts in mexico three years ago i was on a climbing  trip in hidalgo mexico where i ran   into a guy named andrew eichenlob and we  started exploring the wild area together during our time in el portro chico i told  that give my plans to hike the pacific crest   trail that come in may running from this beautiful  country we were experiencing all the way to canada   it didn't take him long to agree to come with  me and soon we had booked our flights and we're   headed to san diego california we linked up with a  college buddy beau thomas and pulled a crazy hitch   to campo driving through the immense wilderness  the realization of what we were about to undertake   truly set in sprawling ahead of us for the first  700 miles lay nothing but barren isolated desert   but as the southern terminus monument came into  sight this feeling of fear was eclipsed by pure   ecstatic anticipation for the wild adventure  that loomed before us now came the hardest and   most dangerous part of any journey the first  step it's that crazy moments when an abstract   dream becomes a tangible reality it's when months  of planning and years of scheming culminate in   one beautiful physical action and you commit to  this wild life of unknowns and adventure but then   you also start to question yourself am i really  ready for this am i truly prepared to walk across america the first 700 miles of the pct are just brutal  desert mexico to a town called kennedy meadows   arid hot not a lot of shade and water   but some of the most beautiful and stunning  landscapes the country has to offer left the   mexican border may 19th packing everything we  needed for four to five months of traveling   into one backpack each our lives were simplified  to the essentials just what we needed to get by the plan and routine was incredibly  simple hike eat sleep and repeat the terrain and lifestyle was beautiful  but unexpectedly brutal on our bodies   and we soon began to feel the  true weight of the task ahead through hiking completing a long distance trail  and one single unadulterated push had been a dream   and goal of mine since i was a kid the opportunity  to test yourself beyond what you thought you could   accomplish physically and mentally to force  yourself to find your limits and surpass them i   wanted to say that i had tried it that i had given  it at least my best shot see we did 10 miles today embarrassingly sore for 10 months you want to look  at my toes pop the caps but this ambition would be   the end of us if we didn't watch our bodies and a  combination of injuries from the past coupled with   the demanding terrain hit bow like a hammer around  a hundred miles in it hurts it hurts how much   a lot painful tendonitis blisters on each toe  and a flaring i.t band forced us to reassess   how we were taking on the challenge after about  a week of 10 mile days we began to up the mileage   but as the days rolled on it became increasingly  clear that bo wasn't healing like we wanted   i said that i would write you he pushed until  he literally couldn't go any further and then   made the difficult decision to go ahead and  take some time off trail and let his legs heal   up in a stroke of luck we connected with a family  off trail who had been following our journey on   facebook and they offered to take us in for  a few days and help bow out with his injuries   yeah nope not happening we pulled  a quick hitch off trail and soon   found ourselves treated with some of the  first trail magic of the trip oh shoot we are stuffing our faces we just got picked up brought in like the strays  that we are from these beautiful people this is   marilyn over here the hulmans were incredibly  generous but our schedule didn't allow us much   time to spare and while ike and i decided to  push on bo opted to stick around and heal for   a couple more days and potentially meet us  further up the road they resupplied our food   bags and with a bittersweet goodbye we hit the  trail unsure of when or if we'd see beau again like what we got going on over here hey man we've  got some spanish rice oh snap chris also has some   spanish rice here we are getting our special  of the night we took a tortilla covered in oil   sprinkled it with salt we have a little oven's  not the right word but we put some holes under   a rock and now we're heating up this tortilla  to make chips yes spanish rice for dinner   the next stage of the desert put us  through the ringer with longer water   hauls and heinous elevation gains and saying  goodbye to beau to cathole in our mental game   but on trail the highs are high and the  low is low and you gotta keep cranking don't tell me it's real you  feel so cold can you tell me as with anything in life the lows  accentuate the highs and the raw   beauty of this lifestyle coupled with the  increasingly stunning terrain filled us with all   constantly on the move perpetually  pushing our limits and conquering doubts   navigating from brutal but beautiful desert  lowland to pine speckled high mountain peaks   it was an addictive routine   but with this confidence came the dangerous desire  to push the pace we began hitting consistent 30 to   35 mile days in order to blast through the desert  we soon learned our next valuable lesson humility   as both of us tramped our way into potentially  trip ending overuse injuries ike with burly   blood blisters and me with flaring chin splints we  didn't want to but we knew we had to stop and rest let me tell you that downs like 7 000 feet  of elevation just something stupid i think   toenails are about to fall off the next  few days and we get to the post office   and my sleeping bag isn't here nor is his socks we  don't know what's going on and in and out burgers   two miles from here so now we're just bums in a  post office just in the fetal position weeping the   dreams are made up my friend that's right that's  what dreams are made of that's exactly right   injured low on food and lacking the supplies  we had planned on we limped back to the trail   knowing we would have to take at least one zero  day to heal so i'm already low we are in a low   we're living under a bridge for a day with no idea  how long our bodies would take to heal we hunkered   down and prepared to wait it out with what  supplies we had left we passed a sleepless night   with trains barreling down over us every hour and  the next day woke to our injuries still throbbing   we were getting pretty discouraged as we knew  that every day we fell behind was one more day   we had to make up in order to beat the snow in  washington but then something incredible happened   well trail angels have come in clutch again  we got voila just when we were at our lowest   an incredible trail angel named paula heard  about our injuries and came and snatched us   from under the bridge taking us all the way to her  beautiful house in palm springs she put us up in   our own rooms stocked our fridge resupplied our  food bags with mountain house meals said we could   stay as long as we needed until our injuries  had healed this was just what the doctor had ordered   last night we were sleeping under a bridge  with mice and rats crawling around over us   it was a rough night now here we  are boosting it up in paradise that's right after a couple of  days and several epsom salt baths   our injuries had healed and we're ready to  hit the trail again as a thank you to paula   we hitched to a nearby hobby lobby bought  a picture frame and drew her a present   what do you got here buddy so we made paula  this wonderful collage of art she drew costa   rica because that's where she wants to  go this is a quote that she likes to say   in the big picture of the universe anyway that's  what we have for paula as our thank you all right   we're gonna go give it to her right now let's  go good morning paula we have a present for you i'd often heard it said that the joy of the  adventure lies more in the community than   the landscapes that you travel through and that a  journey is measured more in friends than it is in   miles the overwhelming generosity of people  like mama bear as paula likes to be called   and countless others along the trail confirmed  this without a doubt innumerable times we found   ourselves in total dependence to those around us  who are always blown away by their provision and   graciousness sometimes it takes a walk in the  wild to see the best in society but it wasn't   just the people off trail that molded our sense of  community after weeks of traveling in isolation we   finally began to run into other hikers and  form the basics of a wandering trail family   we started rolling with jandals a crusher  from new zealand and an australian wild   woman named road runner that was so much  fun getting to share the peaks and valleys   soreness blisters and joy with a squad of  like-minded travelers was a game changer   and with our injuries behind us and the  company of others our morale climbed again it had taken hundreds of miles but we were  finally starting to feel like through hikers   our muscles were no longer perpetually sore  we began to dial in our resupply methods   and our mental game greatly improves waking  up day after day to hike 25 to 30 miles   was no longer the heinous grind it had been  it simply became our lifestyle and rhythm we were slowly but surely working our way towards  the coveted snow-capped sierra nevada range   and as we near the western arm of the mojave  desert we are greeted with a significant milestone door i'm gonna be thousand miles like we definitely found siesta's schedule  to be the most efficient and enjoyable way   to conquer the desert our late start date  meant that the temperatures were still hotter   and water was growing more scarce by the day   many of the water caches most hikers relied on  were dry and it wasn't uncommon to tackle up to   40-mile stretches between water sources and often  when we reached them they were unreliable at best   what's going on down there this  is where you go down to die definitely we settled for a basically a marsh but if you  think about it as apple juice it's not that bad   questionable water yeah crippling heat long days  aching legs for sure but dang we were getting so   close and in under 200 miles we would hit  kennedy meadows the gateway to snow drenched   peaks glacier-fed streams and cool mountain trees  plus we were kind of getting used to being dirty   and wild and this wandering lifestyle was starting  to grow on us girl magic shows up in many forms wouldn't do me wrong as a young boy i was afraid of deep blue me so much on a big as a young boy i was just finishing up our little super day today  of about 40 miles we are absolutely dead   but we are done with the desert portion  of the pacific crest trail which means   my heart is singing and i am actually ecstatic  because i didn't think it was ever going end   we are 700 miles in now it's been about a month on  the trail and it is so sweet to make it to kennedy   meadows so ahead of us it lies the sierras and we  will hopefully be up in them next week so pumped chris what's that sound that is a sound  that we have not heard in a long time   and it's that of water three days ago just  finished off the desert portion of the pct   absolutely heinous and now we hear this sound   something that we haven't heard in a month and  it is music to our ears absolutely beautiful oh finally we were staring up at it the range  of light as john muir called the sierras   benevolent solemn fateful pervaded with divine  light every landscape glows like a countenance   hallowed in eternal repose home to some of the  nation's most treasured wilderness and landscapes   the limitless mountain streams rejuvenated  us crisp air cooled us and we walked in all   of the towering peaks around us our bodies  and minds changed with the landscapes and   we adopted a renewed drive and purpose  but as is so often the case on trail   the peaks are followed closely by the valleys and  we are both about to go through a heavy low this   is one of the not so fun parts of the pct what  do we got going on we got some injuries going on pinch lens all right i got you yeah  so it's no good can't really walk   and what's the plan chris and i are splitting  off here he's gonna go climb whitney tomorrow i'm   gonna dip off and head into town and you know with  them in a few days but on the bright side we are   going to try and have some gear stripped out here  yes we can climb in yosemite it's going to work   that's right that's exactly right and this isn't  the end he's just just waiting for a little bit out of nowhere shin splints had flared up  just as we reached the first sierra peaks   forcing ike to slow down and eventually stop  completely due to the pain it was devastating   as we had so looked forward to the relief the  sierras would bring and it felt completely unfair   to be charging ahead without him jandals had  unfortunately gotten injured just before kennedy   meadows road runner had slowed down to hike  with her mom who flew from australia and beau   had confirmed a while ago that his injuries were  sending him back home with a heavy heart i pushed   on a loan to whitney with the plan to meet ike in  yosemite where we could only hope he would heal ike's unfortunately having to dip out again gonna  miss him a lot and hiking alone is awesome but   sometimes no fun and sometimes quite lonely   but hey that's what we signed up for sometimes  you just gotta roll with what life throws at you   having to say goodbye to both bo and ike now  a new sense of doubt and fear entered my mind   anything could happen on trail and i wondered  how long it would be before i joined them just now whitney 14 505 feet summiting the highest point along the  pacific crest trail and the lower 48   as the setting sun drenched its jagged peaks  and deep orange and red was euphoric experience   and the raw beauty forced me to lay aside  the anxiety of the unknown for a moment   and truly appreciate how far we had already come all right chris what do we do today today  we summited the highest point in the lower   48 mount whitney at 14 505 feet i met up with  the awesome flat earth and he's an incredibly   rad dude from the netherlands so beautiful day  boom mojo nice one had a great day was absolutely   amazing absolutely amazing i kind of picked a  better partner to do it with man i totally agree   coming off of whitney i regained a lot of  motivation i had lost when ike left the   trail and i pushed on with a renewed drive and  wonder at the ridiculous scenes i found myself in   soon i ran into someone who would play a key  role in my trip though i didn't know it at the   time and grizz and i started traveling together  he also had plans to dip out at independence and   definitely wasn't against a spontaneous climbing  trip in just a couple of days we would hit corsage   pass where we would exit the sierras for our  first resupply since kennedy meadows uh we're   hanging out we're going to pop a forester pass  thank you we're making some victory lasagna   um that we skirted off some jmts oh here  we go victory lasagna oh it's already ready i had been dreaming of climbing  in yosemite since i was a kid   and after finishing my 2017 through  hike the jmt right in the heart of the   valley i told myself i had to make every  effort to climb there when i returned says yo mites yes that's where we're  trying that way we're trying to go   north uh we're going to yosemite we  got some climbing gear shipped in   all right we got a full rack some harnesses  rope shoes sick we're gonna send some nars the birds are trippin the sun gonna shine  and i'll tell you one thing's been on my mind   this world we live in well it's yours  and mine let's make it brighter while we are go that make it happen you  and me just reach out and grab   it and i don't know what you've been told but  it's not time yet it's our world we're all we had made it but we didn't really have any  plan we just knew we wanted to stay there until   at least the fourth of july that we wanted to  climb some dream routes and then get back on   trail as soon as possible but we had nowhere  to stay we didn't even know where to buy food   so we just kind of started dirt bagging it  wandering around the boulders like planning what   we wanted to climb without much direction sort of  lurking in the background when we were with people   or needed to restock on supplies because we didn't  have anything nice to wear except our hiking rags we would scope out food that  tourists wouldn't eat to be   honest we were struck with how weird  it was to be back in society again we would sleep wherever we could until we couldn't  it's like we got a warning so we would climb up   to ledges on routes to spend the nights high  above the trees and well out of everybody's way it took a little bit of adjusting and we had  no idea how long it would take ike to heal   but we were surrounded by the world's most  ridiculous granite walls so we just waited   and climbed everything we could get our hands on  thanks man here we are in the valley we're psyched living the dream baby like two little kids at a  playground the valley completely enraptured us   with its intimidating and bold climbs unlike  anything we had ever seen or thrown ourselves at   being so addicting it held the potential to  seriously suck us in and distract us from our   main objective and we had to make sure to keep the  pct in the forefront of our minds at all times but   the granite paradise we found ourselves in made  it pretty difficult to keep our eyes on the prize soon we ran into a couple of other rad  climbers who happened to work in yosemite   and they opened up their space for us  in the wild employee tent city of huff   new friends new adventures things were  going well but as the fourth of july   approached we turned our thoughts to the  probability of ike getting back on trail   he had now been off trail for a week and some  change yet his shins were still complaining and   it was looking like waiting completely for them to  heal would put me too far behind schedule already   we were pushing it to make it to washington  before the snow hit so reluctantly we agreed   that he would stay in yosemite as i pushed on  after a couple days more in the valley it was the   last thing we wanted to do but the smartest so we  planned out our last few days together carefully   and told ourselves we wouldn't let it ruin the  beautiful journey we had already shared together what are we about to do tomorrow tomorrow  we're going to climb a very large wall not   a big wall technically i don't know royal  arches 15 pitches up okay sleeping up there   hopefully and then we may continue up north down  up the south face of north carolina it's gonna be   a very long day on very little food and water but  what the heck what the heck good night we're live   here at the base of royal arches and possibly  south face of north dome so we i don't know   what we're about to get ourselves into the  highest thing we've done is 23 pitches of sport   together and this is gonna be 23 pitches of tread  so see how it goes for the bivvy tonight we have a   luxurious puffy each and a little sheet of tyveks  to sleep on so it's going to be a little cuddle   cuddle you know what i mean and fingers crossed  there's a spring at the top to refill in water oh   we have a restaurant now only for a while once again ike was staying behind and against  every bone in his body this time it was for good   after a while as if the mountains wanted to draw  me further into their beautiful but forboding   isolation chris knight also separated as  he took some time to hike with his dad   for over 215 miles the sierra portion of the pct  crosses zero roads or towns and feels wild and   untamed as incredible as this seclusion  is it takes its toll and soon the mental   challenge of the journey truly began to set in  as loneliness and silence tore at my stamina   but it's the fusion of the mental and the  physical that makes the journey so incredible   and it almost felt right to  finally be experiencing both i'll give you a little tour of the house here   right now i'm in the bedroom the master bedroom  here we got the kitchen quality pbj there we   got the office right there uh got the guest  bedroom down there and there is the bathroom   charging back into the sierras  was an absolute joy for me   despite the loneliness as i had the  opportunity to relive the plethora   of euphoric memories i had made during my  2017 through hike of the john muir trail   it's known as one of the most beautiful 200-mile  stretches on earth with its glacier-carved peaks   pristine alpine lakes and scenic meadows and  valleys its beautiful silence and seclusion   screams unfathomable beauty at each turn the  jmt not only represented a redefinition of   magnificence in my mind but was the catalyst  for my passion for through hiking and one of   the main reasons i found myself toeing  the line of the pct so many miles ago   this time getting to experience  it completely alone i found myself   able to truly absorb the unique solitude and  visual stimulation it offers and it further   transformed my approach to tackling long trails  while our late start date would force me to still   push the miles to finish on time i couldn't  let the landscapes and grandeur be eclipsed   by the constant grind and personal competition  we only experience moments and landscapes like   this once or twice in a rare lifetime and  it would be a shame to let it pass you by   making the conscious effort to stop  and stare at a mountain peak or raging   waterfall that captures your eyes often takes a  tremendous effort on the through hiking mindset   but 99 of the time i can promise you slowing down  when you feel the urge will enrich your journey   and cause you to deeper appreciate the  opportunity of walking through such a paradise it's just extremely hard to describe  a show how beautiful the scene is just massive peaks three symmetrical waterfalls  dumping into a beautiful valley and then boom sun shooting rays into tuolumne valley  highlighting that hill with golden light standing here on top of donahue pass the gateway  out of the sierras it's pretty surreal to be done   with this stage of the journey and so i'm excited  to move on i'm super sad to be done with these   beautiful mountains going to be hitting a thousand  miles soon in just under two months since mexico   has been a wild wild ride hopefully i can get  down and out of this pass before storm hits   i don't know what's wrong with  me but i freaking love this crap i had finally made it to norcal a coveted  checkpoint in the thru-hiker's journey   and passing through the sierras  felt like an initiation of sorts   but you can only hike in silence and isolation for  so long and weeks of traveling without seeing or   speaking to anyone made finally running into grizz  and another hiker again absolutely incredible we   got the like bluish purple ones that's a nice one  and then a little bit of a lighter purple this   one's even green it's not bloomed yet there's some  real purple ones some yellow ones right next to   a red one there and then there's some white ones  down here and then obviously green green is just   everywhere so there's some pink ones somewhere i  saw those earlier there's orange ones right here what's going on um i am  doing story time while we're   sitting in lightning and hail and thunderstorm hiking in a pack again changed the game and with  easier terrain good company and continual beauty   the grinds began to feel normal again it really  was a constant growing process soon we added to   our growing trail family running into birdman and  same same and collectively with much rejoicing we   reached the gateway to the second half of our  journey canada 1 325 miles mexico 1 325 miles so by this point we probably should have expected  it the moment you hit an emotional high   there's most likely some sort of obstacle  around the corner to balance it out   the lifeblood of a thru-hike this time that  challenge came in the form of large-scale   wildfires it was 2018 in california so  lots of fires and lots of choking smoke so talk to me about the smoke well   it's been smoky since i can remember it's very  smoky i think it started somewhere in yosemite   um and then it was kind of clear for a little  bit and then it continued to be incredibly smoky   for a very long time and then tonight this  morning it was very very very bad very smoky   but it was like a bad smoky like way worse than  an asthma it was a bad smoky so bad that several   of our friends up ahead had to evacuate because  of respiratory issues and a few behind us were   cut off by fire closures that we narrowly missed  others skipped norcal and oregon completely and   hitchhiked all the way up to washington scared  the fires would bar them from ever seeing canada   there's a massive fire that's completely  shrouding the valley in smoke which is kind   of sad but it also makes it look super incredible  it quickly became unincredible as soon our eyes   stung uncontrollably and the dense smoke tore at  our lungs making the uphill plods much harder and   compounding the mental game on one occasion  a whole segment of trail closed behind us   immediately after we had entered it from  a fire that sprung up just miles away   it trapped us in from behind we had no choice  but to push on with serious pace to the next town   somehow we managed to be just ahead or behind each  closure and didn't have to skip any miles but soon   the issue was heightened as we got devastating  news from up ahead well we've been going through   just some crazy devastation forest fires from the  past um and we're also kind of cranking through   a lot of smoke from current fires like the car  fire and some others up in canada that we're   hearing about right now we just got word that uh  the last section of the pct is actually closed   including the monument there at the  northern terminus which is very sad news and   we're just really hoping that that reopens  before we get up there because that would just be   so hard to go all this way and then  not get to stand at that monument   learning that the finish line of our journey  was closed to the fires was devastating   but there was literally nothing we could do and as  the smoke finally slowly began to clear we charged   ahead and prayed that the long months we had left  would change the tides and we would get closure i was   never born my way where i'm oh way back this is the one what are your thoughts in california  no it's pretty sweet um definitely   cooler than i expected it to be  it was awesome just kind of like   going through three different environments i  learned so much about myself and about the people   around me that i feel like a brand new person yeah  it is life changing california was definitely an   incredible experience it did not feel like it was  going to end it felt like the purgatory of the pct   it's a dream come true for me so i'm a little bit  happy leaving but uh excited to explore new state oh i know my way back here we are just made it into oregon baby so psyched done with california 1700 miles in  and spirits are very high i can't see it anymore oh i know my way back home oregon where snow-capped peaks emerge once  again beautiful weather abounds   and the terrain becomes more manageable   after what seemed like months of walking through a  dense white tunnel the smoke finally began to lift   as we entered this new environment and though  our spirits climbed we soon had to embrace the   inevitable in order to be able to make it through  washington before the snow barred our entry into   canada we needed to crank through the state as  fast as we could so we decided to try something   we'd heard of repeatedly pct folklore the  organ challenge uh chris why are we doing   the organ challenge uh well we started pretty  late and then all of us took off a bunch of time even later um so yeah we kind of have to make  up for time um but also we're all like pretty   strong hikers um and just to like see if we  can you know it's one of those things that's   just mad hard and would be super tight to do  um so we're just out here attempting it and   you know we're on the first stretch of  it i think today is day four or something   yep um and it's actually been going okay yeah  day five of it yeah all right cool day five of it   hustling the 430 miles between state lines in  just 12 days hikers attempting the challenge   have to average 36 miles a day including  trips into town to restock on supplies   while this would have been unthinkable during  the early miles our bodies had strengthened   over the months and it was finally  time to put our hiker legs to the test   it was going to be brutal but unfortunately  we really didn't have much of a choice   i've got that blue sky i've got that  sunshine just like the birds that fly   it don't get the dwelling of the birdman hello how  are we feeling about the organ challenge   i uh looked at my feet this morning and i had  one new blister and uh my right big toenail is   uh basically ripped in half so i have no idea how  uh yeah one of my toes is like the bottom of it's   bleeding and then the top of my other foot  is bleeding um so yeah that's where we're at   as a personal challenge i wanted to also  try another legendary oregon tradition   the 24 hour challenge without dumping any gear  hikers must start at 8 a.m and trek non-stop   till 8 am the following morning seeing just how  far their bodies could take them before dropping   as an ultra runner i had been hoping to do this  since i started planning my trip years ago and had   80 miles as my target topping my record for most  miles hiked in a 24-hour period it didn't make any   sense but at this point we were just trying to  spice things up and i guess torturing ourselves   was our way of diversifying the experience uh so  today i'm gonna be attempting oregon's 24 hour   challenge i'm starting about 20 miles south  of mount jefferson and 80 miles from here is   timberline lodge i'm definitely probably not going  to make it there but i'm going to get as close as   i can in 24 hours and we'll see how it goes this  is probably going to hurt a lot we are about   20 miles in now and feeling good trying  to make up time lost going over that pass uh well it was just after lunch time and about  25 miles in feeling a lot better after getting   over that pass i did not expect that climb but  it's all right it's behind us and we're moving on   good job feet very proud he is i understand  if you ever want to talk to me again   just hit 40 miles and i'm about 30 minutes ahead  of schedule this might actually be possible   to make it to timberline by 8 a.m well we're  starting the second phase of the 24 hour challenge   hiking into the night it's kind of mentally  discouraging because i have to keep this pace   basically without stopping for the next 10  hours just hit 50 so stoke is high 60 miles in   and snickers level is critical down to two  more we got one packet of ramen noodles   and 20 miles left sun is just beginning  to come up and with it brings new hope   only two miles out now and looks like i'm  gonna make it it's been a long 24 hours but i'm very satisfied just past the 80  mile mark with about 20 minutes to spare   and it is sweet release now i just got to  hollow my way to the lodge i need a huge buffet   beaten bruised and badly in need of showers  our efforts had pushed us to the limits   but had lined us up to finish the challenge  soundly with a day or two to spare   as the final state came into view the reality that  our trip had a terminus slowly began to sink in   and we realized how badly we wanted to slow down  truly take it all in we had been peddled to the   metal for most of our time since mexico and in  that we had lost a lot of the true essence of   why we were out there in the first place we  wanted and needed to slow down so as a nod   to this new ethos we made an impromptu side trip  to a place i had always wanted to visit but never   thought i'd make it to all right rad could you  give us an update of what's happening yeah well   we're trying to hike the pct but unfortunately  we keep just coming into incredible towns   like ben and they just happen to have a  full trad and sport rack and so we might be   hitting up smith rock tomorrow world class  climbing destination unbelievable climbing   best in the world uh we're staying not best in  the world but good stuff he's staying another day basically where are we right now and we are done with the state of oregon the whole the organ challenge coupled with the heinous  24-hour challenge had radically changed the way we   viewed our journey and made us think differently  about our approach to this new remote environment   in under 12 days we had cranked through a  state's worth of my numbing natural beauty   and rarely had we time to sit down and  snag a photo or relish in the cool breeze   of a waterfall for fear of getting  behind on miles and failing our goal while speed hiking and setting fkts are some  people's sole passions the longer i spend outside   the more i'm convinced that the true record holder  is the one investing the most time in these rare   mild spaces milking each sweeping view for what  they're worth diving deep into each crystal pond   slowing down and appreciating each special  moment because they were special and they   were going to end soon and we realized we  didn't want them to end we wanted to finish   but we didn't want it to end these were our  days why would we rush them oh and we also   finally ran into road runner the australian  crusher again the squad was getting back together and then there was this lots and lots of this the pnw's lush beauty comes at  the cost of cold incessant rain   so we did slow down but really out of necessity  just days into the state the elements reminded us   that we were still very much in the wild and  that we couldn't let the anticipation of the   final stage eclipse our respect for the jagged  formidable landscapes we were battling through   washington is indescribably beautiful but  is a force to be reckoned with and we would   soon get a swift reminder that winter was on  the horizon if we didn't walk with a purpose   the rain slowly soaking clothes and packs soon  unexpectedly turned into occasional flurries   of snow and as we entered the famed goat rocks  wilderness we were greeted with a blizzard that   froze our drenched gear solid and lit a fire in  us to push a little faster first snow of the pct   and it's coming down pretty hard hopefully  i find some rain pants cause i'm freezing   the storm was brutal but didn't  last forever and woke us up from   a sort of complacency it was time to move again as the weather cleared and the sun returned we  were truly able to take in the majesty of the   landscapes around us and that we knew we had  to keep pushing we were stunned by the sheer   magnitude of the northern cascades alternating  between rich pacific temperate rainforest   with its moss blanketed rocks and vibrant bouncing  streams to high alpine passes soaring above the   clouds sometimes several times each day we  press forward with a renewed sense of wonder   the diversity and contrast was unlike anything  we had ever experienced and though the terrain   was shockingly difficult we passed through it  like kids on a playground and raptured by the   sweeping views each separate pass or ridgeline  offered plus we got an additional emotional   boost in the form of news from up the trail  the northern terminus monument had reopened   from the fire closures and hikers were once  again allowed to enter into canada via the pct   now all we had to do was win the race with winter  and get there before the snow shut it down again i once heard a quote by rebecca solmet  that says exploring the world is one of   the best ways of exploring the mind  and walking travels both terrains we had been northbound nomads for over four  months by this point drifting from town to   town sleeping in the wild depending on our small  migratory community for strength and persistence   the lessons the journey was teaching us about  ourselves and those around us were immeasurable   in the university and grind we were taught  endurance in the long cold days we were taught   patience in the monotony and weariness we were  taught fortitude and above it all we were shown   our limits and that often we could surpass them  when all is stripped away from you and you live   life in the rawest sense armed with only your  perseverance you realize what you're made of   it's like a long dirty classroom of life with the  most genuine of hiker trash as your classmates   and the world is your teacher there's no structure  you decide if you want to do it and you decide if   you want to quit nothing is stopping you and  you don't really even know why you're doing it but something in the back of your  mind keeps telling you it's worth it   that it's making you a better person forming  relationships that will last a lifetime   that you'll never get these days again it starts  restructuring your mind it shows you there is more   than one way to measure a mile distance is only a  part of it and instead of using that as a metric   you begin to judge each stage by the  friendships formed the lessons learned   and the confidence built those are the true  values of the miles no matter how many cover i'll tell you sometimes so um the weather has turned a little for the worse  everything's wet everything's freezing kind of   just surviving on chai right now but it's still  still beautiful out here cookies and chai boom what are you out there ellie is  that our only water source right now   we're screwed everyone is trying to be winter  on the pct and unfortunately we were losing the   race each day fresh snow blanketed the trail  ahead of us and as there weren't many hikers   immediately in front or behind us this late in the  season the path got harder and harder to follow   as we crept closer to mazama the final town before  the canadian border flurries and blizzards became   ubiquitous in the higher elevations and technical  river crossings and freezing rain plagued us   in the valleys the situation was starting to  get real and we knew we were cutting it close yeah that about shows how life's going right now   it's been snowing like crazy for the past few  days it's been it's been pretty rough um i   am very excited to be getting to the end but  this is a this is a struggle not gonna lie   thawing out frozen shoes each morning melting snow  for water trudging through often knee-deep snow   for days pretty much all of our energy was  funneled into simply surviving however despite   the incessant cold and sense of urgency the sharp  contrast of this new white world mesmerized us   our colorful fall environments had morphed into a  black and white world of serrated dark mountains   cloaked and shredded pale jackets of snow it  was incredibly imposing but absolutely stunning   particularly to someone like me who grew up  surrounded by the deep warm views of africa   but our momentum was soon challenged again by  the gravity of winter in the northern cascades   as we were struck one day with a blizzard  unlike anything we had dealt with before   finding our way through the  wide out became near impossible   and as the driving snow stung our faces and numbed  our hands we knew we had to take shelter soon near the point of hypothermia we pitched a hasty  camp at the top of a pass and waited out the storm   huddled together in one of our bigger tents  we passed a sleepless night shivering together   for hours and woke to numb limbs and one of  our friends hands hurt by serious frostbite   we treated her as best we could  with what we had and charged on   we were only days away from canada but these final  miles felt like the hardest battle of the trip it seemed like we were running on mere fumes  of energy and barely even talked with each   other as we pushed slowly forward we could  practically taste the northern terminus though   and nothing was going to stop us at this point well it snowed again last night but we're  only 40 miles from the border so i feel   like nothing can stop us but it definitely  feels like pcg's giving us one last test   before the end everything's drenched and it's very  cold if it wasn't this close to the end make it a   lot harder but we're doing well we're very excited  the end of this journey is long anticipated   and so hopefully by tomorrow afternoon we'll be  standing in canada it's it's surreal and it just   it seems crazy to think that just four months  ago we were walking through the desert heat   of southern california and then up into the  sierras and through forests of norcal and oregon   and now to here it's just it's crazy looking  back i guess that's what makes it so beautiful   it was beautiful but i couldn't figure out  which emotion i felt the most the storm and   bitter cold the past couple of weeks had taken  it out of us but pushing through it gave us a   deeper appreciation for the landscapes around us  and new respect for the trail i wanted to finish   but i didn't just as much i guess you picture  the finish line of a journey as this ultimate   accomplishment the satisfying culmination  to months of endless battling and endurance   i guess you picture it as a celebration but i only  felt emptiness now that i drew so close to the end   the thought of canada had served as this abstract  goal for months motivating us through the hard   days pushing us to accomplish more than we  ever dreamed yet now that i had actually   made it i didn't want to reach it now all it  represented was the abrupt ending to a dream   like turning over the final page to your favorite  novel and suddenly realizing it's all over   but though the book was almost done it had  left a timeless mark on all of us that would   live on long past canada the memories were forever  solidified in our minds and that's what mattered we're on the final mile pacific crest trail  final mile the 2650 mile journey across america   through california oregon and washington some  of the most beautiful and stunning terrain this   world has to offer and it's about to all end  here with one step across the canadian border it's been a dream of mine for so  long it just feels so incredible   it's finally becoming true it's just surreal it's  just so cool to see something on your bucket list   actually happen it's just such a testimony to  the future and what can happen possibilities if you put your mind to it you can do  anything you can do anything convinced of that holy crap it's not ready for these emotions dang where it go i wish this winter would hurry these days  are getting blurry and i don't know where i   am i'm dreaming of the springtime oh but  in the meantime i'm weathering the storm we're okay we're okay so  why do i still feel this way we're okay we're okay so  why do i still feel this way amazing grace how sweet the sound of  running feet from the holes in my front door   i thought that i had lost them oh but now  i'm found in there's nowhere else to hide   it's okay it's okay it's okay it's okay i knew it had to end someday don't you cry don't you cry  we don't have to say goodbye and don't you cry don't you cry  we don't have to say goodbye you

Channel: Chris Carter

Views: 394,977

Rating: 4.9507127 out of 5

Keywords: pacificcresttrail, backpacking, thru-hiking, thruhike, wilderness, measure, mile, hiking, hike, adventure, explore, livewild, PCT, documentary, shortfilm, film, mexicotocanada, chris carter, short film, to measure a mile, travel, ultralight, backpacking gear, trek, trekking, pcta, pacific crest trail, pacific crest trail association, thru-hike, JMT, John Muir Trail, Cascade Range, Cascade Mountains, Sierras, Sierra Mountains, Northern Cascades, PNW, Pacific Northwest, California, Oregon, Washington, CDT, hiker, AT

Id: EX4gjMlGSHE

Length: 75min 41sec (4541 seconds)

Published: Sat Nov 28 2020

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[u/theorizable]

I've watched a couple documentaries about the PCT and they were all heartfelt and genuine but this one blew me away, albeit long and content rich. It's what I feel my dream thru-hike would be. The intro starts out a bit deep and lofty, but after you watch the video you'll understand why.

Includes rock climbing, fires, near hypothermia, a trail family, and good narration.