A Pacific Crest Trail Story | Back To The Start – Part One

A Pacific Crest Trail Story | Back To The Start – Part One

[Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] My fellow Americans, tonight I want to speak with you about our nation’s unprecedented response to the Corona virus outbreak. [Music] It’s a fivemonth journey that has come to an end very early for some. Yeah, the Pacific Crest Trail is not for the faint of heart. The death toll has climbed to at least 205 people. More than 19,000 people in the hospital. There’s a recognition of our interdependence that requires of this moment that we direct a statewide order for people to stay at home. [Music] [Music] Riding my time by myself cuz I’m good in my own ping my ass through my ass. So I know I’m alone. Looking for something or somewhere someone I know. I know I feel better when I’m by myself. There’s a hole in my heart something [Music] my time by myself cuz I’m good holding my hand through my ear so I know I’m alone looking somewhere I know I know I feel better when I’m by myself in the hole in my where the sun comes [Music] Every open wound is dressed in pain. I’ll dress it up until you’re back again. [Music] Every early morning before them, when every open wound is filled with wind. Everything was going so well. I managed to hike almost 200 miles before I uttered a single word to the camera. After everything that happened, I just wanted to enjoy the trail for me. I deleted my social media. Nobody even knew I was out there apart from my close friends and family. Starting the PCT again was one of the happiest days of my life. As you may have noticed, I didn’t start in Mexico or even Canada for that matter. I actually decided to start 1,51 miles north of Mexico at Castle Crags. Even getting there was a monumental challenge. What I didn’t know at this point was that deciding to start the trail there would turn out to be one of the most important decisions I could ever have made. The first question I want to ask you Yep. uh who are you Brad? My name is Brad Green. I’m 33 years old. I’m from Sultan Washington. I’m only about what 40 minutes from the PCT. Yeah, I’m a dad and uh met this guy on YouTube. I think one of the coolest friendship stories of all time in my opinion. We both had just started a hiking account. I think we both had around like a 100 subscribers. Heard you were going on the PCT and I basically reached out to you and said if you need some help, let me know. And uh the rest is history, man. What do you remember from when I came to stay with you in 2022? My favorite memories of all time will be picking you up from the airport. We were like, “We did it. We did it.” And it was literally like two best friends that have known each other their entire lives. That was actually a really wild year. Super late snow. I mean, very rare. The crazy part about while we were having all of this fun, there was this elephant in the room of am I going to be able to start this? At that time, the trail really wasn’t doable. You were just like, “Well, I could email them and see if I could do this flip-flop thing.” And I just remember saying, “Hey, just email them. If they say no, then I guess you’re staying here for a while.” And then all of a sudden it was like, “Okay, I’m going now.” And then now you’re like, “Now I got to figure out how to get to reading.” I don’t think anybody will fully be able to understand the timing. I would get texts from you saying like, “Hey, I’m safe, but I’m two days ahead of the fires.” It’s the only way you finished was where for you starting that day in that spot. That was everything. So, there you have it. All of a sudden, I was hiking a flip-flop. But what does that mean? [Music] Allow me to explain. The traditional way to hike all 2,650 mi of the PCT is to start in California on the Mexican border and hike the whole way northbound to the Canadian border. This was my original plan, but the CO backlog meant I couldn’t get a US visa in time to start the trail in the spring. So, I had to start later. And hiking south, the best time to start is in July. I got the southbound permit and the visa, and that’s why I stayed with Brad until my start date up in Washington. But the snow he mentioned meant getting to the Canadian border to start was almost impossible. So, then I thought of doing a flip-flop. A flip-flop meant I’d start halfway, hike up to Canada while the snow melts, clearing the Canadian border. Then I’d have to travel back to where I started and hike south to Mexico, completing the trail. Simple, right? I emailed the PCTA and they said I’d need a John Mure trail permit, a whole section of the PCT to be available in order to get a full flip-flop permit. If I didn’t, I’d need to apply for separate permits for every national park along the trail. My hike was now in the hand of the PCTA. Two days before my start date, my phone died and something told me to check my phone. I quickly put it on charge and there it was, an email from the PCTA saying that they had a John Mir trail permit and that if I didn’t get back to them in 15 minutes, they were going to pass it to someone else. So, I said, “I’ll take it.” The next day, I was on a flight to Northern California to finally start the trail. [Music] On a cold day, I’m thinking of the things that I should say. I’m thinking of the things that I should say. [Music] to hold my when everything I want would come to light. Like everything you’d think it wasn’t right. Maybe when I try to get away from you, but I shouldn’t hope to. And I shouldn’t hope that I can hold you. Baby, when I held you tight, I want you back if that’s all right. [Music] Everything I want, I wouldn’t come. Maybe I would leave that down and leave that house as I [Music] have to see. [Music] I was 400 miles in and loving every single moment. I don’t care what anyone says, Oregon is absolutely stunning. I felt like I was truly settling into this new life now. Every day was smooth. I had never experienced wilderness like this before. We’d hiked for days before seeing a road. Surely nothing was going to stand in my way now. But then mother nature decided to snatch the PCT out of the hands of hundreds, if not thousands of hikers who’d set off from the Mexican border all those months ago. And it’s raining. this raining like slush puppy kind of consistency. Wow. Just an epic epic day. Epic. This storm caused dry lightning strikes and failing power lines which triggered a chain reaction of wildfires across Northern California and Oregon, literally closing all of the trail I just hiked behind me. The overnight explosion of the Mckin fire leaves firefighters battling two massive fires in the state tonight. The McKini fire burning near the Oregon border in California contending with the largest wildfire to hit the state so far this year forced 60 people to evacuate yesterday and was dangerously close to the Pacific Crest Trail. This trail is no longer able to be done continuously with every year the fires keep getting worse. So we just found out that there’s a fire approaching us and they’re evacuating already since we’ve been here. There’s a fire on trail. Turns out the fire is literally right where he picked us up. This is literally the trail. There’s a helicopter up there. This road is closed near the California Oregon border. Tripledigit temperatures, wild winds, and thunderstorms fuel the Mckini fire. As the wildfires spread devastation, hikers who started at the Mexican border were forced to evacuate in Northern California and skip hundreds of miles to escape. Many of them were hitching around Oregon altogether and meeting up in Cascade Locks where Oregon borders with Washington. The goal for many hikers is to have one continuous throughhike from Mexico to Canada. But now the reality is that due to climate change, it’s extremely rare for anyone to hike every mile in a single year. These wildfires not only destroyed the dreams of PCT hikers that year, but it destroyed thousands of acres of natural habitat, people’s homes, and many lost their lives. [Applause] It wasn’t until the following day that I was able to check the news that I found out how bad the fires were. And up ahead for me, I was facing some fire closures of my own. Hello. It’s your resident trail hunter coming at you via the little camera lens. So, quick trail update. I just stopped in a place called Big Lake Youth Camp. Uh first signal for a few days. Turns out that uh over the last few days and that storm that I was in yesterday basically caused a load of lightning strikes and caused a lot of forest fires. So um basically a lot of the trail that I’ve just done over the last couple of weeks is now been closed due to fires. People were getting kind of caught out in the fires and having to like make a very quick speedy escape from the trail. Sounds pretty hectic. And uh so luckily for us in our bubble, we kind of got ahead of that just in time. But it also means that there could be fires elsewhere further north from here. So up in Washington, there’s been rumors of a fire up in uh Mount Reneer National Park. And it also means that when I’m heading south, uh when I after I’ve been to Canada, when I start heading back, there could be fires in NorCal uh heading south. So, it’s looking unpromising. Like, you know, fires happen every year. I think last year people had to skip like 400 miles due due to lots of fires in NorCal. But, I don’t know. For me, like, as long as I’m hiking most of the trail this year, I can always come back and finish the fire sections another day. Um, but regardless, I’m going to still be gunning for the Sierra. I’ll still be gunning for a Canada Mexico monument touch and it still means that I’m out here for 6 months. Like it feels a lot less um important to do every single mile right now because I’m doing most of it and I’m here and it’s it’s not like a global pandemic. It’s suddenly struck the planet and I’m having to go home. So fires can’t avoid them. But anyway, I’m now heading to a highway which is going to take me into a place called Bend. Then I’m going to take a zero, do a resupply. I’m going to forward some spikes and an iceax up into Washington from here so I can pick those up before I hit some snow. And um yeah, going to do some laundry. All of those wonderful fun things that threwhikers love doing when they get into town. [Music] [Music] On the other side of that highway was a trail closure for the Lion’s Head fire that happened 2 years prior. It meant I had to skip an 83 mile stretch of the trail all the way up to Frog Lake. Many hikers were attempting to roadw walk around it for continuous steps, but for me, I was beginning to just accept the fact that I probably wouldn’t be finishing the PCT that year. By this point, I was just happy to take every mile I could get. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] Heat. Heat. [Music] Wow, I am so chuffed to be here. like Washington is really coming into its own and it’s beautiful and it’s so varied. The colors, the textures, the smells, just everything is so good at this moment. Just like I mean Oregon, the three sisters wilderness, amazing. Uh Mount Adams yesterday blew me away. But I’d say like, yeah, 95% of the trails been in forest. That’s what it feels like anyway. And all of a sudden, boom. Just so chuffed. It almost reminds me of um northern Italy. Just the shapes of the rock and everything like that and the weather and the color and everything. It’s very similar. But yeah, here we are. this. So, Cispers Pass is just up there. That’s where I was going and I got to this point. I was like, “No, I’m stopping here. I’m getting the feet out and I’m going to eat some food with a view.” What’s your name, dude? I’m Jedi. Hello, Jedi. How do you feel? Good. Sweaty. Sweaty. Sweaty. Nice view. Yeah. Awesome. It’s been a lot of forest for the last 700 miles. Aha. Well, Argan was pretty, too. Yeah. Uh, three sisters. Wow. Mhm. So, now it’s time to go up to Cispers Pass. It’s about another mile. And who knows what delights lay over the other side. [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Laughter] [Music] [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] [Applause] [Music] Today has been one of the best days of my life. Definitely one of the best days hiking of my life. Just wow. It’s incredible. Very, very lucky to be here. Very, very glad I’ve got many more miles to go. It’s barely even halfway. So, Mount Reineer. Stunning. Heat. [Music] [Music] Heat. [Music] [Music] So, I’m currently like cowboy camping on top of Old Snowy. And you you just saw the views. They were just like fantastic. And I literally haven’t felt this like content in a really long time. And just the most beautiful scenery, really friendly, lovely people. And yeah, best day on trail ever. Can you all look at my camera and wave, please? Oh, that’s so cute. A good night. Good night. But that one was crazy. Only clouds are above us now. How’d you sleep, Jedi? Really good. Really good. It was windy, but [Music] you remind me of my mate Tom Troy from uni. Really? Yeah. [Music] I mean, I’m just taking the mileage from here to snow quality. Okay. But Ghug might not be right about your mileage because you’re not currently on trail. Yeah. But it must be right because yesterday was like 132 and we just did like 16 to get here and it’s Honestly, that was the best night’s camp ever. So great to meet those guys. We had a great sunrise as well this morning. Super warm up on the top there in my quilt and everything. So, uh, yeah. Wow. Just look where I am. It’s fantastic. Mount Reineer, beautiful. There’s a place inside my heart where only you can be. Now I can walk out through the view, but only you can see inside. [Music] Inside [Music] in the perfect outside under the great sky. [Music] I see the light inside. [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Applause] [Music] on withward to Canada. Yes, I can walk out through the field, but only you can see Heat. Heat. [Music] [Music] Heat. Heat. [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] Heat. Heat. [Applause] Inside the road in that perfect life outside [Music] under the great skyhole. [Music] [Applause] I would see the light inside. [Music] [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. [Music] Heat. [Music] So, uh, just been a stein all day and did a 5 mile day. took all day to do like laundry and stuff and you know it was one of those one of those days where it just takes all day. And anyway, I’m in this like beautiful place. There’s like a huge lake, mountains that are so high up either side and the weather’s just got really moody. I’m 30 miles away from a thousand. I’m 80 miles away from the border. It really feels amazing. And any I’ve just been like sat after doing all my chores and everything, just been sat using the Wi-Fi, catching up with people. Anyway, I was just kind of like flicking through my contacts list and went through like my Facebook Messenger list and cuz just scrolling down all the people that I’ve messaged over however many years just out of interest and scrolled to my dad and got to my dad on the list on the list of messages and opened it up and just looked at the last bunch of messages that I sent to him and I thought I’d just send him a little message cuz I just missed that man. Like the day that he died was the hardest day of my life. Watching him die. And I think about it every single day. Not a day goes by where it doesn’t pop into my head. I’m I’m like walking down the trail and it will be getting dark. And then his his face that day walked into that into his bedroom and he was dying. And just watching him die was so hard. I just wish he was around so that I could tell him how good this trail was. Like he taught me everything I ever needed to know about life. He taught me everything. In the message I sent him, I said I wish he was around so I could just go for one more walk. But I’m glad I filmed that that hike with him in the South Coast. That was my first ever video. Like, if you want to watch that video and see my hike with my dad, just scroll to the bottom or whatever and go and watch it. That was the last video I got of my dad. Anyway, I just thought I’d come down here by the water and just reminisce on all that and get get that recorded cuz I just wanted to I just wanted to remind myself in the future of how I feel right now. like you really you really don’t know how much you’re going to miss them until they’re gone. Whether it be your parents or like a a close relative, I don’t know. You don’t you really don’t you don’t know how much you love them until they’re gone. It’s really sad. You kind of hope that you know how much you love them before they die, but when they’re really gone, nothing really prepares you for that. And you can’t you can’t ever know. You can’t ever know until they’re gone. I don’t think in my humble opinion. Just This place is just so beautiful. And anyway, I’ve got his hat on. So, at least he’s here with me to see all of this in spirit form with in the form of a hat. I just know he would have been so proud and he loved America. Like you got the American flag up there and I know he he would have loved this place cuz this is the thing cuz he loved America and I’m here. I just look around everything at everything and I think oh he would have loved that. He would have loved to see that. Oh that that oh my dad would have loved that. Ah, so makes it makes it really hard. But yeah, his uh his love was firm but never ending and he was my father and he suffered for a really long time but now he doesn’t have to suffer anymore. So Scott keep thinking it thinking of it like that. Anyway, that’s that. I’m Mr. Hein. I’m here. It’s beautiful. And I’m just going to sit here and drink my space dust and then cowboy camp somewhere before hitting the trail tomorrow. Anyway, I’m glad I got that out and I’m glad I got it shared on video because it’s truly how I feel. So whether this makes the cut or not, if it does, know about it. There’s a wasp trying to get in my beer. Cheers. Get away. [Music] Thoughts can be cruel. They’re not mine to own. The space unravels when you let go. [Music] What’s yours in a mine? That energy goes today. The feather in the fire will blow it home your way. Mother, open your arms. Oh mother, this mountain just behind. Oh mother, reach from my heart so I can feel your essence in me. How to unfold when this night is so tight. Each step is chosen to reveal the light [Music] wondering am I back here again the shadow inside wake you what’s mine is lost to time our home is in the space the bird walks the line Dismuse those wings and rise. Oh mother, open your eyes. Oh mother, this is just beun. Oh mother, please for my heart so I can feel this. Time to wake up in these rising seas. Maybe out by the truth. Bringing up bringing up the vibration. You can feel it in your feet. Oh [ __ ] in the light of this moon. My mind keeps searching. I’m not even halfway. Thank you. Thoughts can be cruel. They’re not mine to hold. Space unravels when you let go. [Music] at this point. There was only one word on my mind. [Music] Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. [Music]

When I returned to the Pacific Crest Trail in 2022, nothing went to plan. Wildfires, snow, and unpredictable trail conditions forced me to completely rethink how I’d hike the PCT. Instead of a traditional northbound hike, I tried to go for a southbound hike, but a burning trail and a snow-covered Washington forced me to flip my way through chaos.

Part One dives deep into the logistics and decisions behind a flip-flop thru hike, the strategy that allowed me to stay one step ahead of multiple 2022 forest fires, including dodging closures for the Lionshead fire. It’s about making tough calls, trusting instincts, and staying flexible while the trail was doing everything in its power to throw me off track again.

It’s about the connections I made along the way with people who shaped the journey as much as the miles themselves. And it all started after the dream was put on hold in 2020 when Covid-19 shut the world down and I eventually decided to go home.

If you love backpacking, trail life, or dream of your own long-distance walk, this is story for you.

👉 Subscribe to follow the full series and get notified when each episode drops.

✏️ Love journaling on trail?

Home page

🫶 Donate to make the PCT safer
https://trekfortrevor.org

🎧 Music
“Rose City” by Jay Tomaino
https://jaytomaino.bandcamp.com/album…

A special thanks to all the below external sources:
KTVU Fox 2 San Francisco – https://www.youtube.com/@KTVUFox2
News Nation – https://www.youtube.com/@NewsNation
23ABC News Kero – https://www.youtube.com/@Turnto23KERO
Jonathan Petramala – https://www.youtube.com/@JonathanPetramala
Forklift Hikes – https://www.youtube.com/@forklifthikes
Kelly Hays – https://www.youtube.com/@kellyhays23

Disclaimer:
Some of the external sources, clips, and materials linked or referenced in this video are used under the principles of fair use for purposes such as commentary, criticism, education, and documentation. All rights to these materials remain with their respective owners. If you are a rights holder and have concerns about the use of any content, please contact me directly.