Hiking the Pacific Crest Trail is Hard. And Climate Change Is Making It Harder.

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KQED

Politics, News, News Commentary

4.6 • 656 Ratings

🗓️ 5 October 2022

⏱️ 56 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Stretching 2,600 miles from Mexico to Canada, the Pacific Crest Trail winds through the Mojave Desert, up to the Sierras and along the Cascades. Backpackers who have hit the trail rave about its beauty and many include “thru hiking” the entirety of the trail on their bucket lists. But what has always been a difficult journey is now getting even harder due to climate change. We’ll talk about how extreme weather, drought and wildfires have impacted the trail, known as the PCT, from beginning to end. Have you hiked the PCT? What was your journey like? Guests: Rowan Moore Gerety, Reporter, Gerety's recent piece for the New York Times is titled "Heat, Water, Fire: How Climate Change Is Transforming the Pacific Crest Trail." Jazmin Ortega, Pacific Crest Trail Thru Hiker, Ortega thru hiked the Pacific Crest Trail in 2019. Her trail name is Flamethrower. Scott Wilkinson, Content Development Director, Pacific Crest Trail Association, a nonprofit focused on protecting and preserving the Pacific Crest National Scenic. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:32.1	From KQED.
0:37.1	The From KUED in San Francisco, I'm Nina Kim.
0:51.5	Coming up on forum, climate change is leaving its mark on the Pacific Crest Trail.
0:57.0	The roughly 2,600-mile route that stretches from Mexico to Canada through California's
1:02.0	Mojave Desert, giant sequoias, and alpine meadows, is a bucket list adventure.
1:07.0	But charred landscapes, persistent drought, they're changing the calculus for many.
1:11.6	This hour, we'll talk with people who've hiked the PCTU recently about what it looks like now,
1:16.6	the adjustments they've had to make, and what it tells us about the changes our warming climate
1:21.6	will bring to the story trail in years to come.
1:24.6	Join us.
1:38.4	This is Borem. I'm Mina Kim.
1:46.8	Thousands of people each year attempt to hike the 2,600 mile stretch from Mexico to Canada along the Pacific Crest Trail.
1:52.2	1,600 miles of it run through California, through our deserts and snowy mountain passes.
1:59.6	It's always been a tough journey, but it's getting even tougher now because of issues related to climate change,
2:02.6	raising questions about how long the option of doing an epic through hike will last. Have you hiked the Pacific Crest Trail or parts of it?
2:08.1	What was it like for you? Did you notice changes brought by fires or drought? You can tell us on
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