Walker Pass, Pacific Crest

Crossing State Route 58 via an overpass, I step into the Sierra Nevada range, my boots pressing into the dusty trail. The climb begins gradually, the land shifting from the dry, open terrain of the Mojave Desert into rugged foothills. It's hard to believe that this mountain range, stretching 400mi (640km) north to south, holds such extremes—North America's largest alpine lake, the highest peak in the contiguous U.S., and the biggest tree by volume. 

The name "Sierra Nevada" translates to Snowy Mountains, though today, under the weight of my pack and the heat radiating off the rocks, snow feels like an impossible concept. In 1776, Pedro Font, a Franciscan missionary, saw these same peaks and scrawled the name onto his map, a name that would outlive him by centuries. He was a navigator and a recorder of history, much like I try to be with my own trail notes. I push uphill, wondering what it must have been like to see these mountains for the first time without knowing what lay ahead.

This stretch of the PCT winds through the southern part of the Sequoia National Forest. Named for the towering giant sequoias, the forest holds the largest concentration of these trees on Earth. It's humbling, knowing that some of them have stood for thousands of years, their roots gripping the granite while I struggle to find my footing on the loose dirt. The National Forest has 38 distinct groves of giant sequoias alongside different species of pine and fir trees. It also contains six wilderness areas, including the Kiavah Wilderness, which I'll pass through on this section of the trail. The forest was established in 1893 and later expanded by Theodore Roosevelt—another man who understood the need to protect wild places. I take a deep breath, filling my lungs with air scented by pine and warm earth, grateful that this land was preserved.

Moving into the Kiavah Wilderness, the terrain shifts again. The Scodie Mountains rise from the Mojave, and I find myself walking through a blend of pinyon-juniper woodland and desert flora. Joshua trees stretch their twisted limbs toward the sky, and patches of sagebrush release their sharp fragrance as I brush past. Spring would bring a burst of wildflowers, including the rare Walker Pass milkvetch discovered by accident when a new section of the PCT was constructed. The plant is so rare that very little information is available about it.

Walker Pass marks the end of this section of the trail. It's a National Historic Landmark, named for John Rutherford Walker, a 19th-century mountain man who relied on Native American knowledge to navigate and establish a route through these mountains. Nine years later, he led an immigrant wagon train through this very pass. As I take a break, letting the cool breeze dry the sweat on my back, I think about the countless footsteps that have passed through here before mine. And then, adjusting my pack, I add my own to the trail's long history.