Inspirational Moments Out on the Trail
Listen to Your Heart and Embrace the Impossible
An impossible dream some might say, but to an individual like 2012 Spirit Lake graduate Sawyer Harms, hiking the 2,650-mile footpath along the Pacific Crest Trail (PCT) was fulfilling a lifelong ambition.
This four-month trek meant taking off work and leaving family and friends behind. It meant pushing the body and mind to utmost levels of energy and asking daily how far will it go. In retrospect, Sawyer said the incredibly challenging adventure was filled with moments that were inspirational and created long-lasting memories.
“For four months all I did was walk from sunrise to sunset with only my possessions on my back; it was some of the happiest times of my life,” Sawyer shared. “It was a constant reminder to always find joy in the smaller things in life.”
On June 14, 2023, Sawyer began his adventure at the Canadian border. He wore a Garmin InReach so his family and girlfriend could track his location and carried a 40L backpack filled with lightweight backpacking gear.
Considering the Adventure
He first learned about the PCT in college on a summer road trip with high school friends out to Yosemite National Park. They spent a week in Yosemite and backpacked for a few days on the John Muir Trail.
“This is where I learned that the 200-mile John Muir Trail was actually a part of a 2,650-mile trail and people actually hike from the border of Mexico to the border of Canada,” Sawyer explained. “After this experience, the trek was always something that was stuck in the back of my mind of something I’d like to do if I ever had the opportunity.”
He read the book “Wild” by Cheryl Strayed and began reading blogs and watching YouTube videos about people hiking the PCT. The more he learned about the trail, it became something he wanted to try and experience for himself.
“The idea of doing a long hike like this was exciting to me as a way to push myself physically and mentally,” he said. “Plus, the opportunity to be out in the wilderness for four months was very appealing.”
Every summer after that first trip to Yosemite, he considered hiking the PCT. Each time there always seemed to be an excuse for not starting, whether it was work, money or family. Sawyer slowly began collecting backpacking gear and spent free time looking at the PCT maps. He researched the food resupply locations and other logistical items.
“By the time I fully committed to the trip last spring, I had actually gathered most of my gear and had the planning pretty well complete,” Sawyer said.
He made sure to invest into quality lightweight backpacking gear.
“When you are walking that many miles every day, you kind of become obsessed with how much things weigh and how to make your backpack lighter,” he shared.
His main gear included a 40L backpack, sleeping pad, 15-degree sleeping bag, lightweight tent, a small cook stove and pot, as well as a small first aid kit, pocketknife, headlamp, and a battery pack to charge electronics. For clothes, he brought a pair of shorts, two pairs of socks, two t-shirts, a long sleeve sun shirt, puffy jacket, raincoat and pants.
“For the most part, this is all I wore for the entire trail. I did add some more warm layers for the Sierra Mountains since it was getting very cold at night. I went through probably a dozen pairs of socks and five pairs of shoes for the whole trail,” Sawyer shared.
Pacific Crest Trail
Sawyer started his four-month hike on June 14, 2023, beginning near Manning Park, British Columbia. He decided to travel south, rather than begin in Mexico. “Probably 90 percent of the people who hike the PCT start at the southern border and hike north to Canada,” he said. “It worked better for me to go south.”
He started the trail by himself, but quickly met new friends.
“There were so many amazing people along the way,” he added. “It was also exciting to meet back up with people who you met along the way and hadn’t seen for maybe 1,000 miles.”
Half the time Sawyer spent hiking alone on the trail, and the other half was traveling with a group of three individuals that quickly became his trail family.
Hikers on long trails usually go by a trail name given to them by fellow hikers. Sawyer’s trail name was Squeeze, as a popular water filter for hikers is called the "Sawyer Squeeze." “Since my real name is Sawyer, my trail name became Squeeze,” he explained.
The other three people Sawyer hiked with half the time was a guy from Palm Springs, CA named “Whistler,” a man from Austin TX named “Rain,” and a girl from the Netherlands named “Mayo.”
Inspirational Highlights
Sawyer said the Sierra Mountains were incredible, especially Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks. “They were amazing!” he exclaimed. “They also had some of the most difficult hiking, with a lot of elevation gain every day, so thankfully the views made it worth the effort.”
His favorite state along the trek was Washington, with highlights being Goat Rocks Wilderness and the town of Stehekin, WA. He said the Cascade Mountains were beautiful, especially in June and July.
But what really stands out to Sawyer are the random acts of kindness that appeared along the path.
“Honestly, the moments that stand out the most are just the randomness that comes from hiking for four months,” he said reflecting on the adventure. “I have so many stories that where you might be having a bit of a junky day, then a random hiker might offer you a beer or someone else a hot dog in a parking lot and it would literally make your day. It is moments like this that still make me smile the most.”
One special memory was when their group met a hippy couple on a cold, rainy morning in Washington. Living out in the woods, the couple invited the trail family in for breakfast. “We were chatting with them, and they turned out to be some of the nicest people,” he said. “They made us some eggs and hot coffee and were just so good after shivering in the rain all morning.”
The Pacific Crest Trail is a 2,650-mile continuous footpath that starts in Campo, California, at the southern border with Mexico and ends near Manning Park, British Columbia, the northern border. The Pacific Crest Trail is one of three long trails in the United States that make up the Triple Crown (Appalachian Trail, Continental Divide Trail and the Pacific Crest Trail).
The Appalachian Trail follows the Appalachian Mountain range from Georgia to Maine, which is often considered the most popular of the three and is also the least remote. The CDT follows the Rocky Mountains from New Mexico to Montana. This is thought to be the least popular and the most remote.
The Pacific Crest Trail passes through California, Oregan and Washington and follows the Sierra and Cascade Mountain Ranges. This trail has become much more popular in recent years. For Sawyer, the terrain of the PCT was the most appealing, as it offers the most variety from the desert in Southern California, large forest sections in Oregon and big mountain climbs through the Sierra section of California and Northern Washington.
Overcoming Difficulty
Not every day had bright moments. Sawyer experienced trials throughout the adventure that took grit and endurance. The worst was near Bend, Oregon, where forest fires were burning fifty miles away. The smokey air created poor air quality, and the group hiked through a smoky haze for over a week. His chest hurt all the time and he started getting headaches.
“There was just no escape from the smoke, which was not fun,” he said. “There were a lot of days that were just not fun, and you had to overcome.”
There were large sections of the trail that had been destroyed by the fires. The trees were burnt, and the ground was all ash, which made these areas depressing to walk through.
Another difficult week was when they neared the Oregon-California border, and another section of the trail was closed to a different forest fire. Instead of skipping the section, they decided to road walk 100 miles around the closed section.
“Parts of this detour are some of my fondest memories but walking along the shoulder of a highway for three days straight, definitely got old,” Sawyer added.
He said there would be nights after hiking all day and the body would be so tired and sore. The nights would be spent laying on his thin sleeping pad, thinking there was no way he could get up the next morning. “But then you wake up, stretch out a bit and just start walking,” he reflected.
It took some time to handle being hungry all the time, partly because it’s difficult to carry enough food to handle the number of calories being burned. “Anytime we would get to a town, we would just eat a gross amount of food!” he laughed.
Finding Joy in the Mundane
For four months, Sawyer walked from sunrise to sunset with only his possessions on his back. There were exhilarating moments filled with awe-dropping scenery. There were struggles physically and mentally, especially the days that were just plain painful or boring. At the same time, the amount of kindness received from strangers throughout the hike was inspirational to him.
“I never had the thought of quitting. There was always something to make you thankful you were there. The kindness from strangers was amazing to me,” he shared. “I also learned to find joy in the smaller things in life.”
Sawyer finished his life-changing adventure on November 14, 2023. He is thankful he embraced the impossible and listened to his heart. Throughout the four months, he discovered the importance of spending time in nature and seeking out challenges, whether mental or physical. He found joy in embracing new experiences.
“I would definitely do it again if somebody asked me to do it with them. Even now, as I’m sitting at my desk typing this, I’m daydreaming about doing one of the other two long trails,” Sawyer said. “I recommend listening to your heart if it’s calling you to do something — just go for it. Walking from Canada to Mexico seems like an impossible task but it’s just walking, just about anybody can do. The trail was everything I had hoped it would be.”
