Crossing Paths

A Pacific Crest Trailside Reader

What's it like to be a trail angel and can romance truly blossom from first meeting to marriage on the Pacific Crest Trail? How do trail names get bestowed and what does it mean when you find yourself roaring back at a mountain lion? How have climate change, technology, and the sheer number of hikers affected life on the PCT?

Find the answers to all these questions, and so many more, in the diverse writings gathered in Crossing Paths, an anthology of stories and poems written by PCT hikers. Reflecting the contributors' rich and varied individual experiences, this collection includes both ordinary and extraordinary experiences, from dodging lightning strikes on an exposed ridge south of Sonora Pass or surviving early fall snowstorms in the Cascades, to deeply personal walks-as-therapy following military service or cancer treatment. The selection represents geographic, gender, ethnic, and age diversity, and strives to reflect the totality and depth of life on the trail.

©2022 Rees Hughes and Howard Shapiro (P)2023 Tantor