Man attempts Pacific Crest Trail for a second time

A West Sussex man will attempt to walk the length of the Pacific Crest Trail for a second time after getting injured while tackling it the first time.

Piers Ellison, from Amberley, will walk 2,650 miles (4,264km) from the USA's border with Mexico all the way up to Canada.

His route will go via California, Oregon and Washington, travelling through deserts, mountains and forests.

Last time Mr Ellison attempted the walk, he was injured after around 900 miles (1,448km) but he said "it has always been in the back of my mind and now is the right time to try it again".

When speaking to BBC South East, Mr Ellison described the route as "absolutely gorgeous" and says the experience has been "life-changing".

One of Mr Ellison's jobs is a freelance outdoor writer and he has recently been doing some work for a Canadian outlet, so he is "able to talk about hiking and camping, for a little bit of money on the side".

Most of his work is seasonal, so he said in the winter he aimed to "live as frugal as possible", but he says his long-term aim to be able to produce content about hiking and living outdoors.

Despite doing the walk on his own, Mr Ellison said he made connections with other hikers.

He said: "You develop connections with people while out en route and then you may not see them for months again, even though they are only a town ahead of you then you meet up with them again and share your stories with them."

He aims to have completed the challenge by 10 September.

Isabella Devereux, from Kent, walked the Pacific Crest Trail from April – September 2023 and described it as a “cool experience”.

She said that travelling through Washington was the hardest part of the walk, as the trail was overgrown.

“There also wasn’t many trail villages so it was hard to get food. We was averaging 28 miles a day. My friend also broke his foot and had to walk 60 miles on it.”

She said she spent seven days on average walking before she came across towns where she could stock up on food and supplies.

“I met a group of seven people and we all did it together. Every now and then we’d get ourselves an Airbnb so we could all have a wash and relax," added Isabella.

Her favourite part was when everyone she was walking with did “a Christmas in July as a 'trail family’”.

She completed the trail at the top of Mount Whitney.

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