The annual trek along the Pacific Crest Trail, from the U.S./Mexico border north to nearly Canada, is underway as both hikers and equestrians partake in the adventure, many of them stopping in the Big Bear Valley for postal service, supplies and showers. This year there are more hikers on the PCT, according to Suzanne Wilson, a regional rep for the Pacific Crest Trail Association, a non-profit partner with the U.S. Forest Service. As Wilson tells KBHR, “We have a lot more people on the trail this year and it could be due to the economy, since it is a fun and relatively inexpensive adventure.” This season, during which PCTers arrive in Big Bear anytime between late March and mid-June, over 450 “thru” hiking permits have been issued by the PCTA, and over 500 section permits for portions of the trail, as some hikers tackle just a bit each year, rather than making the complete (and often arduous) trail, which includes both deserts and the Sierras. The Pacific Crest Trail drops into the Big Bear area just southeast of Heart Bar off Highway 38, goes over Onyx Summit, travels east of Baldwin Lake, then goes along the Valley’s northern ridge by Bertha Peak, and beyond Fawnskin—roughly 93 miles ’round our Valley, by the time hikers get to Lake Silverwood. Jim Dooley of the North Shore Trading Company tells KBHR, “The Pacific Crest Trail is only a mile and a half or so from Fawnskin—we can drive to it on one of the 3N roads—so hikers can drop down to Fawnskin for supplies.” To that end, the Fawnskin Chamber of Commerce this year placed an ad in the PCT magazine. According to Peter Fulkerson, a board member for the San Gorgonio Wilderness Association and owner of Equada Outfitters, “By the time they get to Big Bear, they’re rethinking their stuff. We get a lot of people looking for new shoes, or fuel for their cook stoves.” Fulkerson notes that they often stop at post offices to mail some things forward, such as an ice ax or heavier clothes that they won’t need for the desert leg of the journey. In fact, the Big Bear City Post Office has a wall of photos of PCTers, each including the nickname they picked up on the trail, their age and where they’re from. As PCTA’s Wilson says, “The backgrounds and ages of the hikers and equestrians who travel the PCT are of a wide variety and include all levels of experience. Folks come from all over, including Europe and South America.”
