12 Stops Along the Pacific Crest Trail

Pacific Crest Trail Marker

When Cheryl first heard of the Pacific Crest Trail (PCT), she writes, she was living in Minneapolis, Minnesota, sad and desperate and on the brink of divorcing a man she still loved. "The Pacific Crest Trail wasn't a world to me then. It was an idea, vague and outlandish, full of promise and mystery."

Seven months later, she laced up her boots and began her 1,100-mile journey across deserts, mountains, rivers, highways and rainforests.