The Pacific Crest Trail (PCT) is one out of three long-distance hikes in the U.S. Next to the PCT there is also the Appalachian Trail (AT) and the Continental Divide Trail (CDT). The PCT travels from the U.S. boarder of Mexico to the U.S. boarder of Canada and passes through three states (California, Oregon and Washington). The trail crosses the desert of Southern California, the Sierra Nevada Mountains, across the Cascade Range, through the forests of Oregon and Washington before finally reaching Canada. It avoids civilisation. The route is mostly through National Forest and protected wilderness. The Trail is incredible 4'280 km long and reaches up to 4,009 meters.

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A couple of years ago only several hundred (+/- 300) people yearly attempted the full PCT hike. After the book by Cheryl Strayed the 'Wild effect' was published in 2012, the number continuously rises. The movie 'Wild' based on Cheryl Strayed's book which was released in 2014 is experiencing another huge bump in interest. In 2015 the PCT organisation (pcta.org) had to introduce a new permitting system which will limit the number of long-distance hikers who can start each day from the trail's southernmost point to 50. According to this organisation, the thru-hiker traffic on the PCT increased 137% from 2013 to 2015. Nowadays, several thousand people (+ 3'000) will try to thru-hike the PCT each year.

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Only about 30% - 40% of all the thru-hikers will finally reach the other end of the trail.