The PWC Presents: Howard Shapiro, Co-Editor of Crossing Paths – A Pacific Crest Trailside Reader

In this new volume, Crossing Paths A Pacific Crest Trailside Reader, we curated stories emphasizing those written by a wide-range of hikers over the past decade from up and down the west coast and across the United States as well as England and France. We are fortunate that Mountaineers Books is publishing Crossing Paths. In May of 2022, Crossing Paths was featured in the print edition of Publishers Weekly.

These stories in Crossing Paths strive to reflect the totality of the trail experience. We included some excerpts from published PCT memoirs, stories selected from the 1,400 posts from our website pcttrailsidereader.com since 2011, and many more solicited contributions. We identified some 65 stories with a preface written by Liz Bergeron, the Executive Director of the Pacific Crest Trail Association (PCTA), and an introduction and conclusion by the editors. The content benefits from the richness of real experiences on the trail from the typical to the unusual. This includes stories of challenging water crossings, fighting through snow in October, encounters with animals, as well as a world class cellist performing along his way north, marrying a fellow hiker the author first met just 100 miles earlier, and an epic winter thru-hike. Contributions also examine the impact of the changing climate (perennial fires, dying forests) and technology (smart phones and apps like Guthook) on the PCT experience. There is humor, pathos, courage, and wisdom throughout the collection.

The past decade has seen a tremendous growth in the interest in and the usage of the PCT. In 2019, the PCTA issued nearly 8,000 long-distance PCT permits, a four-fold increase from 2013. When the Readers were published, there were 158 recorded finishers. In 2019, that number was 963. Certainly the profile of the trail has been buoyed by Cheryl Strayed’s book (2012) and movie (2014), Wild, but growth in interest in the PCT has continued for many reasons.

Rees Hughes co-edited the first volumes from 2011 with another editor who has since moved on to other pursuits.. Both Rees and I have completed the Pacific Crest Trail and are longtime hiking partners. This collection, among many things, is a labor of love for a national treasure that is the Pacific Crest Trail. For the past six years we have worked together managing the pcttrailsidereader.com website.

We both are, as we did with the original books, contributing our royalties to the Pacific Crest Trail Association. In return, the PCTA has agreed to support marketing the book and assisted with our efforts to successfully enlist several high profile authors like Cheryl Strayed and Nicholas Kristof to contribute pieces to the collection.