Just Start Walking: PCT hiker finds a reset, community and adventure on 2,650-mile journey

CASCADE LOCKS, Ore., Aug. 15, 2026 — For a guy who had never backpacked until a couple of months before setting out on the Pacific Crest Trail, Cameron — better known by his trail name, “Playlist” — has learned one of the simplest lessons of long-distance hiking.

Sometimes you just have to start walking.

Playlist left the southern end of the Pacific Crest Trail on April 6, beginning a journey that, if completed, stretches roughly 2,650 miles from the U.S.-Mexico border through California, Oregon and Washington to Canada.

He arrived at Pacific Crest Trail Days in Cascade Locks this weekend having covered most of California and made it as far north as Ashland. He has taken his time, including a few breaks from the trail, rather than treating the trek as a race.

That might sound like the itinerary of a seasoned backpacker.

It isn't.

“I backpacked for the first time in my life like two months before I started the trail,” Playlist said. “So it was definitely a learning curve.”

He had plenty of experience day hiking around his native Orange County, California, but carrying his life on his back for months was something entirely different.

His early attempts at training showed just how much he had to learn. Without a proper backpack, he loaded dumbbells and free weights into a school bag and went walking.

After about a mile, his shoulders were wrecked.

“I didn't know what I was doing,” he said.

He figured it out.

Looking for a reset

The idea of walking from Mexico to Canada had been simmering for some time. Playlist said he has always found solace outdoors, and after a difficult stretch in his life, the enormity and simplicity of the PCT began to make sense.

“I just got to a point in my life where enough had gone wrong where I was like, OK, I need like a reset,” he said.

He had originally considered attempting the trail next year but secured a permit for this year just in case. Then he lost his job and a long-term relationship ended.

Suddenly, the backup plan didn't feel like a backup plan anymore.

“OK, this is the time,” he recalled thinking. “The universe is like pushing me towards doing this. It's something I've always wanted to do.”

He started alone.

That didn't last long.

The PCT may offer solitude, but it also creates an unusual community among people attempting something few others can fully understand. Playlist said hikers begin meeting one another almost immediately, exchanging names and stories before eventually falling into groups with people moving at similar speeds.

“Everyone out here is crazy,” he said with a laugh. “We're all undertaking this crazy thing.”

And everyone, he has discovered, seems to have a different reason for being there.

Some are chasing a lifelong dream. Some are between jobs. Others are brought along by friends. For some, the trail arrives at exactly the moment they need it.

The hard miles

The romance of the PCT can disappear quickly when the miles get difficult.

Playlist skipped portions of California affected by wildfire but also spent several days walking through burned areas.

“It was really rough,” he said.

Dead trees made finding safe campsites difficult, and he could hear trees falling during the night. Thorny brush tore at hikers' legs, and the damaged landscape sometimes forced them to push long distances before finding somewhere safe to sleep.

But difficult stretches are balanced by unexpected acts of kindness — what hikers call “trail magic.”

Near Big Bear, Playlist encountered a professional photographer who had set up along the trail with beer and snacks for passing hikers. Then he photographed them with his professional equipment.

“That was really cool,” Playlist said. “That's like the most professional picture that's ever been taken of me.”

Sometimes trail magic is simpler: a ride into town from a stranger when a hiker emerges from the wilderness needing food, supplies, a shower or a place to sleep.

Those small acts become significant after days on foot.

A trail town celebrates

That sense of community is spilling into Cascade Locks this weekend for Pacific Crest Trail Days, an annual celebration of the trail, the people who hike it and the outdoor culture surrounding it.

Saturday's events open at 9 a.m. and include gear contests, games, presentations and activities throughout the day. Thru-hiker and author Liz “Snorkel” Thomas is scheduled to speak at 11:45 a.m. about turning the dream of a long-distance hike into reality.

At 2:30 p.m., the Pacific Crest Trail Association will present “The Trail Changes Us,” featuring hikers sharing stories about adventure, hardship, friendship and the ways the PCT continued to shape their lives after leaving the trail.

A raffle begins at 5:30 p.m., with proceeds benefiting the American Long Distance Hiking Association-West, Pacific Crest Trail Association and Trail Keepers of Oregon. DJ Drew is scheduled to close out the festival with music from 7:30 to 9:30 p.m.

For Playlist, however, perhaps the most enduring lesson of the trail came before he ever set foot on it.

During a road trip through Mammoth, California, he met a PCT hiker at a bakery and confessed that he wanted to someday attempt the trail himself.

The hiker gave him advice that quieted much of the anxiety he had about planning thousands of miles of walking.

“You should do it,” Playlist recalled him saying. “It's not as complicated as you think it is. All you have to do is just start walking.”

Playlist had tried to plan everything, right down to every resupply stop.

Eventually, he realized he didn't have to.

“Just start, and that's half the battle,” he said. “I think that's something that will stick with me that I've learned. Because it really is true.”

There are still hundreds of miles between Playlist and Canada.

For now, he'll figure those out the same way he figured out the first ones.

One step at a time.