Seeley-Swan High School graduate Kyle Peltier on top of the Southern Terminus of the Pacific Crest National Scenic Trail April 11. Now he is almost 60% of the way through his 2,600 mile trek north.
Kyle Peltier never expected that he would be able to walk 25+ miles a day carrying around 30 pounds on his back. Now he's 1,600 miles into his first thru-hike on the PCT.
EDNA, CALIFORNIA - Seeley-Swan High School graduate Kyle Peltier is over halfway through his multi-month journey hiking along the west coast on the Pacific Crest Trail. He began his trek April 11. As of Friday, July 16 he has arrived in Edna, California. Within a few days he will have completed 60% of the 2,600 mile trail.
For the last three months, Peltier has made his way through the entire state of California. Once he reaches Oregon he will have 900 miles left to his end goal of the Canadian border. His group is expecting to be done by early September.
He said so far he has enjoyed the trip but he has had to recently take care of developing blisters.
"For the most part, it's going great," he said. "Spirits are high and [I'm] just excited to get to Oregon."
He said the biggest challenge he faced traveling through was the "mental battle" he dealt with traveling through the Sierra Nevada mountain range.
"A lot of hikers talk about the mental battle that you'll go through on trail because a lot of the time you'll be alone or you'll get homesick. I was doing pretty well through the first section of the ... desert," he said. "But ... the group I was with, they all kind of split up and then I was alone. I underestimated the mental head game going through the Sierras and so that kind of sucked, but now it's going pretty well."
To maintain his mental stability, Peltier began journaling his experiences daily before he eventually came across another group who was able to help him power through the region.
He said he stops in a town for supplies about once a week. He has switched a lot of his gear out and replaced it with lighter materials. Much of what he picks up is dependent on what the town he is in can supply.
Peltier said he can write a book with the lessons he has learned on his voyage but one of the biggest ones has been "don't underestimate yourself."
"Like sure, you'll get in your head and feel like you're not doing great but also don't be surprised either [with what you can accomplish]," he said.
He described the trails as being "a very humbling experience." His favorite aspect has been being able to ignore societal norms of cleanliness and embrace being in the moment.
"You're just more free in a sense," he said. "It's a lot more natural and you're just in the middle of the woods. People aren't grossed out when you take your socks off and you have to drain them blisters and it looks horrible. ... We all smell so it's kind of nice."
While he enjoys this naturalistic aspect, he admits that returning to a civilized lifestyle will be a challenge.
"I'm going to miss a lot of things about trail," he said. "There's this thing called post-trail depression. And it's basically when you're a wild animal and then you get put back in society and try to figure out how to handle that. In the woods, you're with other people who are like-minded. ... But when you're in public, ... it's different because you just walked 2,600 miles and these other people just went to a nine to five job."
He continues, "And so trying to handle the freedom of being out in the woods, being yourself being dirty all the time and then going back into society where you kind of have to keep up this image of ... good hygiene. I have to speak with manners now like I can't just eat food with my hands that haven't been washed in three days. ... Just going from so much freedom and all these happy feelings and then you're back in society, where you're not walking 25 miles a day, getting your exercise, breathing fresh air, seeing beautiful sights every day, waking up at 5 a.m. It's just going to be rough."
His least favorite aspect of the trail has been encountering other hikers who acted condescending towards his methods in terms of gear and hiking strategies.
"Some of the older hikers you meet will kind of dog you out ... on some things being like, 'Oh, that's what you're carrying?' Or like, 'You shouldn't do that. That's not smart,'" he said.
While on the trail Peltier said he has received job offers from other hikers as well as information on other potential hiking trips. He is unsure if he will stay in Seeley Lake long after he returns. When he does come back however, he is mostly looking forward to getting tacos from The Ice Cream Place and giving his feet a break.
"I will need to see a doctor after this trail," he said. "I know I'm going to need some orthopedic shoes."
In spite of his physical ailments, Peltier said he still feels like he has gotten stronger since he first started.
"The first day we did 11 and a half miles, which seemed big at the time," he said. "As soon as we got to camp, I laid down for three hours and someone had to literally drag me out of my tent because I couldn't move because I was so sore. Now I can walk 30 miles when we feel up to it and I'm still ready to go some days."
So far his favorite region to explore has been Northern California. Just before he got in, his group experienced a thunderstorm that flooded all of their tents. Other than that however the climate has been hot and dry.
"I'm told that I might not experience rain in Oregon or Washington, which will be very surprising," he said. "But I'm kind of excited because I hate rain."
Despite the vast amount of land, Peltier said he has encountered very little wildlife.
"Honestly, no offense to California but their wildlife sucks," he said. "Part of that I'm really thankful for because I haven't seen a lot of rattlesnakes [or bears]."
Peltier continues to document his experiences on his Facebook, Instagram and TikTok accounts. His Instagram username is harrison_smiles and his TikTok username is harrison_smiles406.
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