Walking the Wild: 700 Miles of Desert

In this Walking the Wild presentation, Mountaineers hike and backpack leader Karen Altergott will share photos and stories from the first 700 miles of her 2022 Pacific Crest Trail thru-hike. Beginning at the Mexican Border and often referred to in its entirety as "The Desert," this section of the PCT features the most diversity of the entire trail, passing from sagebrush scrubland and Joshua tree woodland up to lofty conifer forests and snowy peaks.

During this section she faced rattlesnakes, wind farms, 20-mile water carries, and snowstorms. But the trail also provided sweeping vistas, natural hot springs, clear skies for stargazing, and fragrant stands of blossoming lupine and lilacs. During the talk she will cover some of the logistics involved in thru-hiking, as well as the specific preparations needed to cover everything from the Mojave and Sonoran deserts up to the heights of the San Jacintos.

The presentation will begin promptly at 7PM and end at 8:30PM with time for Q&A at the end. The event will be held on zoom. An advance ticket will be required to receive the zoom link to join the presentation - you can get your ticket here!

You can attend with a free ticket, but we hope that you will purchase a $10 or $20 ticket which will help The Mountaineers continue to deliver its volunteer-led hiking and backpacking programs, including events like this one! We hope you will join us!