Brave adventurer to take on 2,600 mile charity odyssey on Pacific Crest Trail

The Pacific Crest Trail takes explorer, Emily, from Mexico to Canada – and according to the trail’s association, has only been completed by 2,607 people on record.

Starting from Southern California, Emily will trek through Oregon and Washington until she finally reaches the Canadian border.

The route stretches a whopping 2,663 miles and the experienced thrill-seeker says she’ll be walking about 25 to 26 miles per day.

It’s an endeavour she has longed to do for years, and after dedicating lockdown to mapping out the treacherous terrain, she says she is absolutely ready for it.

‘It’s something I’ve wanted to do for such a long time,’ says Portsmouth-born Emily.

‘I highlighted all of the things that I think are going to challenge me in the PCT over the next five or six months.

‘It's a whole journey which has been a result of lockdown.

‘Having this focus for me to get through the last few years, and adding in the charity work as well - where I raised awareness on social media - makes it very emotional.’

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It’s taken months of major planning, not just for the treacherous terrain she will face, but for the uncertainty of where her next meal is coming from and where she’ll be able to source water in the trail's extremities.

The Pacific Crest Trail Association estimates about sixty per cent of the 700-800 people who attempt it each year actually finish it - so Emily is all too aware about just how challenging this is going to be.

However, after lockdown hit and life slowed down, the 34-year-old, was struck by a wave of inspiration which made her fully commit to the hike.

After moving back home from London, she fell in love with walking in the Hampshire countryside.

She says: ‘It started in March 2020.

‘I’d moved out of London to be back with my family and I started spending more time outside in the countryside, walking the local footpaths.

‘Walking is great for clearing the mind and thinking about things so I began to form a plan.

‘One day, the thought popped into my head that I should raise money for charity, particularly as I'm self-funding all of my equipment and travel. I thought I could make a real impact.

‘It’s going to be tough.

‘A lot of the reasons why people drop out of this sort of thing is injury. ‘Mental health too - because it can get lonely to do that sort of thing for five months.

‘Your ability to cope with that and to persevere when you're uncomfortable and your body hurts and you're missing your family, and finding coping mechanisms for that and being in scary situations with the weather or wildlife is difficult.

‘It's just knowing how you can handle it and that you can.’

Emily’s five-month hike will raise cash for a charity close to home.

After travelling to her work place’s partner – Vietnam – and seeing for herself the difficulties youth find themselves in every day, she decided to put funds towards giving them a better future.

The organisation, KOTO (Know One Teach One), helps at risk and disadvantaged youth in Vietnam – a place Emily has worked on and off for the past seven years – is helping children off the streets and giving them life skills.

‘I've become very attached to Vietnamese culture and the people and the country,’ she explains.

‘Over the years, I've seen the benefit of how well people can do when they're educated. The opportunities they have are so much better.

‘They teach them English and life skills and the hospitality side of things, whether it's in the kitchen or customer service or management and food safety to get them into work.’

A former waitress herself, and currently working in the food safety industry, Emily says she has so many strong connections to the charity that it’s the perfect cause to raise cash for.

Inspired by the 2014 film Wild, which sees Hollywood star Reese Witherspoon embark on a new life by walking a section of the Pacific Crest Trail, Emily knew she wanted to hike the entire route before she turned 40.

Two years and 10 months of planning later, she says she is ‘elated’ to finally be making her daydream a reality. The avid adventurer has been training relentlessly, even squeezing in trips between working.

Just a few weeks ago, Emily was wild camping in Scotland to explore different terrains and better-equip for her odyssey. Before that, she’d hiked long distances in Wales, Dartmoor and the South Downs. She’s also completed two marathons.

Emily has learnt how to adapt to harsh weather and learnt strategies for resupplying essentials when food and water gets scarce.

‘There’s going to be a huge variation in landscape and we ather.

‘When I start in Southern California it’s desert, but in March the desert is not particularly hot.

‘It’s sunny in the day, but at night it can be below zero degrees. It can be freezing. When you go up to elevation - which happens quite quickly in Southern California, you can go as high as 3,000 metres which is well above anything in the UK.

‘There's high snowfall this year already, so I'm expecting to be hiking through snow and putting my tent up in that weather at the top of a mountain.’

To keep her body energised during high elevation and vast distances, Emily will need to consume an extra 3,000 calories a day.

‘Carrying that amount of food is heavy,’ she says.

‘I'm going to have nutrient-rich instant food sent to me at certain towns but I don't want to be going off route to do that every week.’

When Emily reaches Oregon and Washington, she hopes by then it will be spring. ‘It gets green and there's lovely flowers and the weather gets better. I should be finished by the end of August on the border of Canada.

‘It won’t be super hot but it will definitely be summer!’

The keen explorer will take on the ambitious feat on March 21 and when she comes back she looks forward to visiting Vietnam where she can see exactly where her funding is helping in local communities.

‘I was planning right up until the two months before I was going to be doing all of this. The uncertainty has been quite stressful. But at least I know for the next six months I'll be in a tent.’

A message from the Editor, Mark Waldron

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