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Sunset at Oregon's Crater Lake
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SUMMIT COUNTY - Imagine dedicating 176 days to hike 2,650 miles. That is exactly what Dillon resident Hans Uecker did when he finished the Pacific Crest Trail this past October.
Uecker's story began when friend Andy Brown, with whom Uecker hiked the Appalachian Trail, called and told him he was considering the PCT. Their journey started April 18 at the border of Mexico and California and continued north through Oregon, Washington and Canada.
Uecker estimates about 300 strong-willed individuals attempt the PCT each year, and Uecker believes 90 percent of all PCT "thru" hikers have trekked the Appalachian Trail. His first "thru-hike" (thru-hike is defined as the process of hiking a long distance trail, end-to-end) was in 2004 on the Appalachian Trail and it took him five and half months to go from Georgia to Maine.
Before starting off on the PCT, Uecker knew it was going to be an adventure, and he got validation at the trailhead, where Uecker and Brown encountered volunteers of the Minuteman militia group. "They were totally backwoods Minutemen. They wore camouflage fatigues, drove Broncos and all had handguns," he said. The volunteers warned him of the dangers that can exist around illegals on the trail and to try and avoid confrontation.
On the second day of their travels Uecker decided to move ahead of Brown. Uecker didn't see his friend the rest of the way after that, and amazingly enough, Brown finished the PCT just one day after Uecker did.
"The first 700 miles are on-and-off desert," he said, and during much of his trip he traveled solo. In one six-and-a-half day stretch, Uecker didn't encounter or see another soul.
Uecker faced many challenges along the way, including crossing raging rivers, attempting the trail on the year with the highest snowpack in history, traveling a half month purely in snowy conditions, and then making his way to the desert to endure 100 degree weather. Along his travels he went through 16 national parks and 32 different wildernesses. He read four books during his journey. The longest he went without re-supplying was 10 days. He also went 10 days without bathing, went through three pairs of shoes and endured one 35-mile stretch with no re-supply of water. The majority of his companionship came from a 512 MB mp3 player he listened to along the way.
It was like a breath of fresh air for Uecker when he finally reached the Oregon border. "It was absolutely gorgeous," he said. He always chose the scenic route over the shorter mileage alternative, taking him along Crater Lake, the Three Sisters Wilderness and Tunnel Falls. The 18 days it took to pass through Oregon was very quick compared to the four months it took for him to get through California.
Prior to reaching the Washington border, Uecker only dealt with rain on two different occasions, and each didn't last more than a day. When he'd just crossed the border of Washington in September, the rains came. A nine-day stretch of rain and snow ensued after that. "At first it was okay, but once the snow came, it was nasty," he said. At one point he got lost on the trail because of the snow and he noticed he was in somewhat of a predicament. "I got lost for about two hours in the wilderness and was starting to get stuck in the snow and there was about 10 to 15 inches on the ground," so he put up his tent for the night, but at sunrise there was another 3 to 4 inches on top of his
Uecker's story began when friend Andy Brown, with whom Uecker hiked the Appalachian Trail, called and told him he was considering the PCT. Their journey started April 18 at the border of Mexico and California and continued north through Oregon, Washington and Canada.
Uecker estimates about 300 strong-willed individuals attempt the PCT each year, and Uecker believes 90 percent of all PCT "thru" hikers have trekked the Appalachian Trail. His first "thru-hike" (thru-hike is defined as the process of hiking a long distance trail, end-to-end) was in 2004 on the Appalachian Trail and it took him five and half months to go from Georgia to Maine.
Before starting off on the PCT, Uecker knew it was going to be an adventure, and he got validation at the trailhead, where Uecker and Brown encountered volunteers of the Minuteman militia group. "They were totally backwoods Minutemen. They wore camouflage fatigues, drove Broncos and all had handguns," he said. The volunteers warned him of the dangers that can exist around illegals on the trail and to try and avoid confrontation.
On the second day of their travels Uecker decided to move ahead of Brown. Uecker didn't see his friend the rest of the way after that, and amazingly enough, Brown finished the PCT just one day after Uecker did.
"The first 700 miles are on-and-off desert," he said, and during much of his trip he traveled solo. In one six-and-a-half day stretch, Uecker didn't encounter or see another soul.
Uecker faced many challenges along the way, including crossing raging rivers, attempting the trail on the year with the highest snowpack in history, traveling a half month purely in snowy conditions, and then making his way to the desert to endure 100 degree weather. Along his travels he went through 16 national parks and 32 different wildernesses. He read four books during his journey. The longest he went without re-supplying was 10 days. He also went 10 days without bathing, went through three pairs of shoes and endured one 35-mile stretch with no re-supply of water. The majority of his companionship came from a 512 MB mp3 player he listened to along the way.
It was like a breath of fresh air for Uecker when he finally reached the Oregon border. "It was absolutely gorgeous," he said. He always chose the scenic route over the shorter mileage alternative, taking him along Crater Lake, the Three Sisters Wilderness and Tunnel Falls. The 18 days it took to pass through Oregon was very quick compared to the four months it took for him to get through California.
Prior to reaching the Washington border, Uecker only dealt with rain on two different occasions, and each didn't last more than a day. When he'd just crossed the border of Washington in September, the rains came. A nine-day stretch of rain and snow ensued after that. "At first it was okay, but once the snow came, it was nasty," he said. At one point he got lost on the trail because of the snow and he noticed he was in somewhat of a predicament. "I got lost for about two hours in the wilderness and was starting to get stuck in the snow and there was about 10 to 15 inches on the ground," so he put up his tent for the night, but at sunrise there was another 3 to 4 inches on top of his
Uecker estimates about 300 strong-willed individuals attempt the PCT each year, and Uecker believes 90 percent of all PCT "thru" hikers have trekked the Appalachian Trail. His first "thru-hike" (thru-hike is defined as the process of hiking a long distance trail, end-to-end) was in 2004 on the Appalachian Trail and it took him five and half months to go from Georgia to Maine.
Before starting off on the PCT, Uecker knew it was going to be an adventure, and he got validation at the trailhead, where Uecker and Brown encountered volunteers of the Minuteman militia group. "They were totally backwoods Minutemen. They wore camouflage fatigues, drove Broncos and all had handguns," he said. The volunteers warned him of the dangers that can exist around illegals on the trail and to try and avoid confrontation.
Before starting off on the PCT, Uecker knew it was going to be an adventure, and he got validation at the trailhead, where Uecker and Brown encountered volunteers of the Minuteman militia group. "They were totally backwoods Minutemen. They wore camouflage fatigues, drove Broncos and all had handguns," he said. The volunteers warned him of the dangers that can exist around illegals on the trail and to try and avoid confrontation.
On the second day of their travels Uecker decided to move ahead of Brown. Uecker didn't see his friend the rest of the way after that, and amazingly enough, Brown finished the PCT just one day after Uecker did.
"The first 700 miles are on-and-off desert," he said, and during much of his trip he traveled solo. In one six-and-a-half day stretch, Uecker didn't encounter or see another soul.
Uecker faced many challenges along the way, including crossing raging rivers, attempting the trail on the year with the highest snowpack in history, traveling a half month purely in snowy conditions, and then making his way to the desert to endure 100 degree weather. Along his travels he went through 16 national parks and 32 different wildernesses. He read four books during his journey. The longest he went without re-supplying was 10 days. He also went 10 days without bathing, went through three pairs of shoes and endured one 35-mile stretch with no re-supply of water. The majority of his companionship came from a 512 MB mp3 player he listened to along the way.
"The first 700 miles are on-and-off desert," he said, and during much of his trip he traveled solo. In one six-and-a-half day stretch, Uecker didn't encounter or see another soul.
Uecker faced many challenges along the way, including crossing raging rivers, attempting the trail on the year with the highest snowpack in history, traveling a half month purely in snowy conditions, and then making his way to the desert to endure 100 degree weather. Along his travels he went through 16 national parks and 32 different wildernesses. He read four books during his journey. The longest he went without re-supplying was 10 days. He also went 10 days without bathing, went through three pairs of shoes and endured one 35-mile stretch with no re-supply of water. The majority of his companionship came from a 512 MB mp3 player he listened to along the way.
It was like a breath of fresh air for Uecker when he finally reached the Oregon border. "It was absolutely gorgeous," he said. He always chose the scenic route over the shorter mileage alternative, taking him along Crater Lake, the Three Sisters Wilderness and Tunnel Falls. The 18 days it took to pass through Oregon was very quick compared to the four months it took for him to get through California.
Prior to reaching the Washington border, Uecker only dealt with rain on two different occasions, and each didn't last more than a day. When he'd just crossed the border of Washington in September, the rains came. A nine-day stretch of rain and snow ensued after that. "At first it was okay, but once the snow came, it was nasty," he said. At one point he got lost on the trail because of the snow and he noticed he was in somewhat of a predicament. "I got lost for about two hours in the wilderness and was starting to get stuck in the snow and there was about 10 to 15 inches on the ground," so he put up his tent for the night, but at sunrise there was another 3 to 4 inches on top of his
Prior to reaching the Washington border, Uecker only dealt with rain on two different occasions, and each didn't last more than a day. When he'd just crossed the border of Washington in September, the rains came. A nine-day stretch of rain and snow ensued after that. "At first it was okay, but once the snow came, it was nasty," he said. At one point he got lost on the trail because of the snow and he noticed he was in somewhat of a predicament. "I got lost for about two hours in the wilderness and was starting to get stuck in the snow and there was about 10 to 15 inches on the ground," so he put up his tent for the night, but at sunrise there was another 3 to 4 inches on top of his
tent. He awoke to find his shoes frozen solid and he couldn't put them on his feet. He knew that if he were to start trekking out he'd need to put on his shoes, so he needed to be innovative and somehow thaw his shoes. He came up with two choices: first, he could melt some snow and pour the hot water on the frozen shoes, or second, use his own body heat by urinating on the shoes as to quickly thaw them and slip his feet into them. Uecker chose the latter of the options and recounts the experience as being one of his more memorable experiences along the PCT.
Uecker weighed in at 209 pounds at the beginning of the journey - at the end he weighed180 pounds. He advises those thinking about a thru-hike to do adequate research, put on weight and anticipate spending around four dollars per mile. A good resource of information for thru-hikers can be found at www.trailjournals.com.
Uecker weighed in at 209 pounds at the beginning of the journey - at the end he weighed180 pounds. He advises those thinking about a thru-hike to do adequate research, put on weight and anticipate spending around four dollars per mile. A good resource of information for thru-hikers can be found at www.trailjournals.com.
Originally from Las Vegas, Nevada Uecker has called Summit County home for the past four years. At 20, he started working in Yellowstone National Park, then Teton National Park and he ended up moving to Summit with Vail Resorts. Now 28, Uecker works at Der Fondue Chessel restaurant in Keystone, and is a self-proclaimed "ski bum."
His next feat is currently in the planning stages, where Uecker will trek the Continental Divide Trail in the summer of 2008.
"The most fulfilling part is when you're on the trail and you see all the beauty. I just love getting away from society and having utter peace and quiet." he said, and that is exactly what Uecker will pursue.
His next feat is currently in the planning stages, where Uecker will trek the Continental Divide Trail in the summer of 2008.
"The most fulfilling part is when you're on the trail and you see all the beauty. I just love getting away from society and having utter peace and quiet." he said, and that is exactly what Uecker will pursue.
