Скачать или смотреть A PCT STORY - ENTIRE TRAIL, 3 MIN (w/Dogs)

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Doug and Amy met at a dog park in Southern California in 2013. They started dating in 2015 and hit the trail with their 2 dogs at the PCT Southern terminus on Apr 7, 2017. Doug's black dog Buddha made it to Scissors Crossing at mile 73-ish. Amy's brown dog Zeus made it to Silverwood Lake at mile 300+. Both dogs were well cared for on trail and had great caretakers off trail (good friends).

Previous to prepping for the PCT, Amy had never backpacked before, and in fact, Amy had never peed or pooped outdoors before hiking the Pacific Crest Trail. Amy thought it was going to be 4-6 months of ukelele time and s'mores around the campfire each night. WRONG! Doug, a lifelong lover of the outdoors, had done a single 4 day, 3 night backpacking trip in Yellowstone NP some sixteen years earlier and that was it.

Having been dating a year and a half when they started the trail, Doug designed and ordered a custom engagement ring for Amy in the months leading up to the hike. During the first month on trail, Doug and Amy faced a lot of growing pains, having overpacked, having never spent 24 hours a day in the heat, dirt, cold and rain with a partner before. Eventually they "hiked themselves into shape", got into a groove and once Doug knew he had found his choice of life partner, he proposed marriage to Amy on June 12, 2017 in the middle of a gorgeous meadow in Kings Canyon at approx. mile 550. Due to dangerous snow and high level water conditions, Doug and Amy jumped ahead from Kearsarge Pass to Chester and they continued hiking north until an overuse knee injury stopped Doug and took the couple off trail near the Timberline Lodge in northern Oregon. Doug and Amy hiked +/- 1500 miles in 2017......

In 2018 and 2019, Amy got her special education teaching credential and Doug started an adjunct film studies professor position at a local junior college. The couple got married on October 19, 2019. When the pandemic hit in March, 2020, Doug and Amy decided to jump back on trail, away from the masses. Due to being out of shape, Doug suggested they start in Chester (4500' elevation) and south bound the part of the trail they had skipped in 2017. The alternative would have been to start at Kearsarge Pass (11,700' elevation), having not hiked at all for 3 years. So that's what they did, they south bounded the 550 miles they had skipped in 2017 (Chester to Kearsarge), hiking from early July to early September 2020.

A month after getting off trail in 2020, Doug lost the ability to flex his right foot up and back. He had developed foot drop on the right side, the result of nerve damage from two bulging discs caused by degenerative disc disease. This meant he had to be fitted for a special brace for his right foot in order to walk properly. The brace has been very helpful and with it, Doug and Amy were able to complete the final 600 miles of the PCT from Timberline Lodge in Oregon, to the PCT northern terminus at the Washington state, Canada border. They hiked from June to August 2021. In total, the Pacific Crest Trail is a 2650 mile continuous foot trail connecting Mexico to Canada and vice versa.

As of the posting of this video (June 1 2023), Buddha (black dog) is an old man at 12 1/2 years. Zeus (brown dog) is right behind him at 11 1/2 years old. They were 6 and 5 respectively when they were on trail in 2017. These dogs are like children to Doug and Amy. They eat well. They get a walk every day without exception and they have a lot of friends at the local dog park, where they go 3-5 days a week.... Amy is now a credentialed special ed teacher and Doug continues to teach film studies and is currently writing a screenplay based on this adventure as part of a feature film screenwriting class he is taking through UCLA. Not seen in this video are all the friends, family and trail angels who made this adventure possible. The kindness and generosity of loved ones and strangers alike is one of the great takeaways for Doug and Amy. Thank you one and all and thank YOU for reading this and watching this video. PLEASE LIKE, COMMENT AND SUBSCRIBE for future content. :)