Pacific Crest Trail 2014: Intro & Southern Terminus to Big Bear Lake (Part 1)

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05:48 : Skip the intro
This video documents my experience with the Pacific Crest Trail and a through hike of it in 2014. It's a love letter to the trail that will always mean a lot to me, and all the lands it traverses. All the footage, editing, and musical bits were created by me.
Everywhere the PCT touches is land with long living histories of Indigenous peoples.
I want to acknowledge that I have lived most of my life on the lands of the Duwamish People in the vicinity of Seattle, where I made this video. I am not sure that pre-recorded digital media is the best place for a full land acknowledgement since the reader/watcher could be anywhere, so I will attempt to not dilute that practice which I would guess is best done in person.
Many of the areas near the southern start of the trail overlap with the traditional lands of some of the Indigenous Kumeyaay Peoples, including the Tipai whose lands share geography with the Laguna mountains, and the Ipai to the west.
The Native Kuupangaxwichem or Cupeño had their primary villages near where Warner Springs is today. They survived through multiple waves of Spanish, Mexican, and American colonialism until being evicted by a court ruling in 1903. They are fighting to get their home back to this day.
Many Native Ivilyuqaletem or Cahuilla peoples such as the Los Coyotes band which has both Cahuilla and Cupeño members and is centered in Warner Springs were and are living in areas the PCT now traverses. Their traditional lands include San Gorgonio pass, and despite their cooperation with various Spanish and American endeavors the U.S. government refused to ratify the treaty that would let them control their lands. These lands were further chopped up into parcels reserved for the railroad. Cahuilla Nation today has many strong communities in southern California such as in Palm Springs, Banning, and Cabazon.
The Native Payómkawichum or Luiseño peoples live to the west of where the trail goes mostly, such as in what is now La Jolla where I spent time before starting my trip on the PCT and in the vicinity of San Diego where most through hikers arrive before beginning a north-bound hike, including myself.
The San Bernadino mountains are part of the traditional lands of the Native Serrano peoples, a group that includes the Taaqtam, the Maarrênga’yam, and the Yuhaviatam. Other ranges and areas nearby such as the Tehachapi Mountains ahead on the trail also share geography with Native Serrano land.
Please consider learning about the Indigenous peoples that lived and live in places you live, visit and enjoy. And of course consider contributing financially, through education, and simply through verbal conversation and recognition for Indigenous peoples that often go un-mentioned despite having been the caretakers of the places we live in and enjoy for thousands of years before us.
I apologize for leaving out any Indigenous groups with ties to the areas the PCT now cuts across from Campo to Big Bear Lake-- and for any mispronunciations. In the video I used the Spanish names for most of the groups, to hopefully avoid that too much, and because I feared leaving out smaller groups even more-so if I tried to acknowledge all the Tribes and bands and nations names I came across. If you have relevant information regarding Indigenous groups I can improve this description acknowledgement with and you want to contact me about it or comment about it, please do!

Пікірлер: 11

@adventurepeace2149 3 жыл бұрын

I hiked the PCT in 2013 and let me just say, THANK YOU! Back then it was a mixed trail, half-full of toxic masculinity, half-full of dreamers pre-Wild popularity boom, and that experience could be overwhelming if you weren't careful who you spent your time with. This experience that you have documented here is much closer to my internal narrative as I hiked - contemplative, meditative, healing - and you've helped me shed some of the weight of the self-inflicted gaslighting I've experienced since I hiked. Safe travels!

@keegan.o 3 жыл бұрын

Thank you for the comment! I definitely found egregious through-hiking culture to be a very unexpected trial in 2014, and sometimes one that had me on my backfoot and reacting to people in ways that were defensive or protective (where I would be dismissive and move on quickly)-- which I regret because some of those people were wonderful and I wish I had been fully able to just be at peace when I ran into them. Thankfully that didn't occur often, and your comment also helps me. (EDIT: Also, of course, the longer you stayed on trail the better it got as everyone spread out and you learned more about people)