Kayla- 2026 Recipient & Trail Notes
2/13/26: We could not be more thrilled than to have our inaugural grant go to Kayla. Kayla is 32 years old and a resident of Bellingham, Washington, with a deep connection to the outdoors. Since beginning her backpacking journey in 2019, she has discovered both the beauty and the hardship of the wilderness, finding a path toward healing, growth, and self-understanding along the way.
Kayla is a seasonal guide, leading hikers through Washington’s spectacular national parks, including Mount Rainier National Park, Olympic National Park, North Cascades National Park, and Mount St. Helens National Volcanic Monument. She is also a photographer and a yoga teacher, finding ways to explore the world and bring people together - and in her free time, she heads to the backcountry to recharge.
Her journey to the Pacific Crest Trail is rooted in more than adventure. She is creating a blueprint for a life she never had or saw growing up - a life shaped with intention, vulnerability, and courage. Grief has carved a profound path through her life, and she has learned to find strength and growth in difficult places. The wilderness has taught her similar lessons: it offers beauty and refuge, but also challenge and discomfort.
Receiving thePCT Grant allows her to pursue the long-held dream that almost felt out of reach: thru-hiking from Mexico to Canada. She is motivated not only by the trail's challenge but also by the personal growth, storytelling, and community connection it fosters. This grant makes the journey possible, and she reports that she is deeply grateful for the opportunity to represent Washington’s hiking community on the trail.
We wish you safety and success, Kayla!
Dispatch 5 - 9/5/26
Dispatch 1 - 5/5/26
Dispatch 2 - 6/17/26
Dispatch 3 - 7/12/26
Dispatch 4 - 8/2/26
Hi Geoff, Keya, and Maddy!
Sending you a check-in from my one-month mark on the PCT. Phew, it feels like I just got on trail yesterday, and at the same time like I have been out here for months…
Trail life has been surprisingly easy to adapt to for me. I feel at home on trail. There have definitely been some lows, but far more highs. In my first week and a half, I dealt with desert allergies that turned into a respiratory infection - I am fully healed now and lungs are feeling strong again. Otherwise, my body has been incredible (including my feet haha) I’m amazed at how quickly we can adapt to pushing ourselves while also listening closely to what we need. I do get the classic “hiker hobble” after some 20+ mile days, but yoga and elevating my feet have been lifesavers for recovery. (Wrightwood even offered free yoga classes to hikers, which was AMAZING!)
One of the most special parts of this experience has been the people. I started out with a trail family of about 10 of us for the first week and a half and while we’ve naturally all split up over time, those early connections meant a lot. Since then, I’ve met an incredible woman who I’ve been leapfrogging with, and while I’m currently hiking solo, I often end up camping with familiar faces I’ve seen throughout the day. The trail is constantly changing, so are the people, but somehow I keep running into hikers I haven’t seen in weeks. It really does feel like I’ve made lifelong friends out here - and the trail angel / trail magic community…. Wow. Thru hikers are loved and cared for.
I am currently at mile 444, just before Agua Dulce. I can’t believe I have about 250 miles left of the desert section, it’s gone by fast. It’s been beautiful, intense, hot, and full of long water carries. I’m definitely looking forward to being around water more often so my pack will be lighter
I’m taking each day as it comes… trusting the trail, trusting myself, my gear, and the incredible community out here. I truly wouldn’t be here without your support, and I’m deeply grateful.
PS I have not wrote a Trek blog since being on trail…. There is so much time and no time at all out here! Hiking all day is ALOT and town days are chores (showers, laundry, planning next sections, resupplying food…) I’ve been journaling everyday for post trails thoughts and memories / trying to update my Instagram story when i have service. I made one post on IG and plan to do another when the desert section is over. Not sure when my first on trail blog will appear :)
PSS my giving back has started on trail… i leave FarOut comments daily bc they are so helpful and helped a hiker in need who ran out of water in the desert heat. Here’s to more trail magic all around.
Here’s a few pics from trail ~
Talk soon!
Hi guys!!
Apologies that this update is a little later than expected ~ I spent nine days in the Sierras without service and am just now in town!
We waited out 6 days before leaving Kennedy Meadows because of a snowstorm so we would have a solid summit window for sunrise. The timing worked out perfectly and we were able to summit - my first 14er!! It’s still hard to grasp that entire experience, I smile so big thinking about it.
Forester Pass was another highlight. I Cowboy camped about a mile below the summit with incredible views and found the climb much more manageable than I had anticipated. I glissaded down after the summit and it was my longest (and highest) glissade I've ever done - soo much fun!
This last 9 day stretch was my longest stretch since starting the PCT and it was the most beautiful landscapes I have ever traveled through…. Endless snowfields, peaks, alpine lakes, marmots, black bears and river crossings for days. This section pushed me physically and mentally more than anything I have experienced before. Climbing 8 passes in 9 days tested my limits, but each summit was incredibly rewarding.
I am currently in Mammoth taking a double zero to recover and enjoy some rest after all those climbs! I also have a bit of achilles pain and booked an appointment with Blaze Physio and she offered some recommendations and exercises - the day off already has my tendon feeling better.
This section of the trail has taught me a lot about discipline, resilience, and trusting myself. My confidence has shifted and in the midst of challenge and beauty out here, this journey continues to change my life in ways i didn’t expect. The gratitude I feel to be out here is just as immense as when I started this trail 2 months ago… thank you guys. I’m so blessed because of you.
Here’s some trail pics ~ I hope summer is treating you with joy!
Hi guys! Happy July
Little trail update - I’m in Shasta. NorCal has been hot hot hot. Many blowdowns and overgrowth and I find my energy pretty low most days and I see why many say the ‘NorCal blues’. Reaching the midpoint has brought many emotions. I’m exhausted and feeling the weight of the trail, like I need a long break (many of us feel this way so it’s validating to be in it with others) and simultaneously feeling like I don’t have ‘much’ time left on trail. It’s a lot to hold and a privilege to hold. I’ve come to really enjoy this experience, not just the hiking but the community, the hikers, the people in town, sleeping in pavilions in parks, watching the World Cup with my tramily in town, the kindness of random strangers helping me hitch ahead to grab my sneakers, the stories, the energy, feeling like I’m apart of this big thing and so many are having a different experience but the exact same experience…. It’s incredible.
Anyways, NorCal also has the most wildlife I’ve seen on trail. Many bears, many many deer, still many rattlesnakes (haha!) and I’m enjoying having my first berries of the season on trail!!! My physical body is very ready for OR. So cheers to enjoying the last of Northern California and almost walking through an entire state - grateful for your support and kindness on this journey. It helps motivate me more than words can describe.
See ya in OR/WA
Hey all!
I received the last portion of the grant. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for helping to carry me through this thru-hike. I wouldn’t be out here if it wasn’t for the kindness of all of you putting together this grant and opportunity… it’s life changing and pure trail magic. This and the people I have met out here have inspired me so deeply and I want the PCT to be apart of my journey for life (outside of my own thru hike) - somehow being closer to the trail to offer space for hikers or trail angeling in new ways…..
I would absolutely LOVE the opportunity to share my PCT experience with a presentation. It would be so lovely to meet everyone in person who’s been following along and to share this wild journey after I finish. I think I’ll want to talk about it forever?!
I am headed towards Timberline Lodge in a few days and this last section of Oregon has felt like truly being back in some of my favorite land. The forests, the volcanoes, the lava rocks and ridge lines…. It’s spectacular and really lights me up. I have so much motivation internally and mentally - still working through some feet issues. My achillies and arches seem to be doing alot better since ditching the lone peaks - I’m wearing topos now and they have given me a new problem, top of feet and ankle pain. Blaze just suggested I try ladder lacing and the shoes feel so so much better, so we’ll see how it goes on my next hiking stretch :) fingers crossed!
I'm also starting to look for my next adventure ‘professionally’ and I would love to stay in the Seattle area. If you hear of any opportunities or think of someone I should connect with, I'd be grateful if you kept me in mind.
Chat with you all soon!
Hi Everyone!
I am writing this last trail update from my room in Seattle - and on my laptop, not my phone... I feel luxurious?
My last email found you from Oregon. Oregon went by so fast compared to the 1700 miles in California. Oregon had a lot more burn zones than I was expecting, but was still filled with beauty. I spent 3 days at Cascade Locks for the Trail Days Festival, and it was incredible. It was a huge PCT family reunion, and we all laughed and cried and smiled so much for those 3 days. It was bittersweet, knowing this was ‘the last’ time we would see so many of us.
I walked over the Bridge of the Gods and made it into Washington state, and I felt home.
Washington quickly became one of my favorite parts of the PCT, and I knew it would… I was blessed enough to be able to walk from Bridge of the Gods all the way to Snoqualmie Pass with minimal smoke. But, my time in WA very quickly came to an end near mile marker 2396 - with 3 fires closing the PCT up ahead and the smoke nearby getting closer, me and many other hikers opted to end our hikes here. Many hikers also chose to walk an alternate to Monument 47 to reach Canada - knowing I live in WA, I want to hike the PCT to the Northern Terminus, so I am ending here ‘for now’ and will hike the last 250 miles of WA when the fires let up (possibly next year?).
I did take a drive over to Rainy Pass where I heard about some NOBO 2026 hikers who built a fake terminus for us after the first fire closure - the ultimate trail magic!? So cool to have something built from fellow hikers to commemorate this experience, and yet… it felt very anticlimactic… maybe knowing I still have miles left, ending solo, and/or this is also a part of it? I stayed the evening car camping after doing a hike to celebrate one last evening, and then I headed back to Seattle.
In the midst of cleaning my storage unit out and getting back into ‘home,’ some of my friends who finished the alternate texted me, “Cappy, are you in Seattle? Do you want to drive to Canada with us and hike to the Northern Terminus before we fly out?”
I immediately said yes and re-packed my backpack! It wasn't about the monument for me, knowing I still have miles, but to be able to enjoy one last ‘PCT’ hike with some trail family before they head out of the country. It was PERFECT - perfect weather, perfect trail (despite some blowdowns, but nothing worse than what the PCT has thrown our way), perfect company, perfect laughter, perfect tears. That is how I wanted to ‘end’ this experience, around some of the people who made this journey absolutely life changing.
So, here is…
Cheers to hiking 2,396+ miles of the PCT
Cheers to finishing the rest of Washington on the PCT
Cheers to making lifelong connections with others all over this planet who quickly became family
Cheers to this Earth and every ecosystem I had the opportunity to walk through
Cheers to this grant for making all of this possible
Cheers to every piece of trail magic and every trail angel I experienced
Cheers to this version of me who is full of gratitude, a new trust, a new confidence, and a new perspective of life
Cheers for now ~ until the next email when I finish WA and until the next hike…..
(I am slowly finishing up my Instagram posts / videos and writing some substack and Trek articles so more to come out on those outlets)
