Shropshire sisters looking for next adventure after hiking 2,432 miles from Mexico to Canada on the Pacific Crest Trail
“Are those bear footprints?” It was coming up to 2am in the morning, it was pitch black with the path only illuminated by the headtorches of Kate and Nicola Jones, two sisters from near Oswestry in Shropshire.
They’re not in Shropshire now though: they are deep in the forest in Oregon, USA, and the path they are following is the Pacific Crest Trail. “I think they are. No! We’re so close to our camp spot and we’re following bear tracks into it.”
The sisters have been hiking since 2am the previous day and are just coming up to 50 miles before they pitch their tents and collapse into them; even bear footprints close to camp won’t push them on any further. It is August 29, 2024 and they are over four months into an attempt of a complete thru-hike of the Pacific Crest Trail (PCT). A journey that began in Southern California on the US/Mexican Border and ends in Washington on the US/Canadian border. 2,650 miles and the sisters from Shropshire at this point have completed 1,670 miles.
Kate and Nicola grew up on a sheep and beef farm right on the Welsh border outside Oswestry. They spent their youth exploring the hills, woods and valleys of the borderlands and a sense of adventure was instilled from a young age. Hiking the Pacific Crest Trail became a dream when Nicola watched a film called ‘Wild’ about a woman who solo hiked the trail. The goal of hiking this iconic trail was firmly lodged in both sisters' minds and it would stay there for almost a decade, slowly gathering momentum. In the intervening years Kate and Nicola hiked The West Highland Way (twice), the East Highland Way, the Eryri (Snowdonia) Way and the Cape Wrath Trail, cementing their love of adventure and long-distance hiking. In April 2024 they boarded a flight to the USA to finally start their epic journey from Mexico to Canada on foot.
Bears, mountain lions, rattlesnakes, freezing cold, boiling heat, blisters, wildfires, and far too many packets of tuna created a melting pot of challenges for the sisters. Throw in stunning views, untamed wilderness, crystal clear lakes, wonderful friendships, lovely locals, and never too many pancakes, and you have the adventure of a lifetime.
For the two sisters it was the opportunity to live life simply and be out in wilderness for days at a time with nothing but the rucksacks on their backs. Nicola said: “I love waking up in my tent each morning with only one goal, to walk. The more time I spent on the trail and living out in the wild, the more I felt like a part of nature rather than an observer.”
It is customary on the PCT to be given a trail name which is then used by the hikers around you instead of your usual name. They usually come out of funny stories, a habit or a particular characteristic. Kate was named Birdsong because of her constant attention to the birds around her and trying to learn their songs. Nicola was named Baz - it's a long story, she said.
The shared love of the outdoors and the process of hiking kept arguments mostly at bay, but towns seemed to be the place where tensions flared. Kate shared: “It makes you realise how over-stimulating normal life is: lights, TV, Wi-Fi, people. We’d often get a bit worked up about something and then snap at each other. On the whole though we stayed pretty good friends the entire time.”
On October 6, 2024, Kate and Nicola crossed the border into Canada having walked 2,200 miles. But they weren’t done. The sisters had needed to skip some miles of the trail due to wildfires, which were now mostly extinguished as winter started to arrive. Unable to accept that the adventure was over, Kate and Nicola renewed their visas and went back into the US finish the trail.
It went from fire to snow and the sisters battled winter conditions, snow so deep they could barely walk, and, on their last day of hiking, a serious risk of hypothermia eventually drove them off the trail. They had hiked 2,432 miles in total.
Kate reflected: “It sounds a bit cheesy, but it was the adventure of a lifetime and the best thing I have done in my life so far. I’ll always remember moments like standing on top of Mt Whitney, the highest mountain in the contiguous US, and watching the sunrise with my sister. Swimming in a river the night before we went to the Yosemite Valley, it was ice cold and crystal clear, and we felt so carefree.”
What is next for the two sisters?
“We’d like to do more UK hikes; Offa’s Dyke would be brilliant – so much history and passes right by our family home. We would like to go back to the US at some point, you just cannot beat their wilderness areas. We’re thinking the Continental Divide Trail.”
Back to following the bear footprints into camp at 2am. Luckily, they didn’t come face to face with their furry neighbour, and too exhausted to worry, they both fell into a deep sleep. The two sisters were showing their mettle and clocking bigger daily miles, they were in a race with the onset of winter now and needed to reach the Canadian border before the mountains became blanketed in snow. Just another 980 miles to go.
If you’d like to follow Kate and Nicola’s adventure you can check out their YouTube channel Wild Home Hiking or follow their Instagram page @WildHomeHiking.
