peeps of the PCT: John, general store owner
![](https://blissfulhiker.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/img_5769.jpg)
The owner of Laguna Mountain Lodge & Store gives us good rules to live by: lighten up and be nice.
audio narrative: Walk in the Time of Coronavirus
![](https://blissfulhiker.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/img_6855-1024x1024.jpg)
As we enter a new phase of the pandemic – and Blissful recovers – let’s look back to the beginning.
peeps of the PCT: Benita, Idyllwild Innkeeper
![Bonita is the friendly innkeeper at the Silver Pines, a very accommodating hotel for backpackers.](https://blissfulhiker.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/img_5122.jpg)
Historic Silver Pines Lodge has seen its share of “Hiker Trash,” but the innkeeper says it’s enriching.
peeps of the PCT: Bob, Hiker Town
![Bob is the caretaker at one of the oddest places along the PCT.](https://blissfulhiker.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/img_3881.jpg)
It’s a long 18-mile stretch in desert to Hiker Town, one of the oddest places I slept along the PCT.
peeps of the PCT: Casey, Sonora Pass Resupply
![](https://blissfulhiker.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/img_1551.jpg)
Casey Cox started his company after waiting, cold and hungry, his thumb out for a ride that never came.
TA audio narrative: hitting a wall
![I didn't always find soulful campsites on the Te Araroa.](https://blissfulhiker.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/img_9237.jpg)
We suffer thru-hiking for the transcendent, and appreciate it more because of our suffering.
peeps of the PCT: Joshua, fire manager
![](https://blissfulhiker.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/img_0398.jpg)
I met Joshua on Flat Iron Ridge in Lassen National Park building a fire break with hand tools.
peeps of the PCT: Heart Fire, tent maker
![Judy met a guy with a much lighter tent while hiking the Appalachian Trail and it was not a "coffin" but rather, a palace. That just pissed her off, so she went designed her own ultralight palace.](https://blissfulhiker.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/IMG_7209-1-1024x1024.jpg)
The need for a lighter tent that wasn’t a “coffin” led Judy Gross to design and make her own.
peeps of the PCT: ‘flippers’
![Melinda and Henry planned to hike the PCT from south to north, but came across deep snow and dangerous river crossings in the Sierra, so flipped up north to Washington and headed south to meet the spot where they left off.](https://blissfulhiker.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/IMG_7141-2-1024x1024.jpg)
It takes courage to change directions mid-stream.
peeps of the PCT: Milk Jug
![](https://blissfulhiker.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/img_9529-1.jpg)
He was the youngest solo thru-hiker on the PCT, but still couldn’t finish the pancakes.