The Pacific Crest Trail stretches roughly 2,650 miles from the Mexican border to the Canadian border, cutting through California, Oregon and Washington. It's one of North America's great thru-hikes, and every season hundreds of people spend four to six months walking it end to end.

The 2026 class had a harder path than most. In July, the Ptarmigan Fire shut the trail's northernmost section between Harts Pass and the Canadian border — the final stretch nearly every thru-hiker walks to reach the northern terminus monument. With the official finish line closed just as hikers were arriving, many had to improvise.

Some waited out the closure; it reopened in mid-September. Others finished creatively, covering the missing sections by bike or on the area's alternate paths. The Trek, which publishes finisher submissions each season, has been spotlighting these hikers in a series of posts, noting that finish photos look different this year — fewer boots on the border monument, more bikes and creative end-of-trail shots.

Among those celebrated: hikers going by trail names like Dodger, who finished on September 10, 2026 and made the most of the closure by riding bike paths for the last stretch; Wisp (September 13); Monster (September 14); Joker (September 16); Tell You Later (September 19); Sparky (September 20); Dirtnap (September 22); Claire and Neutron (September 24); El Gato (September 28); and Mash, who wrapped up on September 27 with the understated reaction: that's it?

For anyone considering a PCT attempt, the season is a useful reality check. Wildfire is now a near-annual feature of late summer in Washington and Oregon, and closures can rewrite your final weeks even after months of planning. Flexible finish-line expectations, a backup plan for fire-season gaps, and a willingness to see the trail as more than a single endpoint are all part of the modern thru-hike.

The Trek is still collecting submissions from 2026 finishers, so the list continues to grow — and the message from the community is clear: however you end it, finishing matters more than where you finish.