Most people campaign to protect the places they love. Josh Sanders, a Pacific Crest Trail thru-hiker with a background in environmental policy, is asking people to protect a section he openly calls the worst of the entire 2,650-mile route — and his reasoning is worth understanding if you care about America's long-distance trails.
The stretch in question runs roughly from Quincy to Burney in Northern California, taking in a 5,500-foot climb out of Belden that passes through an inventoried Roadless Area, plus burn scar from the Dixie Fire, knee-scraping whitethorn bushes, and long miles of solitude. Sanders returned to this section at the end of September to make up 140 miles he'd skipped earlier in his hike after a foot injury, determined to keep an unbroken pace for his sister's wedding. His trail friends laughed at him when he said where he was going. By the end — legs shredded by inch-long thorns, a moody solo video recorded into the void, an accidental detour to the Terminal Geyser steam vent — he understood why.
So why save it? Because the Trump Administration is moving to rescind the Roadless Rule, the federal protection that blocks road construction, logging and resource extraction across nearly 45 million acres of US national forest. Sanders argues that hundreds of miles of trail along the PCT, Continental Divide and Appalachian Trails sit in these areas, and that losing protection would put the raw, quiet trail experience at risk — the challenge would come from machines and new roads instead of climbs and thorns. He also pushes back on the wildfire justification: exemptions already exist for legitimate safety and forest management, while data shows 90% of wildfires start within half a mile of a road and 88% are human-caused. Public comments were open until October 6.
For hikers, the piece doubles as an honest preview of one of the PCT's grittier sections. There are compensations: the midpoint marker, views of Mount Lassen, the free pancakes and music festival that thru-hikers catch at Belden earlier in the season, and a proper sense of wilderness quiet that's increasingly rare. Who it matters for: thru-hikers and section hikers planning Northern California, and anyone who thinks long trails should stay wild rather than roaded.
