The Pacific Crest Trail travels over 2600 miles from the deserts of Southern California on the Mexican border, over the Sierra Nevada Mountains, across the Cascade Range, through the forests of Oregon and Washington before reaching Canada.  It is a designated National Scenic Trail and is maintained by federal and state agencies as well as scores of volunteers.  Each year hundreds of hikers and equestrians set out to travel on extensive long-distance hikes across the trail.  Many even attempt to hike the entire trail. In 1995 a woman named Cheryl Strayed set out to spend her summer hikin...