After ice-climbing up glaciers on the South Sister mountain in 2001, Edward J. Pabor needed a rest. He and his hiking buddy found a nearby shelter, where a fellow climber encouraged them to embark on a challenge difficult for even seasoned hikers: the Pacific Crest Trail.
Pabor opted to tackle a more-feasible feat than the full trail, a physically grueling foot path of 2,650 miles. Pabor, a buyer for the city of Eugene, and his friend decided to hike from Oregon’s north to south border. Over the course of the past two summers, Pabor covered 482 miles in 44 days, starting at the Columbia River, where he had to climb to the Timberline Lodge, and conquering the adventure at the California-Oregon border near Mt. Ashland. A typical day entailed crossing 17 miles of diverse
terrain, sometimes trudging through feet of snow for days, only catching glimpses of the summer sunshine at low elevations.
“We got snowed off the mountain,” said Pabor, who has been trekking mountains for nearly 40 years. “In July, there was 12 feet of snow. …You couldn’t see the trail and you didn’t know where to walk.”
Mosquitoes also presented a challenge during July 2006, “heavy mosquito time,” when thousands of the blood-hungry insects would nip at the hikers, Pabor said.
Above all, the “mental discipline of walking 17 miles a day” yielded the biggest defeat, he added.
“We had a goal,” Pabor said matter-of-factly. “We wanted to walk across Oregon. Oregon is a beautiful place and there is just so many beautiful places to see…mile after mile.”
Months after finishing his goal, Pabor feels he has mastered the knowledge of Oregon’s geography. Hiking with an extra 16 pounds of camera gear, he captured his life during the summer excursions with scenic shots of Oregon’s landscape. The Michigan-born man also catalogued his venture by writing regular journal entries, noting the day’s milestones.
“Woke up at 7 a.m. Hit the trail by 8:30 a.m. Saw a waterfall. Got stung by a bee,” a journal page reads.
Pabor now begins to plan his next feat: hiking Washington, border-to-border. But Pabor will prolong the 525-mile legwork a bit more than his Oregon triumph, allowing himself more time to cross the state.
Fifteen of his picturesque photos from towering sites, such as Mount Jefferson, Hillman Peak and the Sister Mountains, maps of the trail and his journal entries are now featured in his exhibit, “Oregon, from the Pacific Crest Trail,” at the University’s Museum of Natural and Cultural History until June 24.
“There’s a lot of adventure on that trail,” Pabor said. “We are lucky to have such a good resource so close to us.”
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