Ozarks man completes 2,650-mile Pacific Crest Trail
STORY by Paul Newton
The Ozarkian was never afraid of a good walk in the woods. Dave McVicker spent his youth in south-central Missouri exploring everything nature had to offer all around him. “Growing up here in the Ozarks, we’ve got caves and the river,” the Mountain View man says. “I’ve walked these hills and hollers my whole life, and so I’ve always enjoyed being outside and walking.”
In 2025, Dave graduated from the hills and hollers of the Ozarks. The 61-year-old family nurse practitioner and Intercounty Electric Cooperative member headed west where he conquered the 2,650-mile Pacific Crest Trail, which runs from the Mexican to Canadian border. The daunting trek took him 122 days over grueling terrain and filled him with joy as he saw nature’s beauty daily that most will only see in pictures.
The Spark
Dave hatched the idea to complete the Pacific Crest Trail from his youngest son, Jacob, who lives in Oregon and completed the trail in 2019. Dave traveled out to Oregon and dipped his toes into the long-distance hiking waters doing 180 miles with Jacob.
“That about killed me, it was so hard,” Dave says. “But I really enjoyed it. I enjoyed seeing the mountains, seeing the Three Sisters, seeing Mount Hood, all of that. It was just absolutely gorgeous. I was hooked.”
Dave returned to the Ozarks and set his sights on the thru-hike of the Pacific Crest Trail, which only about 11,000 people have conquered. He spent his time training, watching YouTube, reading books and dialing in the perfect ultra-lightweight gear for the trail.
He ventured to the southern terminus of the trail in 2023 to begin his hike north. The rugged trail travels through both the hot desert and icy mountainsides. Snowfall was immense that year in the Sierra Nevada mountains and the heavy snow halted Dave’s hike at 800 miles. He added his name to the list of nearly 85% of hikers who don’t complete the trail.
Dave returned home to his wife, Tracy, and their farm, knowing the trail was still waiting for him out west. “I got a taste of how peaceful the trail is,” he says. “It’s just two-and-a-half mph on this trail with hikers or horses and that’s it. It’s like opening Christmas presents multiple times a day with what you see down in a valley or over a pass. It brings both excitement and clarity of mind.”
“He couldn’t be inside when he got home,” Tracy says. “He’s always been like that, but especially when he got back.”
Life on the Trail
On May 7, 2025, Dave returned to the southern terminus with the singular goal of reaching the U.S.-Canadian border — 2,650 miles away — in four months. Jacob joined Dave for the start of the trail and again later in the hike. Most hikers attempt the trail going north in an effort to get the best possible weather. Space is tight, so gear is important. Hikers carry everything they’ll need for each day with them, including their shelter, food, light, battery pack and water. He says a full backpack weighs about 25 pounds.
Dave would wake up around 5 a.m. each day and try to be on the trail by 5:15. “I love sunrises,” he says. “Maybe my biggest pleasure is coming over a mountain and seeing the sun come up.”
His goal was to walk between 20 and 25 miles per day with a focus on finding a place to camp for the night and also to get water.
The Hard Truth
The highs of the beautiful sights, nature and sunrises were balanced out by the constant slog of the seemingly never-ending trip up and down the mountains and valleys. Dave completed the trip in 122 days, and he says 119 of those were tough days.
“Tough days are when you just filled your backpack up and it feels like 100 pounds going up a mountain,” he says. “Or there’s been a storm or fires and the trees are scattered over the trail and you have to go over them. Or every day you seem to be hurt somewhere new — your toe, hip, shoulder or knee. Mentally, you just have to put one foot in front of the other. What kept me going was to see what was around the next bend in the trail, over the next pass and the majestic beauty each step brought me.”
That daily grind crested about 75 days into the trip as Dave neared the California-Oregon border, more than 1,600 miles into the trail. Dave didn’t know how close to the border he was and was starting to put out camp for the day when a fellow hiker informed him it was just a few miles away. He changed plans and kept going, determined to reach Oregon.
“I high-tailed it to that border and when I got there, there was this beautiful orange sunset,” he says. “I made it and I was so emotional about it. I had tears in my eyes and it was just the most exhilarating feeling that I made it all through California. I probably could’ve quit there and been happy.”
Dave carried on the next day and eventually made it to the northern terminus just at his four-month goal. The beauty of Oregon and Washington sections are one of his fondest memories, most notably Crater Lake National Park. He says the end of the hike wasn’t near as beautiful as the Oregon border, but it was just as emotional. Dave held back tears as he saw other hikers at the end of the trail. He called Tracy to let her know he had finished the trail. “He could only get two words out before emotions got the best of him,” she says.
Lifetime of Memories
Dave has a passion for photography and shot more than 19,000 photos during the trip. For him, the pictures were never just snapshots.
“When I took pictures I wanted them to No. 1 tell a story, No. 2, be beautiful enough that I can hang up on my wall and No. 3 bring back all these wonderful memories,” he says. “When I get to look back at the pictures, it brings all this emotion because I can remember each picture I took, where I was, what I was doing and almost what I was thinking.”
Looking back on the trip, Dave’s not sure if he’ll attempt the trail again or seek another adventure. He lost 45 pounds during the trip but quickly shares the photos of his smiles at the beginning and end of the trip from the warmth of his home in the Ozarks.
“It was hard, but rewarding,” he says. “The best thing the trail taught me was to have no expectations and just enjoy what the trail gives me each and every day. Just take one step at a time and whatever I have, I’m going to enjoy it.”
Email Paul Newton at pnewton@ruralmissouri.coop.