Bernie Krausse Reaches the Pacific at La Push
He left the Capitol Reflecting Pool on March 28. August 3 he dove into the Pacific Ocean at La Push.
All photos by Bernie Krausse
Bernie Krausse
Great American Rail-Trail - Westbound
Started: March 28, 2026
Finished: August 3, 2026
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Bernie Krausse reached the Pacific Ocean at La Push, Washington, at Noon on Monday, August 3rd, Day 130.
He started at the Capitol Reflecting Pool in Washington, D.C., on March 28, walking west. Twelve states and the District of Columbia in between.
This is believed to be the first known end-to-end foot thru-hike of the Great American Rail-Trail.
Until now, the Great American belonged to cyclists. The trip reports are cyclists. The planning resources assume a bike underneath you. For four months, the people Bernie passed were almost all on wheels, and more than a few of them asked what he was doing out there walking. Long-distance hikers have not had this route on their list, because nobody had established that it goes on foot.
Now, it goes on foot.
The route runs end to end, and it has for a while. Not all of it is separated pathway yet, and Rails-to-Trails Conservancy is still closing gaps, so where there was trail Bernie walked trail and where there wasn't we created hiker- and biker-friendly Gap Routes on sidewalks, shoulders and back roads. The line is continuous. He just spent four months confirming it on foot.
Hiking America's Great American Rail-Trail Route. Trail in GREEN, Gaps in RED. Services waypoints along the Great American Rail-Trail near Cle Elum, Washington. (click to enlarge)
That's what this walk was for. The route itself is in the free Great American GPX tracks at Hiking America, and it always has been.
What Bernie added is the services layer: roughly 10,000 waypoints along the corridor, logged and verified in real time as he passed them. Water, resupply, restrooms, charging, camping. Every one of them now carries 2026 field verification because a person walked past it and wrote it down. They'll be continuously updated as other hikers take on the challenge. That layer lives in Gaia GPS for Hiking America subscribers.
La Push is on the Quileute Reservation, and the western terminus of a trail meant to run from one Washington to the other ends on Quileute land at the edge of the continent.
Bernie is a Double-Triple Crown hiker. Appalachian Trail, Pacific Crest Trail, and Continental Divide Trail, each of them twice. Countless Caminos. And he thru-hiked the entire American Discovery Trail in 2022-24. Now this.
Congratulations, Bernie. From all of us.
You Hiked Your Hike - John.
The GPX tracks for the Great American Rail-Trail are free.
Hiking America Subscribers have access to the roughly 10,000 service waypoints that accompany them inside and now carry Bernie's 2026 field verification.