The Mystery of the North Pond Hermit

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Thank you so much for your support, and here we go. For nearly 30 years, the quiet rural community around North Pond, Maine, was consumed by an eerie mystery that left even the police baffled. Scattered with seasonal cabins, this beautiful area turned unsettling every single spring, as cabin owners returned after long harsh winters to find their homes violated. Fridges were empty, food had vanished, and essential supplies had mysteriously disappeared, leaving behind a trail of confusion and fear around the pond. Batteries had been stripped from flashlights, clothing had been taken from drawers, and propane tanks had been snatched from grills. But oddly enough, valuable items like TVs and jewelry, well those items were never touched. There were no broken windows, and there were no busted locks, whoever was responsible for all these robberies had slipped in and out like a ghost, leaving no trace behind. Whoever was doing this was methodical, careful, and basically impossible to catch. Wispers were left to wonder if they were being watched, their homes silently invaded by an unseen presence. Wispers of a shadowy figure spread throughout the town, but nobody ever caught a glimpse. No one ever saw him. Speculation ran wild throughout North Pond. Some people blamed teenagers, other people suspected, a cunning neighbor might be responsible, and many people began to doubt their own memory, thinking that they had just simply misplaced the missing items. But as the year stretched on, and these mysterious break-ins continued, a chilling realization began to sink in. Someone had been living among the residents of North Pond, hiding in the wilderness, silently praying on their cabins, basically using them as his own personal Walmart. For nearly 3 decades, nobody knew his name, or where he came from for that matter, until one day, everything changed. This is the unbelievable story of a man nicknamed the North Pond Hermit. Folks, this is one of the most unique stories that I've ever covered, hands down, and it raises a very interesting moral question that I'd like your feedback on once you're done watching this video. I kind of have a feeling that a lot of you are going to be divided on this, so make sure you watch the entire story, and then once you do, please leave your respectful comments down below. One of my viewers from Maine actually suggested this story to me, so whoever you are, thank you very much. And with that said, I'd like to invite you on a virtual trip to that very state, a state that I know very, very well, the great state of Maine. Start this story off, I want to introduce you to a very peculiar man named Christopher Knight. Christopher and his five siblings grew up in the small town of Albion Maine, and to be honest with you, there isn't really much known about his upbringing, but from what I gathered, there certainly wasn't any red flags or indicators that something was wrong. There was apparently a really good student, so good in fact that he even ended up graduating high school early. Everything pretty much seemed normal, I mean the only even slightly negative aspect of his upbringing that stood out to me is that he apparently had a difficult time making friends, which you could maybe take that as a bit of a yellow flag, but it's not exactly uncommon for people in high school either. Now folks, I've spent a lot of time in Maine. I have a bunch of friends there, my mother was born and raised in a roosted county, and most importantly, I've seen every single episode of Northwood's law, so I can tell you very confidently that the great outdoors, they're just a way of life in Maine. And this was certainly true for Christopher Knight and the rest of his family. He spent time hunting with his father, and he was comfortable in the woods, I mean almost everybody in rural Maine is. And yet despite being so familiar with the wild, something curious stands out about his early days. Christopher never spent a single night in a tent. He never camped alone and for a boy that was raised in the deep woods of Maine, this fact seems oddly out of place, especially when you consider the events that would occur later in his life. After graduating high school, Christopher Knight went to technical school in Waltham, Massachusetts, and shortly thereafter, he landed a job in that very same area, installing security alarm systems, which is quite ironic I have to say for reasons that you'll understand very shortly. He worked in Massachusetts for some time, but then on a otherwise unremarkable day in 1986, something in him changed. Without warning, Christopher Knight abandoned everything, his job, his life in Massachusetts, he got in his car and he just started driving north all the way back to Maine. He drove through his hometown of Albion, passed familiar roads and faces, but he didn't stop there. He kept driving deeper and deeper into the wilderness, down dirt roads as far as his car would take him. And then, when the gas gauge hit empty while he was on a remote unmarked road, he parked his car, he grabbed a backpack, and he simply just walked into the woods. I'm not sure how long he was planning on staying in the woods, to be honest with you, I don't think he knew either, but as fate would have it, when Christopher Knight stepped into those woods, it would be 27 years before he'd stepped out of them and spend another night inside. When Christopher Knight first set off into the woods, he was near Moosehead Lake, which is the largest lake in Maine. Folks, there he was, completely alone with no plan, hardly any experience, and no idea what was going to happen next, which is a very incredible realization to come to. I mean, think about this, all of the sudden, this kid who had never spent the night in a tent was all alone by himself wandering through the remote Maine forest, again, with no idea what he was going to do, no plan at all. This reality obviously hit him very hard, I mean, he had super limited supplies in his backpack, and more than anything, what he needed was food. At first, he survived by essentially just scavenging, even resorting to eating roadkill at times just to keep himself going. I mean, he was truly desperate. He would take advantage of any food source that he could find, but it didn't take long for him to realize that scavenging just wasn't going to cut it. One day, while he was wandering through the woods, he came upon the garden of a remote unoccupied cabin, and folks, just like that, fresh vegetables were sitting there right in front of his face. Now, he knew it was wrong to steal, but the hunger that was gnawing at him was stronger than his guilt, and so he filled up his backpack with as much as he could carry, and then he slipped silently back into the forest. Now it might not have seemed like much, and it might not have seemed like a big deal, but this small act of desperation seemed to unlock something within Christopher, and so what started as a single benign theft would quickly transform into his key to survival. It was the easiest and the most effective way to feed, clothe, and protect himself. Over the next few years, Christopher Knight would transform into an expert thief stealthily breaking into unoccupied cabins, usually in the early morning hours, raiding the fridge, the pantry, and the closets, and then getting out as quickly as he possibly could. Though these thefts allowed Christopher to continue his life in the wilderness, deep down he always knew that it was wrong. He was careful to avoid people during his heists, and he never even considered confronting someone violently. In fact, he never even carried a firearm. which is something you think someone in the woods would actually be carrying. Christopher wasn't a criminal in the usual sense. He simply wanted to just continue to survive in his secluded world. Meet new grippy setting mist from Mabelie, New York. Gel to mist technology locks in your look for up to 24 hours with flexible all day comfy grip. Try new grippy setting mist from Mabelie, New York. Maybe it's Mabelie. These thefts, these raids, these heists, they quietly ate away at him. And yet he continued to do them, knowing that if he slipped up just one time, it would absolutely shatter his new life of solitude. And of course, it would likely land him behind bars. Christopher Knight's family was concerned after he disappeared, even to the point where they hired a private investigator to try and track him down. But with that said, I don't know why this is, but they never reported him missing to the police. And thus, for the first two years, he slowly moved his way south through the main woods and remained completely undetected. But then, one random day, he stumbled into the Belgrade Lakes area, which is near the town of Rome, Maine. He set up his usual campsite. Except this time, he never left. The campsite that he chose was surrounded by thick woods and large boulders, which allowed him to remain completely out of sight and to stay hidden. Due to these factors, and due to the plethora of cabins nearby, Christopher Knight decided that this campsite would become his permanent home. He didn't know it at the time. He carried no map or compass with him, but this chosen campsite was less than 30 miles away from where he had grown up in Albion. It was also very close to the shores of North pond. And so after settling down near the pond, Christopher stepped up his burglary skills to a whole new level. He began to spy on the residents of nearby cabins silently studying their routines. He knew when they arrived, he knew when they left, and he also knew how long they would be gone for. He would meticulously plan his break-ins, only moving at night, usually during the middle of the week when less people were around. He got so sophisticated with this that he would even use the weather as his ally, opting to strike during heavy rain, knowing that the sound of the downpouring would mask his movements. He was careful to avoid roads and trails, and he was also intentional about avoiding any patterns or routines. He would always shave his face and put on his cleanest clothes before he headed out to do a raid so that if someone did spot him, he wouldn't look like just some crazed man living in the woods. He did not want to appear like some wild man in rags. He wanted to appear as ordinary as possible. His skills became so refined that he would steal discarded canoes from the lakeside homes, and then he would paddle silently across the water under the cover of darkness. I mean, this is just insane, and it's very bold. Stealing canoes in order to help steal other items. I mean, using these canoes actually allowed him to haul more supplies than he could just simply carry on foot, so he would fill up the canoes, and this made his nighttime raids even more effective. But something that's important to note here is that after he was done using the canoe to restock his supplies, Christopher would always return it. Part of this was to avoid detection, of course. I mean, he knew that a missing canoe would raise suspicions and it would likely be reported to the police, but there was also something deeper at play here. Christopher was a thief. I mean, there's no denying that. And yet, he seemed to commit his crimes with this odd sense of respect for his victims, if that makes sense. I mean, it probably doesn't. It sounds very strange, but he really tried to minimize the impact of his break ins as much as possible. He stole, of course, but he wasn't out to destroy or to vandalize. He never trashed the cabins that he raided. He avoided breaking doors or windows whenever possible, and on the rare occasion that he did, he made a genuine effort to repair the damage. Once again, his raids were always unarmed, and violence was never an option. In fact, he went out of his way to be invisible, both in his actions and in his presence. One of the most telling moments of this came when he stole a mattress from one of the nearby cabins. Instead of breaking the door down in order to move the mattress out, he chose to enter through a window. He then carefully removed the door from its hinges, hauled the mattress outside, and then reassembled the door just as he had found it. Christopher Knight stole this mattress because once he had settled into his permanent camp, he was determined to strike the perfect balance between stealth and comfort. Food was always the biggest prize of his raids, but over time, things like clothing, cooking supplies, even books were also focused on. And yet, second to only food, one thing was essential above all else. That was propane. Propane tanks became one of the most frequently stolen items from the cabins around North Pond. With propane, Christopher Knight could cook his food, he could purify his water, and he could keep himself warm during Maine's brutal winters, which year after year, by the way, proved to be his biggest challenge to survival. Now, if you've never been to Maine before, let me tell you, the winters are extremely harsh, and they're also a very important part of Christopher Knight's story. I think it's very easy to romanticize what he was doing, you know, this guy that leaves society behind to go live amongst nature. Hell, I've probably even done some of this romanticizing in this video, but regardless of the romance, the charm of what Christopher Knight was doing completely wore off by, say, early December. Winter never got easier for Christopher. In fact, with each passing year, as he got older and older, winter became more and more deadly. On multiple occasions, he nearly died because of these brutal temperatures and brutal winter conditions, and this left him with no choice but to adapt. He had to do this if he was gonna stay out there in the woods, and thus, after a few years, Christopher became as meticulous with his winter survival strategy, as he was with his burglary strategy. Many of the cabins around North Pong were only occupied during the summer, and as the residents packed up and left each fall, Christopher Knight saw this as his golden opportunity. With the area deserted, he ramped up his raids, stealing food, propane, and other crucial supplies. As I said, winter in Maine is just straight up unforgiving, and Christopher Knight knew that once the deep cold set in, moving around too much would be risky. He might leave footprints, and it also just takes a lot more effort when it's freezing cold outside. And so every single fall would turn into a frantic race to gather enough provisions to survive the long, brutal months ahead. Christopher also used the fall. I'm just gonna be blunt here. He used the fall as the time to get fat. Just like the bears that he would occasionally spot in the woods, he used this time to bulk himself up. He would stuff himself with as much stolen food as he could get his hands on. Gaining weight wasn't just preparation for him, it was a matter of life and death. During the fall, he would also take the time to grow out his beard to the perfect length, which was long enough to protect his face from the biting wind, but short enough to avoid frostbite from ice building up on his beard. Now, it goes without saying that the biggest asset to his survival would have been his ability to make fire, but he actually never did this. He completely avoided making fires because he didn't want anyone to notice the flames through the woods. One of the most fascinating winter strategies that Christopher employed was actually his sleeping schedule. He would fall asleep very early in the evening, and then he would get up at two in the morning and start melting snow for his drinking water. The reason that he did this is because he was afraid that if he fell asleep for too long in the cold, well, he might not wake up at all. Christopher Knight survived 27 brutal main winters, and after 27 years of perfecting this routine, he basically had winter survival down to a science. But, after nearly three decades of stealing from the cabins around North Pond, the residents and the police, well, they were starting to catch on to Christopher. His raids, which were once undetectable, were now becoming this undeniable pattern and the quiet community that he prayed upon was beginning to piece together the mystery. As the years passed, the residents of North Pond began to come together with all of these stories of food, flashlights, propane and even mattresses, vanishing from their cabins without a trace. Nobody knew who was responsible, but eventually the residents began coining various nicknames for this unknown intruder. Some people called him the mountain man, other people called him the hungry man because he would steal so much food, but one name stuck out above all the rest. And that name was the north pond hermit. Watch and setting your makeup, then forgetting it's even theirs. Meet new grippy setting mist from Mavily New York. Gel to mist technology locks in your look for up to 24 hours, with flexible all-day comfy grip. No tightness, no stickiness, no residue, just plump, dewy hydrated skin that still feels like your skin. Try new grippy setting mist from Mavily New York. Maybe it's Mavily. Even though nobody ever saw this man, I want to make it clear that his cabin raids wreaked havoc on the small community. It left residents extremely uneasy, especially because it had just gone on for so long, and I actually think that this very long quote from one of the residents really sums up the fear that Christopher had caused. Quote, "Unless you've experienced the 27 years of looking over your shoulder while walking around your camp at night and during the day, arriving at camp to find food, batteries, books, watches, etc. stolen, feeling that you're being watched constantly, feeling violated from someone breaking into your camp and going through your personal things, eventually questioning whether it's your neighbors who are guilty of these crimes, and also having to spend thousands of dollars on repairs and materials just trying to barricade your camp to make it break in proof." "You really, I don't think, have an idea of the magnitude of the impact this experience has had on all of our lives." Residents, the police, and the main warden service all began to work tirelessly to catch this unknown intruder, and for years and years he was able to evade them until, in 2001, the residents of North pond finally got their first glimpse at the hermit. A wise resident had hidden a motion sensing camera in his cabin, and one night it snapped this photo right here. This photo shows a man bent over going through the refrigerator. But folks, this was not your typical midnight snack attack. This was the very first time that Christopher Knight was captured on camera during one of his raids. Oh, and by the way, it wouldn't be the last time either, but we're gonna get there. Like this huge break in the case, and despite this photo being circulated all over Maine, another 10 years of raids and burglary went by before anybody caught another glimpse of the north pond hermit. 10 years, I mean that's so much time, if you think about it. Residents of North pond came and went, children who had grown up spending summers at the pond, went off to college, and each year brought more frustration for the police who were working over time, hunting the hermit, but always came up empty handed. The north pond hermit's legend only deepened as he continued to evade capture year after year after year. But then, in 2013, everything changed. In a sudden twist, the case that had gripped north pond for decades was blown wide open, unraveling the mystery that had kept the community on edge for so damn long. In April of 2012, the hermit was once again captured on a security camera, this time in much higher resolution. And then a few months later, when a resident was allegedly sleeping, the hermit broke in, and the resident yelled at him and then he ran away. And although these two men never actually saw each other, it was yet another example of the hermit's cover nearly being blown. And finally, on April 4, 2013, Christopher Knight broke into the pine tree camp, which is this summer camp that he had frequently, perhaps a little too frequently, targeted before. By this point, Sergeant Terry Hughes of the main warden service had made it his personal mission to catch the hermit. He had studied the north pond hermit's patterns, patiently waiting for the moment when he would slip up. Christopher Knight had been very careful, obviously, but Sergeant Hughes was absolutely relentless. He knew that the hermit would return to pine tree camp, which Christopher Knight had basically been treating like his personal Walmart for years and years and years. So Sergeant Hughes was determined to catch him, and unlike previous residents who had captured the hermit's image, Sergeant Hughes went a step further and actually installed a full-blown motion detection system that would trigger an alarm in his home, which was located literally just a mile away from the pine tree camp. Every single night, this determined warden went to bed, waiting for that moment where the alarm would sound, and on the night of April 4th, it finally did. Sergeant Hughes heard the alarm, he knew this was his chance, and so he jumped in his truck, and he sped towards pine tree camp. He gets there, he gets out of his truck, and he moved swiftly, cutting off the hermit's escape route, his flashlight slicing through the darkness. His flashlight being landed right on Christopher Knight's face, this man who had eluded capture for so, so long, and with his pistol trained on the hermit, Sergeant Hughes had finally caught him completely red-handed. I mean, Christopher Knight's pockets were still stuffed with stolen food. His hands were still gripping supplies from this raid in progress. In this fateful moment, the legendary North Pond hermit stood completely exposed. His secret life unraveling in the cold night air. He didn't fight, he didn't run, he just simply surrendered, offering only a few quiet words. After 27 years of isolation and shadowy survival, the North Pond hermit's time in the woods had come to a silent, yet inevitable end. Christopher Knight spent the next 7 months behind bars, which is a very stark and agonizing contrast to the solitude of the woods that he had called home for 27 years. The isolation of a jail cell was absolutely suffocating for a man who had spent so long in silence alone with nature. Christopher Knight barely spoke during his time in jail. I mean, so many years had passed without him ever talking to another human that he had almost forgotten how to talk in the first place. The only reason that we even know about his time in jail and the details of his 27 years in the woods for that matter is because one persistent and friendly journalist was able to break through his wall of silence. A man named Michael Finkel, a journalist who was intrigued by the hermit's story, began writing letters to Christopher Knight and eventually visited him at the Kennebec County jail. The reasons that are only known to knight himself, he chose to open up to Finkel. Through these rare moments of communication, Finkel pieced together the extraordinary tale of Christopher Knight's life in the woods. And the results of their conversations became a series of articles and then later a book, which is called The Stranger in the Woods, and I'll have this book linked in the description if you want an even greater deep dive into this story. By the time Christopher Knight was sentenced, he was basically just sentenced to time served. He had spent seven months in jail and he was also ordered to pay $2,000 to the victims of his burglaries. He was ordered to complete a 17 month specialty court program, he was ordered to stay away from drugs and alcohol, and then he was released on probation, which lasted for three years. One of the most astonishing aspects of this incredibly astonishing story is that it's estimated that Christopher Knight committed more than 1,000 burglaries over the years, which is something that he expressed immense guilt over while he was confiding to Finkel and during his court hearings. Now there's an elephant in the room when it comes to this story. A question that I'm sure many of you have been wondering about since basically the start of this video. This question is why? Why did Christopher Knight suddenly abandon society, vanish into the wilderness, and endure brutal winter after brutal winter all alone in the woods? I wish that Christopher Knight had given a good answer to this question. I wish that there was an obvious reason behind why he did what he did, but the truth is we still don't really know why. Hell, it seems like even he doesn't know why he did it. Maybe it was supposed to only be like a temporary thing, and then all of the guilt from the break-ins caused him to just retreat further away from society. That's just my speculation. Maybe he stayed in the woods for so long that it began to fear, returning to a world that he no longer recognized. or maybe he was just a lost soul and there really is no true reason for what he did. Imagine setting your makeup then forgetting it's even theirs. Gel to mist technology locks in your look for up to 24 hours with flexible all-day comfy grip. Just clump, dewy hydrated skin that still feels like your skin. Maybe it's Mabelie. The only thing even close to an explanation that I was able to find was that in the woods, Christopher Knight found contentment. The legacy of the north pond hermit remains very divisive. In fact, I'd be willing to bet that many of you will find yourself on different sides of this story. And it's because of this, at the beginning of the video I asked for your feedback. And so, now we're there. This is where I'd appreciate your comments, all of your feedback, your respectful opinions about Christopher Knight. On one hand, there's something that's undeniably romantic about the life that Christopher Knight led. This idea of retreating into nature and embracing complete solitude. I mean, this is a fantasy that many of us have entertained, even if for only, you know, some fleeting moments. For most people, I mean, that's exactly what it is. It's a daydream, essentially. But Christopher Knight didn't just dream it, he actually lived it. And while he was most certainly a thief, he was never violent, and there's something in his unwavering dedication to solitude that's almost worthy of respect. But, on the other hand, he was a criminal. I mean, he openly admitted this, he pled guilty, and he carried the weight of guilt for all of his raids and burglaries for all 27 years that he was in the woods. And even though he was never violent, he still terrorized the community around North Pond. He was never spotted, but his presence was certainly felt, leaving residents, families, even children, extremely uneasy. His crimes, you know, stealing from hardworking people who valued their property were not without consequence. For those who lived near North Pond, Christopher Knight's actions weren't just unsettling, I mean, they were infuriating. If I lived near North Pond during all of this, I would have been straight up pissed off, to be frank. And so I can understand where both his critics and his supporters are coming from. Christopher Knight walked into the wilderness because he wanted to disappear from the world. But Trevor Layer walked into the wilderness for the opposite reason to chase the biggest dream of his life. But little did he know this dream was about to become a total nightmare. If that last story didn't earn your follow, I really think this one's going to because, oh man, it's just brutal. Here we go. In late March of 2020, a group of stubborn hikers approached a patchy peak on the Pacific Crest Trail. I say that these hikers were stubborn because at the exact moment that they were climbing this mountain, the world was in the process of shutting down due to the coronavirus pandemic. And so even though the government and the families of these hikers were literally begging them to get off the trail, well, they were still determined. After all, they had set out to hike the entire distance of the PCT from Mexico to Canada. And at this point, there were only a few weeks into their journey. There was no way that they were going to give up this early, despite all of the warnings and advisories and news coverage and fear mongering. These hikers wouldn't have known it at the time, but as they climbed higher up the mountain, this virus, this pandemic, well, that would have been the last of their concerns. Something much more dangerous was on the horizon, and these hikers were about to walk straight into it. After a few miles of hiking, the trail suddenly disappeared. Mother Nature had dumped multiple feet of snow on the mountains, and this left the hikers with no choice but to traverse across a steep icy slope with no trail to guide them. The first hiker in the group made it across successfully, but for the second hiker, 22-year-old Trevor Layer, the results would be much different. I'm sure the Trevor was a bit nervous as he took his first steps across the slope, but he would have had no idea about the horror that was about to happen. You see, folks, what happened next was an event so terrifying and honestly so heart-wrenching that it would go on to impact the history of the Pacific Crest Trail forever. And so without further ado, folks, this is the story of Trevor Layer. So I just said that this was Trevor's story. I mean, that's the best way to sum it up, I guess, but the truth is that this story goes much deeper than just him. It's also the story of his father Doug. It's the story of the rest of Trevor's family, and it's the story of the Pacific Crest Trail community at large. And so folks, this is a tough one to tell because I've frankly gotten to know Doug Layer over the last few years, but we're going to do it. In the spring of 2020, Trevor Layer set out to accomplish a goal that he had held for literally years. That goal was to through hike the Pacific Crest Trail, which is a footpath that runs boarded a border from Mexico all the way up to Canada. Now, those of you that are regular viewers of the channel, well, you probably already know about the PCT, and most of you probably know that I myself actually set out to hike the PCT back in 2022. The PCT is a total piece of cake. I mean, it's only 2,650 miles long, and at sarcasm, as of right now, I've completed everything except for the northernmost 170 miles of it. I'm going to finish it soon, but that's besides the point. Most people will take around four to six months to complete a through hike like this, and so obviously a lot of sacrifices have to be made in order to make that happen. I mean, most people don't just find themselves with like six months of spare time in their hands, and so instead, perspective through hikers have to plan far in advance so that their life can accommodate such a long journey. For a lot of people, myself included, this means quitting a job in order to go hike. And for other people, like Trevor Layer, for instance, this means restructuring the entirety of your academic studies. So during his junior year of college at Ohio State, by the way, Trevor told his father Doug that he would be attempting to graduate a semester early so that he had time to go hike the PCT before he entered the job market. This meant that Trevor would be cramming extra classes into his final three semesters, and that is just absolutely insane to have that much extra course load, and it's even more impressive, by the way, when you consider that Trevor's major was computer science. Now I'm probably a bit biased in saying this because I was also a computer science major, but then again, I guess that means I can tell you from firsthand experience that computer science is a tough major. The fact that Trevor had the confidence, the skills, and clearly the intelligence to take on all these extra classes in his final three semesters and graduate early is extremely impressive. There's no way that I could have done that, and I bet that when he made that decision and he committed to that decision, he probably knew that it was going to take a lot of blood, sweat, and tears. So when Trevor first told his parents about his intentions to go hike the PCT, they were understandably a little bit resistant. This is something that a lot of through hikers go through, I mean, it's not always easy getting loved ones who aren't as familiar with the trail on board with the adventure, and for a few months actually, Trevor's plans to hike the PCT created a lot of tension between him and his parents. However, they did eventually come around, and Trevor's father Doug actually began researching the trail and learning about the trail just as much as Trevor. Now Doug wasn't going to hike the trail himself, but he was actually getting very excited to follow Trevor's journey. I mean, it really didn't take long at all before Doug had done a complete 180 in terms of Trevor's hike. I mean, not only was he now just supportive of it, but he wanted to be involved with it as much as he possibly could. And by the way, Doug definitely wasn't a long distance backpacker or a through hiker, but he wasn't a stranger to backpacking either, and he had spent a lot of time day hiking and even overnighting backpacking camping with Trevor in the years leading up to 2020. This is important because Doug had been able to witness firsthand just how alive Trevor felt when he was in the wilderness, and Doug was, he was proud. He was proud of Trevor for 10 years. taking on such an ambitious goal. And yet another testament to how smart Trevor was, frankly, and how hard he worked, he was actually able to secure a job at Microsoft before he graduated. And so because of this job and this obligation, this meant that Trevor didn't really have time to hike the entire PCT, instead he had from mid-March to about mid-July to make it as far north on the trail as he could. I can only imagine that securing this job at Microsoft, which is just super impressive in and of itself. I can only imagine that that put his parents at ease, I mean, knowing that their son had stable employment lined up for when he finished the hike, and Trevor would end up successfully graduating from college early. And then on March 9th, 2020, he traveled to Phoenix, Arizona with Doug, his father, and his sister, Olivia. Their plan was to spend some time there with some family members I believe Trevor and Olivia's grandparents before Doug and Olivia would fly back home to Texas. At that point, Trevor would then be driven to the southern terminus of the PCT by his grandparents. And after that, he would start hiking north. They landed in Phoenix and then all of the sudden, this plan nearly unraveled. Just plump, dewy, hydrated skin. That still feels like your skin. Maybe it's Mavily. You'll recall that, well, mid-March of 2020 is exactly when the world began to change due to the coronavirus pandemic and government's response to it around the world. I mean, it was just absolutely exploding at this time. Nobody knew what the hell was going on. And so just before Doug and Olivia were set to fly back to Texas, Doug passively suggested that maybe Trevor should join them in going home and cancel his hiking plans altogether. Now this is definitely not what Trevor wanted to hear, but you can kind of understand why Doug did this, right? I mean, I just said it there. There was so much unknown at this point. It was a very scary time. And so I hope that Trevor was able to at least appreciate where his father was coming from, but I guess regardless of whether or not he did, well, Trevor didn't listen to Doug. Trevor was still gonna go hike the PCT and Doug knew that convincing his son to give up on this, especially only a few days before he was gonna start was pretty much a losing argument entirely. And well, he was right. Trevor had spent years dreaming of hiking the PCT. I mean, he had completely altered half of his college experience to make it happen. And of course, he had been training intensely for months and months, getting his body ready for this. Nothing was gonna stop Trevor from going out and accomplishing this goal. Though I will say, this was the first of many attempts that Doug would make to try to convince him not to do it. So Doug and Olivia fly back to Texas without Trevor, of course, and they do this on March 13th. Doug later wrote, quote, saying, our final goodbyes at the airport, Trevor gave me a longer embrace than usual. Much longer, in fact. And in that embrace, he whispered to me, I love you, Dad. Thanks for all you've done to help make this adventure a reality for me. And to that, Doug replied, quote, go hike the shit out of that trail. On March 16th, 2020, Trevor's grandparents dropped him off at the Southern terminus of the Pacific Crest Trail right on the Mexican border. This photo right here was taken at the very beginning of Trevor's hike while he was standing at that Southern terminus. It's an awesome photo. There's tons of photos of other hikers like this out there. There's even one of me, frankly, when I started the PCT. And there's nothing, you know, unusual about this photo per se. There's nothing disturbing until you learn what happened next. After this photo was taken, Trevor began his walk north. And for the first few days, things went basically according to plan. Now, a lot of you know this, but a lot of you probably don't contrary to what a lot of people think a through hike like the Pacific Crest Trail is actually quite a social experience. It's like, yeah, you're in the wilderness, you're in the woods. But the truth is that thousands of people attempt the PCT every single year. And you end up seeing the same people day in and day out as you all kind of move north together. Because of this, Trevor was able to make some friends with other hikers. And he formed what many people call a trail family. It's essentially a crew of like-minded hikers moving up the trail together, camping together, and going into town to resupply together. So everything goes great on the first few days. Trevor's making these friends. But then on day five, Trevor faced what would be the first real challenges of his hike. He actually faced two challenges, two completely different challenges to be exact. It was on day five that Trevor and his trail family got caught in a very nasty, late winter storm. And they became completely soaked, soaking wet in freezing cold temperatures, which is a very, very dangerous situation. They couldn't even find like a safe protected area to set up camp. And so they essentially just had to suffer. They had to just tough it out. Thankfully, they ended up being okay. They did tough it out. This is something that every through hiker goes through. And fortunately, nobody was harmed during this very humbling experience for the hikers. However, once Trevor managed to warm himself up, get safe, get comfortable again, and turn on his cell phone. Well, he immediately fell into the second challenge of March 19th, 2020. You see, folks, it was on this very day that the Pacific Crest Trail Association, which is the organization that manages the PCT, well, they advised all hikers to avoid the trail due to the pandemic. They urged hikers who were planning on starting to cancel their trips. And they also urged hikers that were already on the trail to leave immediately. And at the very same time, California Governor Gavin Newsom issued a stay-at-home order. And, well, it wasn't long before Doug was once again arguing for Trevor to come home. Although this time, he had much clearer justification, and he was definitely a lot more determined to make it happen. Trevor, understandably so, still didn't want to leave the trail. His father argued that the PCT wasn't going anywhere. Trevor could always return the following year or another year sometime in the future. Doug argued that Trevor was actually being a little selfish in continuing to hike. He was putting locals in the towns along the PCT at risk, and he also argued that Trevor was being inconsiderate of his wishes and the wishes of his mother and his sister. Doug was so determined to get his son to come home from the PCT that he even considered cutting Trevor's finances off. However, all of this failed to persuade Trevor. It might have been a little easier to convince him if the stay-at-home order had been issued before he had actually started his hike, but he was already out there. He had already made friends at this point. He had already faced physical adversity in the mountains and he had persevered. I mean, folks, Trevor was doing the damn thing. And until he was literally faced with legal repercussions for continuing to hike, he made it very clear that he was not going to stop. And again, I can't really blame him. Trevor told Doug, quote, "This is my dream, Dad. I'm living it right now. The views, the vistas, the things I get to see are the most beautiful that I've ever seen in my life. If I lose this opportunity now, I'll lose it forever." Eventually, Doug and the rest of the layer family, well, they gave in. It was clear that Trevor was not going to come home, and so rather than waste any more energy trying to convince him to come home, they instead decided to use this energy to keep him safe and to support him. His father, Doug, and the rest of the layer family became Trevor's eyes and ears when it came to updates on COVID and updates on trail conditions. They would have a lot more time to spend researching and reading the news and stuff than Trevor would because he was in the mountains hiking. And so the family would relay any new information that they found so that Trevor could just focus on hiking safely without any distractions. The family would also send him boxes of food and supplies in town so that Trevor would continue to stay well equipped and of course, well fed. And so Trevor and his trail family pressed on, and they actually very quickly crossed the first real milestone for PCT hikers, which is the 100 mile mark. Now, 100 miles is a drop in the bucket when you think of how long the entire PCT really is. but given everything that Trevor had gone through in those first 100 miles, I'm sure that it felt pretty damn good. However, at this point, one of the other hikers in Trevor's family, his name was Leo. Well, Leo was not feeling very good. Leo had suffered a knee injury, which is a very common ailment at the beginning of a long hike like this. And so just after the 100 mile mark, Leo decided to take a few days off, he decided to head to a hotel and rest in order to hopefully let his body heal. And before he got a ride off the trail, he actually asked Trevor and the rest of his trail family if they wanted to join him. After all, in addition to just resting their bodies, it would have been a great opportunity for the hikers to kind of just take a deep breath and assess if it was a good idea to keep hiking during the growing pandemic. It would have been much easier to research all of this and to make this decision while you're sitting in a hotel room with Wi-Fi rather than when you're in the mountains out in the cold on your phone, barely having any service. But regardless of this, Trevor and the rest of his trail family turned Leo down. Leo later recalled Trevor telling him, "We're just going to keep going until someone tries to stop us." And thus, Leo parted ways with Trevor and the rest of the group, unable to convince them to take the rest days with him. Leo would go on to spend a few days laying low in the hotel, watching TV, and more specifically watching the news. And this opportunity to kind of reconnect with the outside world made Leo realize that continuing to hike against the wishes of the PCTA and against the wishes of the state of California was probably a bad idea. Leo would never make it back to the PCT after this. He left the trail and he went home. The main reason why I'm telling you this part of the story is because, well, one can only wonder what would have happened if Trevor and the rest of the group had joined Leo during those days off instead of continuing to hike. If that had happened, maybe Trevor would have finally realized the severity of the pandemic and maybe he would have made the decision to go home. Or maybe he wouldn't have, but either way, if Trevor had gone into town with Leo, it's likely that I wouldn't be making this video for all of you right now. And I genuinely wish that was what happened because after Trevor and his trail family continued on past the 100 mile marker, they were hiking directly into a death trap. And the worst part is they didn't even realize it. So the group continued on until they made it to a popular restaurant that is actually pretty much directly on the PCT called the Paradise Valley Cafe. North of this cafe, the PCT crosses the road and then it enters the San Jacinto Mountains. And folks, this is a section of trail that is largely underestimated by hikers. Just as an example, when I hiked through the San Jacinto's on my PCT hike, I was very surprised at how difficult the terrain was compared to the previous 150 miles that I'd hiked up to that point. But unlike Trevor and unlike a lot of other PCT hikers, I started my hike much later in the season. I started in May. And so while the San Jacinto section was tough for me, it's not like I encountered any snow or ice or even any difficult weather conditions at all. For hikers that start the trail in March like Trevor did or even in April, these late winter conditions are very, very real and it's often the first time that hikers will encounter these conditions while they head north. An early entry into these mountains requires hikers to carry microspikes for their feet in order to give them better grip and an ice axe to aid with slippery traverses or to save your life in case you fall and you need to self arrest. Well, that's what hikers should carry anyways. But every single year, unprepared hikers enter the San Jacinto's without the ice axe and without the microspikes. Not realizing that they're necessary because up until that point, they hadn't needed them at all. And so because of all that, it's been my albeit anecdotal observation that the San Jacinto section of the PCT is probably the most dangerous on the entire trail. Numbers hikers have passed away or gone missing in this section, including two hikers that I've actually talked about in previous videos. David O'Sullivan went missing there and John Donovan also went missing there, although he was eventually found years later. Many hikers will actually hitch into the town of Idawild before they enter the San Jacinto's and this gives the hikers time to rest, it gives them time to resupply and it gives them time to prepare for the difficult terrain ahead of them. This is actually what I did when I was on the PCT, but a lot of hikers will actually just head straight into the San Jacinto's first and then enter Idawild on a side trail after the first day of difficult hiking is behind them. This is what Trevor and his trail family ended up doing. Trevor left the Paradise Valley Cafe on March 26th and then later made camp on a ridge line. That evening he actually had some cell service and so he gave his data call. Him and Doug spoke on the phone and Doug said that Trevor sounded tired and he talked about the aggressive pace that the group had been maintaining over the previous few days. Trevor told Doug that the very next day the group would be entering the town of Idawild and then taking a few days off and then returning to the PCT with additional equipment like microspikes and anisax. Doug would have had no way of knowing it, but this conversation on the phone with Trevor would end up being the last time that he would ever speak with his son. The next day, at some point in the afternoon, Doug became aware of some news reports which stated that a hiker had died on the PCT, very close by the way, to the location where Trevor had camped the night before. This obviously set off many alarm bells and Doug's head, it gave him a lot of anxiety, but at first he was actually able to keep himself calm. At this point, the name of the deceased hiker had not yet been released and even though Trevor wasn't answering phone calls that Doug was now making to him, Doug knew that at this point in the day Trevor was likely still hiking and well he wouldn't have had cell service. And besides all of that, Doug knew that Trevor was carrying identification with him, he had a driver's license on him, and he was also hiking with other people, he was hiking with his trail family. The news reports stated that a rescue of the deceased hiker had been attempted, but that the hiker had passed before rescuers reached them. Therefore, those rescuers would have been able to identify the hiker and break the news to the hiker's family. Doug hadn't received any contact from the authorities, he hadn't received any contact from search and rescue, and therefore he remained cautiously optimistic that Trevor was fine. However, by 7pm, that very same day, this optimism had been completely crushed. Doug knew that Trevor would have reached town by that point, and that he would have most likely reached out like he always did, he would have answered his phone, he would have answered his text messages, but Doug hadn't been able to get in touch with him. And so because of this, Doug made a very, very scary call to the Riverside County Sheriff's Office. He makes this call, and then before he knew it, he was on the phone with the coroner's office. Doug provided them with a photo of Trevor, and when they got back to him after looking over the photo, it was confirmed that the layer of family's lives were about to change forever. The coroner positively identified the deceased hiker as Trevor. It turns out that Trevor had never made it to Ida Wild. On the morning of March 27, 2020, Trevor and his trail family left their campsite, and they were excited to get the next 14 miles of trail behind them so that they could get to town, take a deep breath, and relax. At 9.30 in the morning, while the group was just below the summit of Apache Peak, they encountered a steep slope where the trail had been completely obscured by snow. The group consulted a GPS, and they realized if they traversed straight across this slope, that they could rejoin the trail, and they could continue on as planned. In 2022, when I hiked the PCT, there was no snow when I approached Apache Peak. However, this spot in particular still stood out to me, so much in fact that I actually- I took this video standing right next to the steep slope that I'm talking about in the rest of this story. This right here is a photo of the exact traverse which was taken the very next day. Now keep in mind that when the hikers did this traverse, those footprints or the steps that you see in the snow there, well, they wouldn't have been there. Those were from the hikers and later the rescuers that were called in because of what happened next. So Trevor and the rest of his trail family, they stared down this nerve-wracking dangerous slope and then they decided to just go for it. One at a time, they began to cross. The first hiker in the group made it across safely and then they turned around and they waited for everybody else. Trevor Layer was next. Now the snow that Trevor was about to walk across may have looked relatively stable, but hidden underneath the top layer of snow was something very, very dangerous. Folks, it was solid ice and lots of it. After taking a few steps, Trevor's foot landed right on a patch of ice which threw him off balance. For a few moments after this, he kind of fought to regain his balance, regain his footing. And if he had been able to do so in that moment, I don't think that I would be making this video right now. However, he wasn't able to get his balance back and he fell down onto this snowy slope. This is a very, very bad situation, but for a few moments there, he actually just kind of sat there. He remained still. And once again, if he had been able to get back on his feet at this point, I wouldn't be making this video right now. Unfortunately, Trevor wasn't able to get back up and the conditions were so slippery that he wasn't even able to sit there long enough to really formulate a plan. Trevor began sliding uncontrollably down the slope and he was unable to stop this sliding. He was unable to self-arrest. It didn't take long before he started slamming into rocks and he just tumbled into a shoot completely out of sight of the other hikers. So the other people that Trevor were hiking with immediately contacted rescuers when they saw this happen. They used their emergency beacons and just a side note here, I highly recommend that every single hiker carry one of these devices. I talk about them a lot and I always have them linked in the description of my videos, something like a Garmin Enrich or a spot device, something like that. And so they pulled out their emergency beacons, they hit the SOS button. And by the time that they reported Trevor's fall, it was 9.38 in the morning and within an hour of this, members from the Riverside Mountain Rescue Unit and the California Highway Patrol Medic and Air Operations Unit were hovering above the location facing two very difficult tasks. Task number one was to locate Trevor and hopefully save his life. Task number two was that they had to rescue the pair of hikers who had witnessed Trevor fall as they too were in great danger in this moment. They were essentially stranded on this dangerous icy slope. Rescuers initially wanted to extract these two hikers with the helicopter, but the windy conditions up on the mountain ended up making this basically impossible. And so the hikers just had to kind of wait there. They just waited there for instructions, they waited for rescue and they were in such danger and so scared that they actually would end up tying themselves to trees nearby so that they too wouldn't end up sliding into the abyss like they had witnessed with Trevor. These hikers waited for hours in the freezing cold and in a sick twist of fate, one of them actually happened to notice a Facebook notification on his phone about a PCT hiker who had died in the San Jacinto's. This was hours after Trevor had fallen and once again, this deceased hiker's name was not mentioned, but deep down Trevor's stranded friend knew, I mean, he knew, he knew it was Trevor. These two stranded hikers waited all day before they were finally reached by a very brave search and rescue member and they were given crampons which allowed them to traverse the ice much more safely and ultimately they were both hiked back down to town. But shortly after the hikers had initially called 911 and hit that SOS button, rescuers that were hovering in the sky above spotted what they thought was Trevor laying at the bottom of a gorge in an extremely remote area. I mean, he had slid very, very far and the rescuers couldn't even really get to the area very easily. They ended up air-dropping a medic at the closest safe spot that they could find which was about five miles away from where Trevor was and this another very brave medic, very brave rescuer, hiked into Trevor's location as quickly as he possibly could. But unfortunately, by the time that this medic arrived, Trevor was gone. He had passed away at some point earlier in the day, most likely, I guess, obviously from his fall and the injuries that he sustained when he was sliding. The grief that Doug and the rest of the layer family felt is unimaginable. I certainly can't imagine it. I mean, it's tough. It's really tough, and for Doug specifically, he actually felt more than just grief. He felt like he was in some way responsible for his son's death. He asked himself questions like, why hadn't he succeeded in persuading Trevor to leave the trail? Why hadn't he done more research about the dangers around Apache Peak and warn Trevor about this before he got there? Those are just a couple examples. Tons of questions were bouncing around in Doug's head as he struggled to come to terms with what was the greatest tragedy that he had ever experienced in his life. However, in a testament to his strength and his resilience, Doug pushed through these negative emotions and he began to kind of reframe his mindset. He obviously couldn't bring Trevor back. But what he could do was use the energy that he had spent beating himself up on a much more noble cause, a cause that would actually go on to benefit other PCT hikers that were chasing the very same dream that Trevor was. Ever since Trevor's accident, Doug has dedicated himself to educating prospective PCT hikers about safety on the trail. Doug has written about Trevor extensively and done his best to spread his story all over social media. And most importantly, Doug started a nonprofit called Trek for Trevor whose mission is to quote, promote safe hiking and exploration through preparation, awareness, and education. A major component of Trek for Trevor is a program called Trevor Spikes, which is specifically targeted at Pacific Crest Trail hikers. Trevor Spikes provides a financial stipend to northbound PCT hikers so that they can secure microspikes and ice axes. Once again, those are tools that very likely would have saved Trevor's life. It provides a stipend so that they can secure these tools before they enter the San Jacinto Mountains. Doug was very proud to share with me that last year, 143 hikers took advantage of this program and he was proud to share that the San Jacinto section of the PCT has seen an 82% reduction in snow/ice-related rescues. In addition to just lives being saved here, this has also saved search and rescue and the taxpayer for that matter, thousands of dollars. I'm talking like 50,000 to 75,000 dollars. Once again, I just want to drive this lesson home here. If Trevor had been wearing microspikes during his traverse on Apache Peak and if he had been carrying an ice axe, it's very likely that he would have survived. And that's not 100% because you never know, but it's very, very likely. And if you take anything away from this video, it should be that you should always air on the side of caution when you're in the mountains. I highly encourage you to check out Trek for Trevor. They've done such a good job raising awareness. Just absolutely incredible to the point where I believe that they've changed the course of history when it comes to the Pacific Crest Trail. I'll have their site linked in the description. I've made a donation to them and I highly recommend that you do so as well. And of course, if you're a prospective Northbound PCT hiker, go check out the Trevor Spikes program because, well, it just might save your life. I'd really like to thank Doug for being so open about his loss and his pain and for letting me make this video. Please, everybody, go show some love for him and his family in the comments. And please, please keep Trevor in your thoughts and in your hearts.