We are family of Vincent, also known by his hiker name 'Pitstop'. Inspired by many who came before him, last year Vincent flew from the Netherlands to North America to hike the Pacific Crest Trail.

With pain in our heart, we inform you that Vincent has passed away yesterday. Vincent was born with a congenital heart defect. A bacteria that infected his heart last week (endocarditis) has caused a chain reactions of complications. After a week long battle, he is now resting.

On top of his heart problems, he has lived most of his life with an impaired lung function, due to complications at an early age. In spite of all of that, he decided to take on this journey through the United States. Vincent never let his condition stop him, and has lived his life to the fullest. Though we are very sad he is no longer with us, we are happy that he was able to experience the beauty of the trail.

He has told us in detail about his travels, and through this we understand how close the PCT hikers are, which is why we want inform you all about our loss. We want to thank everyone who supported him on his path. The people who hiked with him, despite his slower tempo and the "pitstops". The trail angels who provided him food, lifts and shelter. And thank you to everyone who he met along the way, who made this an awesome trail and life experience for him.

If you have any stories about Vincent, we would love to read them. Feel free to send it as a comment in this thread, or to send us a DM. Whatever you prefer. Pictures of him are also welcome. If there is a better place for us to post this message, please let us know.

Good luck to all the hikers of '26. Don't let anything stop you to take on this adventure, and enjoy the journey.

Thank you.

Edit (02-15-2026):

Thank you for all the reactions we received. I’m sorry I didn’t respond earlier. We’ve been very occupied with preparing for the funeral and, of course, with grieving. I'll respond to the messages and DMs we received but it might take me some time.

The messages have truly warmed our hearts, and I cried multiple times while reading them. It is so special to read about Vincent on his journey from the perspective of other hikers who met him and interacted with him, even in the smallest ways.

Some of you traveled with him for a longer period, met him multiple times, or shared a single meaningful encounter. All of those moments mean so much to us, and we thank you for sharing your memories. With his consent we read the comment from Tangerine 936 aloud at the funeral last Friday.

There were also people who never met him but shared their own health struggles and how they cope with them while walking the trail or preparing for it. That meant a great deal to us as well. I hope you find inspiration in Vincent's story

Vincent lived a beautiful life and had a rich social life. He lived to the fullest, and hiking the PCT became part of that last year. I truly believe the community gave him the confidence to embark on this adventure. It helped him rise above himself and become even more than he thought he could be. We are very proud of him.

Simon
(Vincent's brother)

Got jealous of everyone on trail this year. So I went through all my photos from my '24 thru and put my favourites into a gallery/photo blog.

another great season of doing some trail magic around the desert this year. gave out tons of snacks and drinks, and shot portraits of 175 hikers. hikertrashdumpster on instagram for more info

if you’d like to follow my hike my Instagram is @frankiehikesthepct

Good luck to everyone and hope to see you on the trail

Thought yall would appreciate this. Finally got this tattoo 7 years later to commemorate my 2018 NOBO journey. I wanted it to be abstract and storied, but fairly recognizable to those familiar with the trail.

The trail made an immeasurable impact on my life like it did for so many others. This piece has a lot of small details that make it personal to me — the sun by the joshua tree since I spent so many hours in the desert hiding under them before trying to get a few more miles in, the moon by Whitney since I summited at sunrise, etc.

As the class of 2025 prepares for their thrus, the only advice I have is don’t forget to look up!

I carried a camera and tripod on my thru hike this year, and finally got a chance to go through and edit some. Thought I'd share some of my favorite shots just for fun. Mostly landscapes since I'm bad at taking pictures of people. Would love to see shots from other folks who carried a camera, this year or in years past!

Dear Hikers,

No. Not all of you. Just those of you still on the trail...including the one who popped a fever today and forced the trail angel, residents of a small town to gather, organize a response, and come get you. I have a question for those of you still out there. WHO THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU ARE?

Let's clarify some things, shall we? I've seen this defense ad nauseum on YouTube and Facebook:

"The PCTA isn't a legal authority...they're just people."

True. The PCTA isn't the law. We, the members and volunteers, don't want to be the law. But, we ARE the people, by and large, who live near or on the trail. We are the people who step up to maintain the trail when you're done hiking it. We're the people who go to County and State meetings or sit through local town hall forums where people try to get the trail closed or talk about the "hiker trash"...and WE DEFEND the "hiker trash" or try to explain that not every hiker is THAT hiker. The PCTA is the organization that coordinates with a hundred other agencies to secure your hike rights and try to do the very best for the trail. When you say, "Well, they're not the boss of me!", you look like a petulant child! If not for the PCTA, the trail wouldn't exist as it does. You probably spent hours singing their praises to get your permit..but, now they're just a bunch of biddies afraid of legal action? Seriously?

"I'm seeing more REGULAR PEOPLE breaking the rules of social distancing. PCT Thru Hikers are doing the right thing." - Vlogger on the PCT2020

So, your defense is essentially, "Well...well...but, THEY are breaking the rules, too!"? How old are you? That you can say this while you're standing in front of shuttered businesses is hysterical. That you can say this while you're CLEARLY IN A MOUNTAIN TOWN, exposing yourself to the society you claim to be able to avoid entirely, is irony on a level that approaches Morrissette or pots who call the kettle black. If you're walking down the streets, talking about how the hotel TOTALLY welcomed you and you're just waiting for your clothes to dry, so you'll go to the store where locals MUST get food..but, you're not the problem, you ARE THE PROBLEM. You're not doing everything you can to stay in quarantine or social distance. Sure. There are people in the stores and on the streets because they LIVE THERE! It's THEIR TOWN. But, while you're doing your video, you're walking past stores that are CLOSED. You are seeing kids who are not in school because school is CLOSED. You are seeing people walk wide circles AROUND YOU while you film because they are TRYING TO AVOID OTHERS. What part of this are you not understanding? YOU are part of the problem. Just by being there.

"I'm safer on the trail."

Maybe. The trail is the trail. It's wild. There are hazards ANY YEAR. You might make it unscathed. Or, not. That's trail life. You know what else is trail life? Blisters (that open up your skin to infection), giardia (that can dehydrate you...especially if there are fewer water caches and your stores and post offices close), hiker belly (see previous), exhaustion (which leaves you more prone to illness), exposure (which can lead to your body having to work twice as hard just to stay functional, let alone fight a virus), and a thousand other variables that don't even touch on REAL TRAGEDIES that could lead to YOUR thru hike becoming an emergency incident requiring a team of people to rescue you. That's one helicopter that's not transporting a kid to a children's ICU. That's several flight medics or ground medics that aren't providing community care and will now have to quarantine from family because of YOUR hike.

"I'm just doing me."

But,...you're not. You're posting on social media (so much for enjoying the outdoors). You're filming and editing videos (on solar, of course,...because we know YOU wouldn't DARE approach a public socket during a pandemic...no, not you). You're getting that ad revenue and the public ass pats that make you think you're special. And, maybe you are! Maybe you are. But, you're not inhuman. You are every bit as susceptible to Covid as the rest of us. You are MORE likely, by virtue of your hike, to get a mechanical injury or a break in the skin. You're just as human as the rest of us who can be carriers. You touched that log book and pen, didn't you? Congrats...you're now a vector!

From this exhausted trail angel and first responder- PLEASE GO HOME! Just do me a solid and do your community a solid and GO HOME. Do the next right thing. Please!

Sincerely,

A very tired Trail Angel who had to drop a breathing tube into a toddler, misses her kids, wants to sleep in her bedroom with the love of her life, and desperately wishes she could get on the trail, too.

ETA: another youtuber who plans to start this week: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JkmI2juYf9I

WTF?

Hi -- it's Jlo! I hiked in '25 and wanted to share some of my favorite snaps (on iPhone)!

I have a ton more. Let me know if you like them, and I can share more!

On 09/02/22, 21 of us arrived at the Northern Terminus and were evacuated North into Manning Park, Canada.

My wife and I were at the top of Woody Pass when the Kid fire had come over a nearby ridge with visible flames to the east. Rangers soon arrived and informed us that they would likely get the call at any moment to start turning hikers around to Harts Pass and close trail. They suggested “If your fast, then now would be the time to tag the terminus so you can get back in time.” So, we started running North to the border while informing every hiker we could about the developing situation. After reaching the terminus and explaining the circumstances to all those present, Garmin messages began coming in that the trail had closed while we were running down. A crew of 15 or so hikers began hiking back south, only to return to terminus due to concern over the growing fires. Around 20 minutes after this, a BC Wildfire Helicopter Pilot landed nearby and recommended that we all continue North before the Parka fire on the Canadian side of the border grew too large and cut us off to the North. We all decided that this was the best course of action, and arrived safely in Manning Park.

I finished the PCT in 2025 and it was probably the greatest experience of my life. I documented the whole thing on Instagram while I was out there. Daily mileage updates, suffering posts, dramatic reflections, “the trail is destroying and rebuilding me” captions. All of it.

And honestly, at the time, I meant every word.
But now that I’m home and watching this year’s class of hikers post their journeys, I’m having a weird reaction because I recognize myself in a lot of it.
The hyper-dramatic narration. The “I escaped society and discovered what really matters” energy. The romanticizing of suffering. The framing of hiking 30 miles a day as this almost mythic act. The subtle implication that the trail makes you more enlightened than people living regular lives.

Again, I did this too.

But with some distance from the trail, what’s starting to hit me is how much privilege is wrapped up in thru hiking that we rarely talk about openly. Being able to disappear for 5 months. Having the money, gear, time, support systems, healthy body, and safety net to attempt something like this. Having people back home holding life together while you go “find yourself.”

Even the ability to publicly reinvent yourself on the internet is a privilege.

And I think sometimes thru hiking content online skips over that and turns into a performance where every rough day gets narrated like a war memoir and every emotional realization gets treated like profound universal wisdom.

The PCT is hard. It is transformative. I genuinely think it changed my life for the better.

But I also think some of us, myself included, can drift into making it sound like we survived some uniquely spiritual hardship when in reality we voluntarily chose an incredible, beautiful, expensive, highly supported experience that most people simply cannot access.
Not trying to hate on anyone. I still love the trail deeply. I just think finishing it gave me a little more perspective on the way we talk about it online.

Curious if anyone else who’s finished a thru hike has felt this shift afterward.

I just need to say this.

It was September 29th, 2019 in a cabin in North Kennedy Meadows. I was sharing one of the small cabins with a few guys I was hiking with and one other woman. When the assault occurred the other woman was asleep but the three guys had walked into the next room just minutes before one of the guys assaulted me. I said "no" very loud, I pleaded with him and those men in the next room did nothing to help me. The next morning I decided against reporting because of every story I've heard from women who report it's an absolute shit show waste of time. There was no evidence, and I just wanted to get back on trail and not deal with it. But I went on to hike the entire PCT and he ended up dropping out. He was a fucking coward who didn't have the strength to finish, but I did.

I'm telling this story because when a woman hikes the trail alone we warn her about hitchhiking alone, hiking alone in the dark, camping with strangers, but we never consider that it could be one of our own.

I'm also telling this story because there were three men who couldn't have possibly not heard me yelling in such a small cabin. But they ignored me and did nothing. Please don't ever be that person. And be careful choosing who you hike with.

Let's work to make the trail safer for women.

Update: I will not be naming the men's trail names because people can have the same trail names and I don't want someone to be berated when they didn't do it. Also, this post was meant to be for me to tell my story as a way to process, heal and raise awareness of an issue, not to find the guys and try to press charges. My life is now finally getting back to normal and I don't want to go through that circus. That's me taking care of my own mental health, which is incredibly important because even years after the event there are struggles to stay alive and functioning. As I always say the aftermath is where the real surviving happens. But thank you all for the love and support posting this has been a healing experience and gives me hope to return back to thru-hiking.