A selfie for every mile of gruelling US hike

Anyone who's seen Reese Witherspoon's Oscar-nominated film Wild knows that a hike of several thousand kilometres can be transformative.

The Pacific Crest Trail (PCT) stretches 4280 kilometres (2660 miles) from Campo, California (which is perched on the Mexican border) to Manning Park, British Columbia – just across the Canadian border. It travels through mountain ranges in California, Oregon and Washington.

While Witherspoon's production team had millions of studio dollars at their disposal in meticulously adapting Cheryl Strayed's book of the same, hiker Andy Davidhazy had nothing but a camera and 2660 opportunities for a selfie.

"Taking a photo of myself every mile wasn't about vanity, but rather a way for me to fully commit to the whole hike," Davidhazy writes on his blog.

 "If I were to skip ahead, myself and everyone else would know it."

Davidhazy says that while taking a selfie for every mile of the PCT often hindered his progress, he considered it a welcome distraction from the gruelling physical demands of the hike.

"In retrospect, I am happy to have done it," he says.

"It provided a good conversation starter with so many hikers that I would meet along the way."