About The Author
Riley Riffel
Riley Riffel grew up beside the pines and lakes of Saskatchewan, where winter wasn’t just a season, it was a teacher. The stillness, the cold, and the endless white landscape taught him patience long before he knew he’d need it.
In 2023, Riley traded comfort for challenge, stepping onto the Pacific Crest Trail during one of the snowiest seasons in its history. Snowbound: Hiking the PCT in 2023’s Record Snow Year is the story that followed, one of perseverance, solitude, and the quiet courage it takes to keep moving forward when the path disappears beneath the snow.
Born and raised in Saskatchewan, Riley Riffel grew up surrounded by endless skies, still lakes, and the quiet rhythm of nature. His love for the outdoors began long before he could name it, a connection to space, solitude, and movement that would one day lead him far beyond the familiar. The wilderness was more than a backdrop; it was where he felt most alive and most himself.
Before the trial, Riley built a career in automotive finance. It was stable, structured, and prosperous, everything it was supposed to be. Yet beneath the surface, the life he had created felt detached from who he truly was. The routines were predictable, but the purpose was missing. It was a quiet ache, the feeling of living someone else’s version of “enough.”
In 2018, while watching the film Wild, something shifted. Riley didn’t just see a story about hiking, he saw a mirror. The courage to begin again, to face your own pain and walk through it, resonated deeply. It also sparked an awareness that he needed to step out of his comfort zone and write his own version of freedom. That realization marked the start of everything that followed.
From that moment, Riley began to prepare physically, mentally, and financially for the Pacific Crest Trail. He trained, saved, and made the hard choices that turned dreams into reality. It wasn’t glamorous work; it was long, deliberate, and deeply personal. Each step of preparation became a quiet commitment to himself, a promise that he would one day take the first real step on the trail.
In 2023, California saw one of the snowiest years in modern history; Riley still went. Over 161 days and 4,265 kilometers, he walked through ice, exhaustion, and silence. The journey didn’t offer easy answers but provided something truer: clarity, humility, and strength. The trail didn’t “fix” him but stripped life down to what mattered. It became a living metaphor for survival, surrender, and rediscovery.