Student Spotlight: Anthony Ottati

Spotlights are The Leaflet’s way of recognizing UC Berkeley alumni, professors, and students who are environmental changemakers.

When Anthony Ottati set out in the summer of 2018 to hike the entire Pacific Crest Trail - a three-month-long trek from the border to Mexico to the border of Canada - he had never backpacked for longer than two weeks. The 2,650 mile long trail gifted Ottati with a fresh perspective, lifelong friends, a unique nickname, and an unfortunate bout of giardia.

Ottati, 21, is a fourth-year Civil and Environmental Engineering major from Pleasanton, California and has become a leader in the outdoor community at UC Berkeley due to his extensive experience and unwavering passion for hiking and backpacking.

UC Berkeley boasts a thriving community of outdoor enthusiasts, many of whom are familiar with Ottati. Afterall, Ottati is the co-president of the Cal Hiking and Outdoor Society, splitting his responsibilities with fourth year student Ellese Nguyen. He is also a facilitator for the Intro to Backpacking DeCal course.

The Cal Hiking and Outdoor Society, commonly referred to as CHAOS, allows everyone - from first time hikers to hardcore backpackers - to organize excursions and connect with one and another. Founded in the late 1800s, CHAOS has provided thousands of Cal students the opportunity to channel their inner adventurer. He credits his exposure to outdoor adventures to “strong, mentor like figures” in his life.

“I wanted to try and give back, and provide that for other people. CHAOS is a really good way to do that because we have a lot of people here on campus who are trying to get outside,” Ottati said regarding his passion for guiding  others in their first backpacking experiences.

With a seemingly never-ending midterm season and a city that never seems to give anyone a moment of peace, it is no surprise that so many Berkeley students have turned to the outdoors to maintain their mental health.

Anthony Ottati also recognizes the inherent value in leaving daily life to spend time in the natural world. “When you take a step back, you’re able to kind of see your everyday life in a different light, and think about things you wouldn’t necessarily think about when you’re in the thick of it,” he reflects. “There’s some sort of spiritual, primal, connection that you don’t get being here in the city.”

It was this ardor that led Anthony to set out alone to hike the Pacific Crest Trail two summers ago. The PCT, a 2,650 mile long trail that starts in the desert of Southern California at the border of Mexico, meanders through the high Sierra, crosses the Cascades of Oregon and Washington, and finishes at the United States’ Canadian border, attracts roughly 500 “thru hikers” each season.

Including a couple pounds of gear, about two pounds of camera equipment, food, and water, Ottati’s pack was only about 15-20 pounds. Ottati, who subscribes to the theories of ultralight backpacking - a style of backpacking emphasizing extreme reduction of pack weight - claimed he “was trying to stay as light as possible.” Over 2,650 miles, every ounce can make a difference.

An overview of the Pacific Crest Trail. (Source: Bacpacker)

Anthony set out without a companion, a bold choice that most people would not feel comfortable with. However, Ottati speaks fondly of his experience hiking through almost all of California alone.

“I was definitely lonely at parts of it, but I had a lot to think about,” Ottati said. “During California I was really excited; you go from Berkeley where there’s 40,000 people in such a small area and you’re talking to people all the time...and then you’re just alone with your thoughts.”

However, it was not always smooth sailing. Although Ottati had been filtering his water with Aquamira, a water filtration device designed to kill harmful bacteria, around mile 650, Ottati contracted giardia. Giardia, spread through water or contact with other infected individuals, is a serious illness caused by microscopic parasites that leads to extreme digestive issues. He mentioned, “I didn’t really realize what it was at the time, I thought that it was in my head, or that I had the flu.”

“I just kept hiking, because I figured if I was gonna be miserable I might as well be getting somewhere...getting somewhere beautiful.” Ottati explained. “I slowed down to about 15 miles a day and I lost 30 pounds.”

“I hiked about 200 miles with giardia, but then I eventually got off trail because I realized that I needed to go to a doctor.” Around mile 800, deep in the Sierra Nevada range, Ottati hitchhiked into a town to seek medical attention. After two days on antibiotics, he was back on the trail. With his trust in Aquamira broken, Ottati would walk another 2,000 miles through the wilderness without filtering his water - drinking straight out of the streams and springs. Luckily, he did not contract another water-borne illness.

Ottati admitted, “By the end of California I was starting to get pretty lonely and then luckily I met other people to hike with, which was very helpful.” He ended up finding some hiking companions for the Oregon and Washington sections of the trail. He has remained in touch with these friends from the PCT, even attending one of their weddings and making plans to hike with them in the future.

“Everyone has a different reason or story as to how they got on the PCT,” he explained, reflecting on the multitude of people he met on the trail.

The individuality of each hiker is celebrated through the PCT trail name tradition. A trail name is bestowed by fellow PCT hikers and friends on the trail, inspired by each individual hiker’s persona. Some hikers even consider their trail name to symbolize their alternate trail ego, removing themselves even further from the daily life that they left behind for the PCT. Ottati’s trail name was Mugwort.

“It’s a type of plant.” Ottati clarified. “I was showing people different types of plants, and I guess they thought that named sounded funny. Mugwort gives you better dreams at night, it can cure colds as well...it’s a pretty cool plant. You can make a tea out of it if you want.”

All totaled, Ottati averaged roughly a marathon of hiking everyday, but due to the minor giardia setback, most days he walked close to 30 miles, which amounts to about 10 hours of hiking daily. Impressively, Ottati completed the Sixty-Mile Challenge, which is exactly what it sounds like.

“I did the Sixty-Mile Challenge, so 60 miles in one day. We just did 3 miles an hour, for 20 hours. Yeah, that was tough.” Ottati said with a grin.

The entire trek took roughly 100 days, an objectively fast pace for the Pacific Crest Trail.

To put Ottati’s blistering pace into perspective, the average hiker will spend about 5 months doing what Ottati did in about 3. This is the pace that was necessary in order to fit the trip into the narrow window of a college summer vacation.

Although to the average hiker, this mileage may seem insane, it is intrinsic to Ottati’s being. “I love going as far as I can and seeing what I can see around the next corner.”

Ottati has brought his love for the outdoors into the classroom this semester with his DeCal, “Intro to Backpacking.” The fifty-student class is designed to cater to students with no backpacking experience at all, covering topics such as outdoor safety and gear, including a lecture spent out on the glade setting up tents. “We had 100 applications for the DeCal, and only 15 of them were in CHAOS,” he said, pleased that the DeCal was able to reach students that were not already a part of the outdoor community.

Ottati’s DeCal notably covers the principles of Leave No Trace. Ottati advises his students to “plan ahead and prepare” to avoid situations that could require desperate and potentially destructive actions, such as tearing branches from trees for a makeshift shelter. Ottati claimed that Leave No Trace camping is generally pretty simple: “Don’t take anything from nature and don’t leave anything in nature.”

He has also made a considerable effort to live sustainably in his personal life. For example, he has excluded meat from his diet for roughly 7.5 years.“That’s a big reason as to why I’ve stayed vegetarian - sustainability reasons.”

Additionally, he is encouraging himself and others to move away from so called “weekend warrior” trips in favor of local hiking scenes.

“There was definitely a time, freshman year, where I’d try to go on trips across the state as frequently as possible...Now I’m trying to do more local trips.” Ottati mentioned the Ohlone Wilderness near Livermore and Point Reyes near San Francisco as local options that are possible to reach with public transportation.

“A lot of our impact is where we decide to work” explained Ottati, who will soon be exploring career opportunities.

Ottati’s leadership in CHAOS has undoubtedly inspired countless students to get outside and enjoy the beauty that nature has to offer. This serves a higher purpose than simply helping students plan weekend trips; when students learn to appreciate nature, they will do more to protect it.

When asked what his plans are for after his graduation on December 21st, Ottati smiled and rattled off a list of hikes. “The Condor Trail, the Arizona Trail, The Hayduke Trail, and then the Continental Divide Trail. That’s about 6 or 7 thousand miles of hiking…”

We can be sure of one thing: Anthony will be exploring the wilderness so long as there are wild places left to explore.