Early in 2004, Michael Lissner decided that he wanted to hike the Pacific Crest Trail as a fund raiser for charity. He didn't know much about it, but he had a concept, and he wanted to see it through. After mulling it over in his head for several months, he decided the best thing to do would be to read a couple of books on the subject, and to see what he could learn. This however, proved fruitless, as there are just too many books out there, and they are just too little help.

After this attempt failed, he shifted his focus towards getting information from people he knew. This proved a more fruitful endeavor, and after a while he had come to the conclusion that the best thing to do would be to find a charity that he believed in, and ask them if they would kindly allow him to raise money for them.

From this point forth, CharityHikers.org was born to help him and his peers to raise money for causes of their choice.