I've mentioned recently that I'm getting ready to hike the Pacific Crest Trail this year. My start date is getting closer, so I've really been jumping fully into training. Lots of hiking. Lots of treadmill. Lots of stairmaster. Lots of obsessing over gear and finances (and mostly accepting that I'm gonna have some debt after this trip 😅).
The PCT has been my dream for over a decade. I originally wanted to attempt the trail in 2015, but had a complicated foot injury. I trained and got a permit for 2020, which got canceled due to covid. I moved last year and the logistics just didn't work out for 2021. I wouldn't say my circumstances are perfect for it right now (see the above comment about debt lol), but my health is good, my partner is supportive, my pets are all healthy and I feel safe leaving them with someone else to care for them for the time the trip takes, my work situation allows for it and just. I don't know if all of the stars will ever all perfectly align for this so. A little bit of debt seems like a small price to pay for it.
If you're not familiar - the PCT is a 2,650 mile (or 4265 km) hike from the Mexico/California border through California, Oregon, and Washington, ending at the Washington/Canada border. Traditionally if you hike northbound (NoBo), which is the route I'm taking, hikers end in Canada at Manning Park and fly home from near there. As of right now it looks like the border will be remaining closed due to covid and Canada isn't issuing border entry permits so after hitting the border/northern terminus of the trail I'll be adding about 30 miles (~48 km) to my hike to backtrack into Washington. The hike takes an average of 4-6 months to complete, and must be started and completed within a fairly short window if you plan to hike the whole trail in one go. This timeframe is due to temperatures in the southern region (starting before it gets too hot in the desert and no water sources are left) and also due to snow levels in the mountains (if you start too early, the snow levels will be impassable and dangerous) and potential for winter storms at the end of the trail (finish too late, and the possibility of getting caught in severe storms is a significant danger). I anticipate taking 4-5 months to complete the trail, but am prepared for it to take longer.
I'll be celebrating my birthday on the trail this year (May 8)! Receiving packages will be logistically difficult, but if you're the present buying type and don't mind sending something early, I do still need or really want a few things still for my hike and have them on my wishlist 💜 (I currently only have things I need for this hike on my wishlist, sorry if you're looking for something sexier - I'll have more of that when I'm home in the fall 🙏🏻).
I get a lot of questions about how I'll eat, what I'll wear, etc etc while on trail. Food thankfully is pretty easy! For most of the trail I'll be able to hike out into towns every 3-5 days, so don't need to carry more food than I need for the days in between. The longest food carry I'll have is about 9 days, which is long, but not much longer than I've done before. Water is also mostly easy, as natural sources are available fairly regularly for most of the trail and I'll be carrying a filter for it. The beginning of the hike will be the driest section, which is where I'll be carrying the most water as I can't resupply as easily. My dad's wife asked if I was going to be carrying ~5 months worth of clothing and...lol. No, I won't. I have one hiking outfit, plus 2 changes of socks and underwear, then some cold and wind/rain layers. I'll do laundry and shower as I can in towns, and smell bad when I can't lol. Carrying more clothing than that isn't really necessary or practical, and there's a reason folks who do long trails like this get called "hiker trash" LOL 😅. Some gear I will probably end up replacing or upgrading as I go. I know for sure I'm going to go through ~5 pairs of shoes, and have budgeted with the expectation that other gear may fail or not work as well as I'd like over the extended trip.
While this will be the longest continuous trip I've done, I am lucky to have a decent amount of backpacking experience under my belt (including a ~220 section of the PCT) and generally know what gear works for me and how much weight I can tolerate carrying. I've had most of my gear (with some exceptions, eg my wool baselayer pants for sleeping/cold days ripped significantly last trip out and need to be replaced, and I lent my rain pants to a someone in SoCal and never got them back), but have been tweaking my kit a little bit trying to reduce the amount of weight I'm carrying and or buying better quality versions of things as I can. And otherwise just trying to hike as much as possible and get my feet and back used to carrying all of the things I need to survive for 5 months :). Currently my full pack without consumables (food, water, toiletries, stove fuel) weighs about 15 lbs. Food weighs about 2.5 lbs for a days worth of food and water weighs about 2.2 lbs a liter. Most of the time I'll be able to carry ~2 L of water at a time, but I'll be starting with 5-6 L due to limited availability in the desert and longer distances between sources.
I was a bit hesitant to talk about this trip for a while, because it was so devastating to me when it got canceled in 2020. But I realized I wasn't preparing well for a while, or letting myself be excited, because I was so scared of getting disappointed again. It's been really nice for the last month and a half to be fully embracing it and getting excited. I am nervous also. It will be fun but it will also be incredibly difficult, and I'll miss my home and my loved ones, and my cats. And just. The surety of a real roof over my head haha. But I'm more excited than not, and I can't wait to get going.
💜
This is an old photo of all my gear (not including my actual hiking shoes - the blue shoes are just lightweight for wearing around camp to let my feet breathe. Cat thinks he's coming but isn't lol). I need to get an updated shot before I start this trip!
A picture along the Eastern Sierra section of the PCT, in central California.
A photo from one of my most recent backpacking trips, along the West Rim of Zion National Park, in southern Utah.
