What is the Pacific Crest Trail (PCT)?
The PCT is a
designated National Scenic Trail which runs approximately 2,650 miles. The southern terminus of the trail is at the
US-Mexico border near Campo, CA and the northern terminus is at the US-Canada
border near Manning Park, BC.
Are you going to hike all of it?
I’m certainly going to
try.
How long will it take you to complete?
Approximately 5
months.
When are you starting and which direction
are you going?
I’m starting on April
28, 2021 and will be hiking northbound (from Mexico to Canada).
How many miles are you going to hike per
day?
I’ll average around 20
miles per day, but some days I’ll hike more and some days I won’t hike any
miles.
Are you going by yourself?
Yes and no. I don’t have a partner or anybody like that
who I’ll be hiking with, but there are going to be plenty of people out on the
trail who I’m sure I’ll do some hiking with.
The Pacific Crest Trail Association (PCTA), which oversees the trail,
issues 50 permits per day starting from the southern terminus, and almost every
permit slot gets filled. This means that
there are 50 people starting every day from the southern terminus.
Are you bringing a gun with you?
No, varying local,
state, and federal gun regulations make it impractical to carry a gun on the
trail and besides, it’s highly unlikely that it would be needed.
But isn’t this dangerous? What if there’s an emergency?
I’ll be carrying a
satellite communicator which will allow me to stay in touch with my family as
well as being able to call for help if I get in trouble. Often people’s assessment of risks are
inaccurate. Statistically, the most
dangerous parts of the trail are the heat of the desert and crossing streams
swollen with snowmelt. Animals are
mostly not interested in people. Attacks
are very uncommon. The violent crime
rate on the trail is also much lower than most other places in the country.
How are you going to get food?
I’ll be stopping,
typically every 4-5 days in a town. Some
of these towns will have supermarkets or stores in which I can pick up
food. For those towns that don’t have
these, I’ll be mailing myself resupply packages and picking them up at the
local post office.
What about the bathroom? Or Showers?
A bear shits in the woods, and so will I. I have a trowel that I’ll use to dig a
cathole. That’s where poop goes. Showers happen when I get to a town or a
swimmable body of water, likely every 4-5 days on average.
Are you crazy?
Not clinically, but I
definitely understand that hiking 2,650 miles is not something that normal
people do, so in that sense, yeah, I probably am a little nuts.
Why in the world are you doing this?
Everyone has their own reasons for wanting to attempt a hike like this. For me, it’s been something that’s captured my interest for many years. I want a challenge. I want adventure. I want to see how far I can push myself physically and mentally. I also love being outdoors and I want to try this now while I’m still relatively fit.
Everyone has their own reasons for wanting to attempt a hike like this. For me, it’s been something that’s captured my interest for many years. I want a challenge. I want adventure. I want to see how far I can push myself physically and mentally. I also love being outdoors and I want to try this now while I’m still relatively fit.
Wasn’t there a movie about a girl who
hiked the PCT?
Yes, it's called "Wild."
There’s also a book. I have read
the book, I have not seen the movie.
