hi all.
i’m thinking of hiking the pct this summer. i only have time from mid-july to mid-october so i wont be able do the whole thing. what is a good section for that time? is it better to start up north and sobo as far as i can, or start somewhere in the middle (where?) and head all the way north?
thanx
ladybug
ladybug
Since you have three months, why not start at Manning and hike south as far as you can? You could probably go as far as Kennedy Meadows, if not farther. OR you can take your time and go to Tahoe - or whereever. Hiking the other way you risk serious bad weather in Washington for the last month of the hike - which is less likely in dryer northern California. (We had two snows in Washington in September.) By mid-July the trails should be open in Washington, and you’ll get some nice wildflowers.
Spirit Walker
thanks for the advise spirit walker. i think going south makes more sense too, except for one thing that’s pretty important to me - i don’t want to be completely alone out there. i know the pct is not the highway the at is, but i would like to have some people around, and as i understand going south on the pct can be a very lonely experience.
ladybug
We met six southbound thruhikers, I think. But there are also a lot of folks out backpacking shorter sections. Many do just one state. We found the PCT to be much more populated that we expected. Many days we met 20 or 30 people in a day. Frequently we met more. It was quite different from the CDT. Remember, most of the PCT in Washington is an easy drive from Seattle. After the first month, you will be meeting the faster northbound thruhikers. And you will meet the shorter term hikers until September, probably. How about looking for a partner?
Spirit Walker