Planning time? - Pacific Crest Trail

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planning
#1

How many months did yout ake for really planning yout thru-hike? (gear, food, guide books, fitness, transport)
6-12 months?

(I am from Europe, so some thinks will be a little bit more difficult in planning perhaps)

Paulop

#2

I really enjoyed planning my hike so I spent alot more time then was truly neccessary (3 months). I think the longest time you’ll need is for ordering equipment online and waiting for it to arrive.

I think it would take longer to plan for the PCT then the AT as the logistics are more difficult and it requires more maildrops. The AT is much more forgiving. There a re outfitters and stores along the trail so that maildrops arent strictly neccesary and if you don’t have a particular peice of equipment, you could probably get it along the way.

The biggest hassle for me was figuring out what to do with my bills, insurance, mail, etc…:cheers

jalan

#3

Like Jalan posted, it depends. Myself, I no sooner finish one hike than I’m thinking, dreaming, and planning the next one.

But, if you consider planning to be finalizing the itenary, buying and planning mail drops, and getting gear organized, than this can be done in a couple of months or less.

Peaks

#4

Paulop,

Your planning will be considerably simpler if you buy food along the way. This would be much less expensive, particularly since you are from Europe. I thru-hiked the PCT last year without any food maildrops & did not have a problem. Granted, I’m not a picky eater and i love the challenge of re-supplying in small stores. There is an excellent article on the PCTA website about this type of re-supply strategy:

http://www.pcta.org//planning/before_trip/strategy.asp

Another tip that helps me considerably in planning a thru-hike is to think of the hike as a number of short section hikes from town to town, rather than trying to plan the whole hike out. There are so many variables on a hike that make a fixed schedule almost impossible to follow. I simply check my guidebook and see the mileage to the next re-supply and buy the appropriate amount of food. When I reach the next town/re-supply spot I then just plan the next section. Using this method, i literally did not plan at all last year for the PCT other than leaving a few maildrops, which contained guidebook sections and headlamp batteries, for my mom to mail to me.

Good luck and have a great hike!

freebird

#5

Hi Paulop,
as you might guess from my trailname I am from Germany. I thruhiked the PCT in 04.
It took me 3 months to prepare, but this was due to the fact that I was already unemployed and had a lot of free time. Planning can be done in shorter time.
You are welcome to contact me off-list to discuss your planning questions.
Greetings from Berlin,
German Tourist aka Christine

German Tourist