Solo hiking PCT

imported
#1

Is solo thru-hiking the PCT considered safe? And how big of a deal are the mtn lions and bears?

lost

#2

I’ll field this one even though i’ve only done a fraction of the trail. YES! it’s safe. The same precautions hold as for any backpacking, but it’s a high use trail when it’s not snowbound (or over 100 degrees in the desert), and solos do it all the time. If you hike it during thru-hiker season (spring in SoCal, summer in CenCal, NoCal, and Oregon, early fall in WA), you likely will be around other hikers most days.

Mountain lion attacks on hikers are exceedingly rare. If you’re worried, hike with trekking poles and not at night. Bears can be a nuisance and a slight danger in some places, like the High Sierra of CA, but almost 100% of the encounters will end in the bear running away at first sight of you. Google “bear canister + Yosemite”. That’s the precaution you’ll have to take to make sure the bears leave your food alone.

Personally, if you have questions, i’d recommend just reading a lot of the PCT journals on this website. The best ones are absorbing (the worst ones you’ll just stop reading), and they’ll start to answer your questions. And probably bring up new ones you hadn’t thought of.

markv

#3

hey lost is that the same lost that hiked the AT this year? how are things going. Hope all is well.

Youngndum

youngndum

#4

I hiked solo this year and saw 1 mtn.lion, 14 bears. They were all peaceful encounters. Just past Hikertown on the aquaduct walk I had two meth smoking hilljacks confront me at a road and ask me if I was carrying a gun. They were definately trying to intimidate me but gave me no problems, and that was the only encounter I had with any crazys. And while leaving the Dinsmores I met a thru hiker who was cruisin for a bruisin’, he was very disrespectful and was the type who put himself in danger just by the way he conducted himself. I won’t name him but he almost got a beatdown. So be ready to deal with some people who want to test you. I got to meet almost every hiker this season and there was only one (or two) bad eggs out of hundreds I had the opportunity to meet. I would try to hike with someone else while around Glacier Peak washington just because of the fords and cross-country alternates.

Spigot