I want to hike about 500 miles of the PCT this fall starting south of MtWhitney somewhere and ending at say Donnor Pass (I-80). I have relatives there that can assist me at the end to help me get to my plane and back home. What is the most reasonable way or practical way to get to a starting point south of Whitney. Greyhound runs into Bakersfield and it appears that maybe hitching up to Walker Pass might be the easiest thing to do. Is there a better way???
Michael
Well its a good starting point and gives you some decent miles under your belt before you hit the higher elevations. You get a bus to Bakerfield then a local to Lake Isabella and then a shuttle bus to Welden/Onyx… its an easy hitch to Walker Pass…Then 50 miles to Keneddy then 75 miles to the JMT/Mt Whitney junction…
Meadow Ed
Meadow Ed
that sounds like the best way unless you wanted to try to hitch all the way to lone pine, although i’m not sure where you might want to try to do that from. the love barge and i hitched from walker pass to lone pine last year; i think it took about 3 hours driving time but my memory is kind of hazy. also, if you are open to it or if your plane is flexible, you might consider walking from donner pass south. the JMT southbound grows higher and more majestic with every pass, and you would finish at the grand mt. whitney. and the northern sierras would be a good warm-up for the high sierras. regardless, happy happy trails and enjoy it!
Smack
Thanks for these suggestions. I guess the only reason I was wanting to hike south to north was to increase my chance of meeting and hiking with other hikers. I will be flying into Sacramento and can get a ride easily to Donnor Pass and then whereever I end up, hitch to the nearest town and dog it back to Sacramento. Do hikers generally travel in a particular direction on the PCT? On the AT, I enjoyed hiking north with the huge bubble of other hikers which allowed one to get to know the other hikers. Any thoughts?
Michael
on the JMT you will encounter traffic in both directions, although hikers out walking the entire PCT will generally be travelling north. if you wanted to travel with a group of thru-hikers, north is the direction to walk. but a little later in the season, after the snowmelt, there will be plenty of people, and i would guess that there would be more travelling southbound. travelling south you would meet MANY thru-hikers, not just one group that you fell in step with. either way you go, you can’t go wrong with the beautiful sierra highcountry!!! oh, and one last thought, the “pack” of thru-hikers travelling north on the PCT is much less populated and more spread out than the bubble of hikers on the AT. it still exists, but is much different.
Smack