This post is part of a PCT series for all the information you need to hike the Pacific Crest Trail. A guide for future hikers, especially those coming from abroad.
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You are reading:
• PCT Questions Part 1: Planning
Also part of this series:
• PCT Questions Part 2: Trail Life
• Food and Resupply Strategy
• How to get the B-2 Visa
• Safety for Female Hikers
• My 2019 PCT Gear List
• Daily PCT blogs
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In this post
• What’s the PCT?
• A short description of what you can expect for each section
Pre-trail preparation
• Permits
• Organise your life
• Insurance
• How to get gear from the US and where can you send it to
• How to get gear on the plane
• Getting to the trailhead: Northbound and southbound
• How to get home from Canada
• Planning town and resupply stops
• Gear
• Navigation and websites to bookmark on your phone
• Phone
• Basic backcountry knowledge
• Money
• Mental preparation
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You’re going to hike the Pacific Crest Trail and you’ve begun what’s arguably the most exciting part of the hike: the planning. You have questions. There’s so much to consider! 2650 miles of trail, three states, endless mountain ranges and resupply towns. How do you even start preparing for this? Let me tell you a secret: The PCT is genuinely one of those trails you can do without any prep whatsoever.
Okay, that’s not true. You need gear. Download the Guthook app onto your phone. Get your permits and a visa if you’re coming from abroad. You’re sorted.
But I know this isn’t going to dissolve your worries. Plus, planning a hike is fun. Imagining what may or may not happen will fuel your excitement and determination to complete this trail. And if you’re coming to the USA from abroad then this will add an extra dimension of nerves to the whole thing. So I’m here to help answer all of those questions, so you can stop worrying and simply enjoy the jitters.
What’s the PCT?
A 2650 mile footpath for hikers and equestrians. If you’re looking at hiking the entire trail in one season, you’re going to be thru-hiking it. Most popular south to north, from Campo at the Mexican border all the way to Manning Park in Canada, in the middle of nowhere.
It goes through the Sierra Nevada and Cascade mountain ranges and crosses 57 mountain passes while you’re following the crest (hence the name Pacific ‘Crest’ Trail, not ‘coast’ trail, as some non-hikers mistakenly call it.) This means it’s certainly not flat.
You get your water from streams and rivers and your food from nearby towns. This means going off trail every 5 days or so, and either you’ll be able to walk into a town, or more likely you’ll have to hitchhike.
If you’re NoBo (hiking northbound) you can start from early April and finish by the end of September (before the snow starts to fly), and if you’re SoBo (southbound) you can start from late June and your aim is to finish the Sierra Nevada section and hit Kennedy Meadows (south) by the end of September, before the snowstorms start there (it’s a shorter hiking season).
On average, hikers take around 5 months to complete the trail. And it’s the experience of a lifetime.
Sounds enticing? Here’s a quick overview of the different stages you’ll get to experience:
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South California (SoCal)
Mile 0 – 700 (approx. 700 miles)
South California is a desert, but not in the way you might imagine: there are no sand dunes. There are wild flowers and cacti and Joshua trees and yes it’s hot and dry with farfetched views over the valley floors but remember, you’re in the mountains. There is snow early in the season. It can be freezing cold, especially at night. It can also be burning hot. There are some long water carries, especially later in the season, when the streams have dried up. But there’s also an uncanny amount of trail angels that keep water caches so you don’t have to carry all that water all that way. The towns will be welcoming hikers with open arms, and you’re quickly immersed in that typical US hiking life.
Sierra Nevada (Sierras)
Mile 700 – 1020 (approx. 320 miles)
The Sierra Nevada mountain range. Oh how you will long to enter these glorious mountains after a month and a half of desert. You’ll arrive at Kennedy Meadows where you’ll get the chance to stake out the trail conditions ahead. There will be lots of hikers. The very knowledgeable owners at Triple Crown Outfitters will advise you on snow gear or anything else should you need it. You can pick up the bear canister that was posted to you or buy one. Then you set off into one of the most gorgeous and toughest sections of trail with a heavy pack. You’ll hike one or two or three mountain passes every day. Everything will be granite with blue lakes. Unless you get there early in the season and it will be covered in snow so you have to be careful. The rivers might rage. You hit the highest point on the PCT early on at Forrester Pass, and you’ll be able to do a side trip to summit Mount Whitney, the highest mountain in the contiguous US. After three weeks you’ll reach Sonora Pass, where you can finally get rid of that bear can, although you probably just got used to the extra weight. You’ll also be ready for the next stretch. Saying that, Sonora Pass is in the middle of nowhere so you’ll likely hold onto that bear can for another 70 miles, until South Lake Tahoe.
North California (NorCal)
Mile 1020 – 1700 (approx. 680 miles)
You’ll approach North California with an overwhelming confidence that after the Sierras, the trail will be relatively flat. You’ll be wrong. The many ups and downs will be long and ruthless. The soil here is red, the air hot, the landscape a little like the desert, but more lush. You might want to speed up after the high Sierras but you’ll struggle with the terrain. You probably won’t be able to fully appreciate some of NorCal’s beautiful sections because you’ll be jaded after the mountain ranges you’ve just crossed. Plus, you’ll simply be yearning for the trail to level out and to finally reach another state. Unfortunately, NorCal is long, almost 700 miles long. Get this: you’ll reach the PCT midpoint in NorCal. And you’ll still be in the first state.
Oregon
Mile 1700 – 2155 (approx. 455 miles)
Finally! A different state. It finally (sort of – you’re still in the mountains) flattens out. There are volcanoes and new landscapes that invigorate you. You’ll be surrounded by several key mountains, like Mt Adams and Mt Hood, that follow you everywhere you go. There’s the Timberline Lodge breakfast buffet. There’s the two week challenge some hikers like to do: hike the entire state in two weeks. That’s 455 miles, 32.5 mile a day. Even if you say no (I didn’t), you’ll probably decide to up your speed. After the fun, slow desert start and the exhausting Sierras, you’ll be very aware of how much time you have left to reach Canada. You may also move fast in an attempt to outrun the mosquitoes. Unfortunately, you’ll realise you can’t.
Washington
Mile 2155 – 2650 (approx. 495 miles)
When you hit Washington, you can feel the change in everything around you. You enter the forest, you lose phone signal and the trail is a lot more remote. The paths are overgrown, paths are steep and when you gaze down the mountainside it looks like the place where people disappear. The ups and downs will hit you hard, but wow it’s gorgeous and lush and scary and please be careful if there’s snow (early in the season, or late in the season) and don’t continue if you cannot. If you make it, Canada will be a long time coming but suddenly it’s there and then it’s over. Even if you don’t want it to be.
PRE-TRAIL PREPARATION
Permits
PCT Long-distance Permit: If you’re hiking more than 500 miles of trail, you’ll need to apply for a PCT permit. This is your golden ticket that grants you access to the entire trail. There are two application dates. One in November and a second wave in January, handled by the PCT Association. In total, 50 northbound thru-hiker spots will be available per day. With the sheer volume of people applying to the trail nowadays, many people do not manage to get a permit at all. But if you want a chance, be there at the correct time and date. Make sure you enter the application process BEFORE the official release time (how long before doesn’t matter). They will place you in a virtual waiting room and you will be assigned a random number once the lines open. Everyone joining after that will be placed in the queue behind you, and essentially have no chance. So getting a good place in line is sheer luck.
California Fire Permit: if you plan on bringing a stove or making use of some of the fire rings available in camp areas, you’ll need a fire permit. The PCTA website will guide you in the right direction. You’ll have to watch an informative video, as there’s extreme danger of igniting wildfires if you don’t know what you’re doing or don’t know how to extinguish a fire properly.
Canada Entry Permit: You will be able to apply for the Canada Entry Permit through the PCTA website once you have received confirmation of your PCT permit. This is the deal: the Northern Terminus is in the middle of nowhere. Once you hit Canada, you can either keep walking 8 miles into the country, or you can turn around and backtrack 30 miles to the road at Harts Pass. Hence the preference to enter Canada. Of course, entering another country and dodging border control is illegal, so you need a Canada Entry Permit, which specifically allows you entry via the PCT. Make sure to fill it out correctly and you shouldn’t have a problem getting approved (unless you’ve ever been arrested, then you won’t get one.)
B-2 Visa: The holy grail for foreign hikers. The B-2 visa gives 6 months (usually for the next 10 years!) in the USA, as opposed to the 3 months you get on the ESTA. I have an entire post dedicated to the application process, which can be overwhelming. Go here to read it.
Organise your life
Now that you know you’ll definitely be hiking the trail, you need to put your ‘life’ on hold. This may be easy or involve quite a bit of juggling. Find a place to store your belongings, give up the lease to your flat or rent it out and tell people your plans. (And perhaps – morbid I know – write a will if it makes sense.) Quit your job, take a sabbatical, a gap year.
If this worries you – trust me, no one has ever come back from hiking (or travelling in general) to finding themselves unemployable. In fact, people will admire the grit and confidence it takes to go away and come back with new experiences. And no hiker has ever regretted leaving for the trail, even if it did take some time to find a job coming back. Just make sure you have a place to go back to after the trail and a little bit of money to keep you going until you find a job again.
Insurance
Take out the proper travel and health insurances. Ensure your plan covers hiking at high elevation (highest point is Forrester Pass at 13,153 feet / 4,009 m or Mount Whitney at 14,505 ft / 4,421 m) and make sure it includes mountain rescue! This is probably also the time to set up and activate your SPOT or InReach, and check that it works properly.
Buying and picking up gear in the US (when coming from abroad)
If you decide to buy gear from some of the smaller US cottage companies like Hyperlite Mountain Gear, Waymark and Enlightened Equipment, you might want to avoid paying steep import and duty fees by having the items sent to an address in the US instead. But unless you have a friend or family you could visit on the way to the trail, what are your options?
Have it sent to trail angels: Scout and Frodo, trail angels who host hikers in San Diego, would be your first point of call. They hold packages for hikers, give them a place to stay before starting the trail and shuttle everyone to the Southern Terminus. They will be hosting hikers in 2021, but after that they plan to retire. There will be other trail angels though, and there are Facebook groups specifically for PCT trail angels. Check the groups to see if someone else is willing to receive gear for you. You could also do some research on previous PCT hikers and approach them via social media! No guarantees but hiker alumni are often happy to help each other out.
Ask your hotel or hostel if they can accept packages.
Post office: You could ask the gear companies to dispatch via USPS General Delivery, which means you can have them sent to post offices. Check the USPS website on which post offices accept General Delivery, not all do. Make sure the address says ‘General Delivery’ and do add the correct postal address even if they say not to – I’ve heard too many conflicting stories. The post office will keep your package for one month so explain the situation to the gear company and they can post it at the right time.
If you’re buying standard (non-cottage company) items, you can order from REI (a large outdoor retailer) and pick it up at your selected store.
Taking gear on the plane
Generally, your frameless pack will be small enough to count as carry on, so you could get the cheap ticket and not pay for luggage! The only issue you could face is bringing trekking poles. Long, sharp objects are generally not allowed as hand luggage. If you’re planning on buying new ones, I’d advise you buy them in the US (I got them at REI for this exact reason, even though they were cheaper in the UK). I ended up posting them home before leaving the US again. Otherwise, risk it or pay for luggage and check them in.
Getting to the trailhead
Northbound: The Southern Terminus is located in Campo, California. Closest city and airport is San Diego. (I flew into LAX, and took the train to San Diego a few days later.)
The first option would be to go via Scout and Frodo, but as mentioned before, they will be retiring soon. Check the PCT trail angel Facebook pages, as surely more people will run shuttles to the trailhead from different locations.
There is a local bus 888/894 that runs to Campo from El Cajon transit centre, close to San Diego (about an hour via public transport from San Diego airport.) It’s about $10 and takes 1.45 hrs. It doesn’t run every day of the week (definitely not on the weekend), so check the schedule before booking your flight. You’ll just have to walk roughly a mile and a half to the trailhead from the bus stop.
Southbound: There’s only one way to reach the Northern Terminus: walk. Via the PCT. There’s no permit to enter the USA from Canada, so you cannot hike the 8 mile approach trail from Manning Park. Instead you’ll have to catch a ride to Harts Pass, NoBo mile 2622.5, which is a deadend and a trailhead. Don’t worry, people will be going in that direction, should you need to hitchhike. You can find public transportation to Winthrop, which is a trail town, and therefore probably the best place to hitch from, via Mazama, to Harts Pass. From there it’s 30 miles to Canada. It’s a beautiful section of trail, and nobody minds hiking it twice!
How to get home from Canada
Here you have two options.
Either, do what southbounders do to reach the trail – walk. Walk the 30 miles back to Harts Pass, and hitch out or have someone pick you up.
Or, head into Canada. If you’ve been approved for your Canada Entry Permit, you can walk the overgrown 8.5 mile trail to Manning Park. There used to be a Greyhound to Vancouver that serviced Manning Park, but unfortunately it no longer exists. The Guthook app mentions a local AT hiker who gives rides in his car for a fee. It’s best if you’re with a group, cost-wise. Keep in mind, arranging a ride may have to be done well ahead as you won’t have phone signal between Stehekin and Manning Park. It’s also possible to hitch all the way to Vancouver but it may take some time. It’s a three hour drive so not close – I managed to find a hitch in about half an hour with someone who took me all the way. I think I was lucky. If you only make it to the town of Hope, there’s an E Bus which you can take the rest of the way. Do make sure to call up and reserve a seat!
Planning town and resupply stops
While it might be fun to familiarise yourself with the PCT and plan your town stops well before even setting foot on the trail, it’s not quite necessary. You can get your resupply in grocery stores or general stores along the way and if you realise that the following town has limited resupply options, you can send a food box from where you are. But you don’t have to send any boxes at all – you might just have to deal with less than desirable gas station food a few times. This is what I did, and I plan to write a blog post on this strategy (or non-strategy!)
If you do plan to send yourself food boxes, make sure the person sending them is flexible as you might end up going into different towns and needing different supplies. Weather, hiking partners and injuries will influence your itinerary, so your original plan will go out of the window from day one.
I would actually only advise doing food boxes if you’re on a specific diet or if you’ve been able to freeze dry your own quality food. Stuffing food boxes with sweets and cheap noodles isn’t quite worth the effort and the postage costs. While in theory sending yourself boxes would get you back to the trail faster, you’d have to keep an eye on post office opening times. Also don’t underestimate the pull of town – a zero (day off), motel and town food!
Gear
The options are endless, but most hikers end up with roughly the same choices. As a general rule, you need some decent 3 season gear for the PCT. You can be lucky and hike the entire trail in no adverse weather whatsoever, or you can be sludging through weeks (or months) of snow, and have a completely different experience. Read my gear post here.
Choosing gear will be the main thing that keeps you busy before starting the trail, and it’s important to keep in mind the lead times of some items. Gear from small US cottage companies can be on a 2 month lead time, so place your orders in time.
Even though it’s easy to obsess (I know I do, because it’s fun), do remember that you’re not married to your gear and you can make changes even after you’ve started your hike! You’ll meet people with different gear that you might want to try out, or you realise that your clothes are too cold or hot for the conditions.
It’s actually pretty easy to exchange things when you’re already on trail. There are many gear shops along the way and they tend to know what PCT hikers need. You’ll find small outfitters in town and REI is often just a hitch away. Plus a lot of gear companies are happy to post things to hostels or post offices along the trail. You might also realise that, once you’re out there, you’re generally just happy with whatever you’ve got.
Navigation and websites to bookmark on your phone
Guthook app: Your main GPS enabled map, which works off-line. Navigation, towns, water, camp sites. It’s the nr 1 source of information, and hikers will leave comments on availability of water, trail conditions, localities and anything else that might be relevant. It almost gives too much information as it doesn’t leave much to adventure. Make sure to download the maps and pictures for the upcoming section in town.
Maps.me: For finding alternatives routes when avoiding fire, snow, unexpected travels into towns.
Google Maps: is only useful when you have service and need to get public transport. This won’t happen a lot and any common transport links will be discussed in the Guthook app, but at times it will be useful.
Water report: An additional water report can be found here: PCT Water Report
San Jacinto snow report: To check condition before heading into the San Jacinto Wilderness: San Jacinto Trail Report
Phone
Even if you’re ready to disconnect, a working phone is extremely useful. You may need to contact someone for a ride into town, check public transport options, book a motel room or order gear online to pick up in the next town. Coming from abroad with an unlocked phone, you can purchase a SIM card and pay on a month to month basis. Arrange this in a big city before hitting the trail – SIM cards are not commonly used in the US, and small trail towns will not sell any (and locals won’t know what you’re talking about.)
Verizon has the best coverage on trail, but AT&T works just fine. Beware that Verizon uses the CDMA network as opposed to GSM, which is generally what we use everywhere else in the world. You can check online on the providers website whether your phone is compatible with their network, but don’t assume that you can use the SIM card if you are. For example, my unlocked iPhone had (unbeknownst to me) only unlocked its GSM network, even though it was CDMA compatible. SIM cards are not returnable, and in my case I’d wasted $70 on a Verizon SIM card I couldn’t use.
The cost of a SIM card with data will be about $50 per month. SIM cards are not cheap, but for me it was worth it. I even used the data to watch Netflix and upload blog images in my tent.
SIM card options: I would recommend purchasing a 6 month pre-paid Straight Talk deal from Walmart. This (confusingly) comes with several SIM cards from different providers. Choose AT&T or Verizon and follow the simple instructions to activate it. It costs about $300 but at least you know you’ve got a working phone for the entire time you’re there. In theory, you could switch SIM cards along the way (for example, activate AT&T first and then switch to Verizon as it has better coverage in Washington, but you’d have to call up Straight Talk to get them to switch it for you.)
Signal along the trail is varied. I actually thought there was a lot more signal than I’d expected. Most of California had signal, otherwise close to towns or on mountaintops. Washington was the only state where it really became rare. Even hitching into Mazama, there still wasn’t signal. Or WiFi!
Basic backcountry knowledge
Some research you will need to do before hitting the trail.
River crossings: If you hit the Sierras during snowmelt, river crossings can be extremely dangerous. Multiple hikers have died during river crossing, and you must err on the safe side. Not every hiker is built the same way, and if someone else was able to cross that river, it doesn’t mean you can. I always look out for the wider river sections, as the current will be calmer and water level lower.
During this time it’s best to hike with a group, and you should learn the correct way to cross rivers as a single file group. Watch YouTube videos on the subject so you know how.
Remember, if you get stuck behind a river that’s too strong to ford, set up camp and wait for morning. Water levels will decrease. Another option is to bushwack upstream, where it’s often possible to find crossings that rage less – but you may have to walk a while. Always remember that turning back is an option.
Before I’ve scared you off – I hit the Sierras late in the season, and I had not even one remotely daunting water crossing whatsoever. Again, use the Guthook app as your guidance. Hikers before you will have added comments on the best spots to cross if the rivers are still high.
Animals: There are three animals to worry about – rattlesnakes, black bears and mountain lions. Avoid rattlesnakes (they like to sunbathe in the middle of the trail, and will make a lot of noise if you get near!), and make sure you know how to behave when you encounter a mountain lion or bear.
The PCT is a habitat to black bears and while they’re the most cuddlesome of bears, they’re still bears. Teenage bears can be cheeky and run TO you rather than run away when you make noise. Make sure to research the correct type of bear. Black bears behave differently from their brown cousins and grizzlies. Btw, bear spray is not commonly carried on the PCT and isn’t really anything you need to consider bringing.
Mountain lions are very rare to spot. Most interactions are made in the dark by night hikers, but in rare cases they do make themselves known during the day. In fact, if you see a mountain lion, it’s probably been stalking you for a while. Again, read up on what to do when you see one. It can save your life. Saying that, you’ll probably never see one! Some people don’t even see bears! (I saw 5 on trail.)
Money
Money luckily isn’t a worry, even for foreign hikers. Cards are accepted almost everywhere! To eliminate foreign transaction fees, most countries have travel card options that eliminate these. In the UK you can get a Monzo or Revolut card, which I can definitely recommend. Order them in advance of hitting the trail and you’re set! Oh, make sure to bring at least two cards in case you lose one…
Having something like 100 dollars in cash on you would still be useful. There are a few places where you can buy food from a ranch or rural store and they don’t always accept cards because they’re off the grid. Sometimes you need to take a bus or shuttle into town, and you’ll need cash. So as you run out, find a cash point at the next town and top up.
LASTLY, MENTAL PREPARATION
Arguably the most important aspect. Be flexible. Stay true to how you want to hike. Change it up if you feel like it. Make friends and hike with them, and don’t be afraid to continue on your own if you realise you have a different hiking style or want something else out of the experience. Stay at trail angel’s houses or take a few zeros in town when you feel like it. Do long days or short days or hike deep into the night. Cowboy camp for the first time and gaze at the stars all night. Know that you’ll be uncomfortable at times, and know that it will end. Embrace the suck, is what they say. There will be times that you’re cold and wet and bored out of your mind. You might be hiking through the most gorgeous landscapes and not appreciate it at all. Or you might be hiking through the most gorgeous landscapes and not SEE them at all, because you hit them in bad weather. Remember that thru-hiking is not a long camping trip, and your goals are different. You might be fast and finish early. You might find that you’re an average hiker or a little slower, and timing may become an issue if you want to finish the entire trail in one go. The PCT has a certain weather window which means that at some point, you might have to reconsider your pace or just do a long ass section hike (LASH). Weather is a real thing and it does complicate the hike for people. So be flexible and make the best choice for you. You’ll be happy that you did.
