PCT: The How
Sunset on the Tahoe Rim Trail June 2020
It’s just walking so cant be that complicated surely? Well, yes and no. I’m looking forward to April 10 when I can just start putting one foot in front of the other, just thinking about my next water source, resupply point and looking for good camping spots. But to get to that point it’s been months of planning.
The Permit: the Pacific Crest Trail Association issues permits for the entire trail, so with just one permit you can hike the entire 2650 miles. However with just a few months starting window due to weather conditions and the need to ensure the environmental impact of thousands of hikes is minimized the PCTA Permit process is strict. With just 50 permits issued each day for March/April/May North Bound (NOBO) there’s a lot of competition for the preferred April start dates with permits being issued through an online lottery process in November and January. I was fortunate to score my preferred start date of April 10 but it was a somewhat nail biting process.
Desolation Wilderness TRT 2020, light weight single walled tent and ultralight backpack.
The Gear: The Tahoe Rim Trail (a 171 mile loop around Lake Tahoe) in 2020 was my first ultralight backpacking trip. Carrying minimal light weight gear allowed me to do 25 mile days with a lot of elevation change reasonably comfortably vs around half that distance I’d expect to cover using my traditional backpacking set up. With gear further refined on the John Muir Trail in 2021 I’m down to a baseweight of around 5.5kg (12lbs) which includes everything in my pack apart from food or water. For some stretches I’ll need to carry 5l (5kg, 11lbs) of water and 5 or so days of food around 4kg (9lb). Through the Sierra I’ll need to add a bear canister, ice axe and crampons along with a 10 day [8kg (18lb)] food carry – hopefully by then I’ll be in great hiking shape.
Lightweight does mean compromises though – the gear is more fragile, the tent single wall so condensation management becomes important, I’ll be carrying only one spare pair of socks and one spare pair of underwear. I wont be carrying a stove – I’ll be cold soaking food. This helps with keeping the weight down but also better suits my eating pattern as I can put food in to soak and eat dinner before arriving at camp meaning I’m not going to bed on a full stomach and can pitch my tent and sleep rather than worrying about cooking. A hotel room, restaurant meal and clean laundry on my zeros (day off, about once every 7-10 days) will be enjoyed all the more for the minimalist gear and food carried.
The perfect tent site, JMT June 2021
Navigation will be using the FarOut app – a GPS enable app specific for the PCT it shows resupply locations etc as well as allows hikers to add comments (for example commenting that a stream is still flowing so good as a water source). I’ll have a back up map and compass along with a Garmin InReach devise that provides a satellite ‘SOS’ services allowing calls for help even when there is no cell signal available.
The Planning: Where to resupply (buy food), do laundry, charge my phone (used for navigation), where to send a resupply box by mail (for town with limited shopping options and items I cant easily buy like fresh contact lenses, new shoes, bear cannister etc etc). Town where I can take a zero (a day off to do chores and refresh). While the trail passes close to a number of towns and villages others are 4-15 miles off trail adding an extra day of hiking or requiring a hitch or trying to find an uber so a bit of planning can help maximise time on trail vs time of side trails or hitching. I like to plan but all this is pretty daunting given I don’t know how many miles I’ll be doing a day, how many zeros I’ll want or need etc. Advice from previous hikers seems to be not to over plan and work it out as you go. So apart from a few resupply boxes and a hotel booked for my second night at mile 42 where the trail goes near a town I’m going to work it out as I hike. I’m fortunate in that I live at nearly the halfway point on the trail, Truckee at mile 1153, so I’ll be going home and taking a few days off to plan the second half of my hike, prepare and send resupply boxes etc.
Ski touring on the PCT from Sugar Bowl to Olympic Valley with Ros, December 2019
The Training: Living in the mountains at altitude (6500’) should certainly help but with the ground covered with snow since mid December opportunities for hiking have been limited. Regular cross country skiing and telemark skiing should have helped with cardio and leg strength but very different muscle groups than hiking with a backpack. A mid March fall while trail running resulting in rib damage and a lots of cuts and bruises has limited recent training but running in the English Lake District late March on a hilly trail at relatively low altitude felt easy so fingers crossed base fitness will get me through the first few weeks before I start building hiking strength from being on the trail. A course on winter mountaineering as a crampon/ice axe snow travel referesher is planned for April 2.
Now I’m older attention to niggles and minimizing any inflammatory response becomes a key part of preparation. A simple daily yoga routine (from https://manflowyoga.com/b/)
and a program to work on my achilles which have been an issue in the past (from https://thereadystate.com ) along with decent nutrition and sleep have hopefully prepared me for the start of the hike.