High Sierra Topix

Who here on HST has done the PCT? When? How long did it take you? Would you care to share some of your experiences, or maybe even give us an abbreviated TR, please.

154 days in 2006. One of the best experiences of my life and it changed everything. I'm even more of a passionate supporter of the trail ten years later.

I thru-hiked the PCT in 2005 (and also the CDT in 2015). I agree with @norcalhiker: The PCT was among the best experiences of my life.

The PCT took me to my limits, physically and emotionally, and then challenged me to go beyond those limits. 2005 was a heavy snow year, and I entered the high sierra on June 15 with four other hikers that I met during the prior weeks. We were a band of brothers, and our journey through the snow-covered Sierra was a fantastic adventure. We used our ice axes daily, the river crossings were dangerous, and we saw almost no one else. I recall a seemingly endless glissade down Glen Pass to escape an oncoming thunderstorm. I fondly remember our campfire at McClure Meadows, exhausted after a long day crossing Muir Pass. Eating barbeque and apple pie at Vermillion Valley Resort felt like heaven to us.

The PCT community -- and the trail itself -- has signficantly evolved over the last decade. Only ~200 people attempted a thru-hike in 2005 (compared to 2,000+ hikers this year). I think the increased popularity of the PCT is overall a good thing, but I do feel lucky that I was able to experience the PCT when relatively few people were thru-hiking. I get the sense that some aspects of my hike are unlikely to be experienced by current hikers: trail angels were generous without feeling overwhelmed by too many hikers, and a feeling of solitude was easy to find along the trail.

My recent CDT thru-hike is another story, for another forum. The CDT dramatically changed my life, but it felt like a continuation of my PCT experience rather than an introduction to thru-hiking.