PCT

[richlong8]

Greetings all. I have not posted or visited the site in quite some time, and there are some wonderful trip reports and posts to catch up on, as always!
Question: any of our members ever thru hiked the PCT? I am considering it some day in the next few years, but I am reluctant, only because I know so much of it, esp. in SoCal is not that aesthetic, and quite dry. In a way, I would like to do the whole thing, for the experience, etc; but hesitate because when I retire and have that much time, I would love to wander around the HIgh Sierra for 3-4 months. I don't need the "ego boost" of saying I did the PCT, so I need some positive motivation. I would have to say many who done it don't seem to regret it! Any thoughts?

[dave54]

It may give you more personal satisfaction than any stature with friends. Still, a new goal after retirement is a positive action for your mental and emotional health. Most people have a 'lost' feeling, and no meaning after retirement until they find their new niche in life.
You did not state how old you are, and how many years until retirement. Most of us defer our dreams and goals of our youth when we settle into a career and start raising a family, intending to resume our bucket list after retirement. Then we find the goals and dreams of our youth no longer interest us, and we find new ones. As Charles Barkley put it "If you have same values and world view when you are 50 as you did when you were 20 you have wasted 30 years of your life."

I am not trying to dissuade you from thru-hiking the PCT. If when you reach that life stage you wish to do so then do it. Just do not be surprised if that no longer holds your interest.

[maverick]

Then we find the goals and dreams of our youth no longer interest us, and we find new ones.

Or unable to do it because of physical limitations, age, illness, or a spouse's, which requires us to be by their side.

[AlmostThere]

I tried to figure out if I wanted to do the PCT by reading trail journals. Some people have a gift for writing, and end up with a book like "Blistered Kind of Love" (a couple who's engaged goes and does the thing after a few nights of backpacking) or Wired's blog about it (think she's a triple crowner now, went on to do the AT and CDT). Because 90% ish of all the journals I sampled all had one thing in common -- ever-dwindling posts with longer gaps between, and eventually the short posts were all about acquiring and inhaling FOOOOOODDDDDDD, including sticks of butter or jars of mayo -- I ultimately decided that I might eventually hike sections of it, but really, all things considered... I have a life, and I enjoy it as it is. Unless I suddenly develop an actual DESIRE, rather than curiosity, it's highly unlikely that I'll do more than two weeks on any trail.

[richlong8]

Thanks all. At the most, I have only 4 more years till retirement at age 65-66, unless the economy falls apart. Right now, after about 10-12 days on trail, I look forward to getting back to family. But, there is something really awesome,almost mystical, that kicks in after several days out, that I really love.

[Wandering Daisy]

I actually met Wired this summer. She contacted me for information on the Wind Rivers. I met her and her group on Bishop Pass as they were doing the Sierra High Route. She is young and restless! But I cannot imagine how much she actually blogs while hiking. I would probably get in about zero. She and two other older women (one who lives near me- a retired dentist). They all are triple-crown finishers. They were doing the off-trail long routes this summer - Sierra High Route and many others. All in one season - with only a few days between. The retired dentist was into Ironman Triatheleons for years and decided to cut back to ACT, PCT, CDT in her old age! I think she is 62. She did say, as the oldest member of the group she was really working hard to keep up with the pace. After doing several long off-trail routes, Wired actually admits that she almost prefers long trails. I think after getting used to 30 miles a day, doing 8-10 with a similar effort is hard to adjust to. But they all really love what they do. They are truly addicted to thru-hiking. I think they met on the CDT. They are very lucky that they are compatible and still want to do trips together when done with one. I think that is a key to doing the long thru-routes.

I like long trips. I would have no trouble with being on the trail for three months or more. I just do not like being with a lot of others. The PCT is crowded. And very social. Nothing wrong with that, just be sure it fits your personality. The longest thru-hike I did was a 14-day (seeing all of 4 people the entire time), 2 days off and then another 14-day, seeing about 10 people total. Both were about 60% off-trail. Then I took off 4 days and did another 12-day, where I saw about 3 people. This is more my style. I saw more deer and elk than people the whole summer. I also did the Sierra High Route as one continuous hike, but took 31 days to do it. I like to fish along the way and stop early enough to explore and poke around an area. My husband went with me on a third of it. I think we averaged 3 miles a day, with all the fishing we did!

Most PCT hikers rarely are out for more than 5-7 days at a time; many stretches they are in town about every third night. So it is not really a consistent wilderness experience. And I do not think that is what it is intended to be.

But, you can do the PCT any style you wish. If you want to finish in one season and do it as a thru-hike, you do have to do 20+ mile a day. Not really that bad all on trails. So the question is do you want to do it? Personally, I would rather do long trips off-trail in various mountain ranges. And skip the stuff I do not really want to do.

If you are not a purist, you could do the sections that really interest you first, and then if you decide you actually want to do it all, add the remaining. I do not think of the southern California section as boring. Desert hiking is pretty special, in its own way. To me, the boring sections are the miles of miles in forests with no views.

[SSSdave]

If instead of hiking the PCT one used the same time to simply backpack the best areas of the High Sierra via multiple shorter trips, one would see and experience far more scenic greatness. Additionally the physical body experience would be more relaxed, easier, fun, and interesting.

[fishmonger]

Having hiked on the JMT and around it more often than I can remember, I've always had an eye on doing the PCT. However, work and kids kept me from getting serious about for such a long time that by now I have realized that for all the days I want to spend in the backcountry, the long distance hike from Mexico to Canada just doesn't sound like the most rewarding time I can have. Yes, the long range goal is a great motivator, however, every time I look at the route and see that my favorite mountains make up less than 20% of the distance, I realize that this trail is not for me. I'd much rather go back and forth through the High Sierra a half dozen times during a long summer than to see the rest of the Pacific Crest.

I realized a long time ago that I get attached to places I like, and the more I learn about them, the more I want to go back there to learn more. The Sierra has replaced the mountains of Corsica for me, a place I visited 7 years in a row when I was much younger and lived in Europe. There, I had my eyes on longer trails as well, like the GR5 that crosses Europe from the Netherlands to where the Alps drop into the Mediterranean. However, even there, I chose to hike just the places I really wanted to see, that being the French Alps, rather than to collect endless miles on mediocre segments I'd never remember.

All that said, the PCT is the only long trail I'd ever do, because it goes through the Sierra Nevada. The CDT and AT are absolutely of no interest to me. Who knows, one of these years after I retire, I may just feel like the year has come to do the PCT, but for now I have a huge list of places in the High Sierra I want to visit that have priority and are logistically much easier to accomplish.

[Snowtrout]

Cannot really add much to what was already said except maybe take on a "Rogue Photonic" approach instead of the PCT and spend weeks hiking throughout certain geographic areas.

Wandering and exploring areas on and off trail in a area of interest, might be more fulfilling than staying on a established route that you already have reservations about.

[markskor]

Back a few decades now, started a trail from Ranch del Campo ...thoughts -

Wandering D's observations about the trail are pretty much spot on...

Rather than thinking of the PCT as one long odyssey, better to consider it a series of 5 - 7 day hikes... the wilderness, and then back into a town for a few...repeat 30 times. A bit difficult to cope with/switch environments constantly and stay sane...and rather than going home, restarting again, again, and again. It's a mental game.

Much like the shorter JMT, the PCT today is also much the social event, not so much the solitary, mind-searching, introspective journey. There are countless other available trails (or off) that can provide all the solitude you need Sierra if that's what you are looking for. Those that last on the PCT usually embrace the camaraderie, as well most of the other peculiar cultural oddities associated with this trail...(sort of grows on you)...you are part of an exclusive club, a travelling circus...athletes, clowns, animals, and freaks included.

The 400 mile sections through the Sierra were the best of my adventure...if passable. This year, many will start but be turned away by deep snow, hazardous water crossings, and post-hole hell.

Doing 25 - 30 mile days through the desert, right off the start, immediately hardens you to the trail...(a test of resolve, weight, and gear?) but while it lets you find your legs, it does not prepare you for the snow passes just ahead.
Also interesting that, except for when in town, most PCTers never get 1/4 mile off the trail...you soon realize are a slave to the trail. Disconcerting that you pass countless spots that deserve exploring but you can't...14 more miles to do today to keep on schedule. The trail is the mind set, not the Sierra. Some never grasp the subtle implications.

Finally, as stated above, it is those long stretches of view-less forest that bothered me most...especially if it was raining. Day after day, doing 20 + miles slogging through wet trees, never drying out, quickly becomes mentally tiresome. 20 miles before the Cali/Oregon boarder, (well over a hundred days in), I was still mentally prepared to finish but, later the next day, in the State of Jefferson, at the Seiad Cafe Pancake Challenge, I changed my perspective. As the upcoming section map showed 400 miles of thick Oregon forest just ahead, I had already seen Crater Lake, and forecast was for a drenching rain the next two weeks...an epiphany - I quit. It was only ~ mile 1650 but had enough...never again to be slave to any trail again.
YMMV.