PCT thru reflections

[10-K]

Well I completed my PCT thru hike 1 week ago today. To sum it up, "I had the time of my life."

Total hike time from Campo to Manning Park was 3 months, 29 days so just short of 4 months. Figuring the PCT at 2660 miles and the 15 mile side trip up Whitney, I averaged just over 22 miles a day, every day but I took 14 zeros and lord knows how many neros...a bunch.

I was expecting resupply to be more difficult than it was. With the exception of the Sierra, I didn't think resupply on the PCT was any more difficult than the AT. There's a town every few days. You could easily resupply without sending boxes but Oregon and Washington would be iffy if you were in a bubble that cleaned out the smaller stores before you got there. I'm pretty sure I was in the front 10% of PCT thru hikers.

There is absolutely no need to overthink resupply on a PCT thru hike. It's a piece of cake.

My gear choices were perfect for the hike. I never had anything I didn't use and every piece of gear. I had a love/hate relationship with my TarpTent Contrail. Man I hate that tent....but it's a great design.

Most proud of: Hiking from Kennedy Meadows to VVR without resupply.

Section I liked most: I vacillate between the desert and Cascades. The Sierra were awesome but nerve wracking for this southern man with no snow experience.

Section I liked least: Northern California, but just because it was my least favorite section doesn't mean I didn't like it. I did.

Best Town: I loved Ashland and took 3 zeros there.

Least favorite town: Chester

Most difficult section: Sierra

Least difficult section: The state of Oregon. I've never hiked anywhere that you could hike as fast as you could walk for hours.

Money spent: Approximately $8500

Zeros: 14

Neros: At least as many.

Most miles hiked in a day: 38.5

Shoes: 7 pair. I switched to Merrill Moab's in Mammoth and made it the rest of the way on just 2 pair of them. The Brooks Adrenaline trail runners I wore just weren't up to the task.

Best campsite: Guitar Lake, all by myself. Except for about 100 marmots.

Favorite view: Watching the sun rise sitting on a rock on top of Mt. Whitney, again, all by myself.

Looking forward to hiking the northern half of the CDT next year.

[juma]

says it all. best wishes for the future!

[Mags]

Thanks for sharing! Glad you did the 10 days in the Sierra w/o a resupply.

[10-K]

Thanks for sharing! Glad you did the 10 days in the Sierra w/o a resupply.

Looking back on that it almost seems impossible.

[illabelle]

Awesome and inspiring!

[Studlintsean]

Followed your hike on FB. Great hike and congrats 10K. Curious about the Contrail? I currently have one and have teetered between getting a new one or switching to something different (Zpacks Solo Plus most likely).

[10-K]

Followed your hike on FB. Great hike and congrats 10K. Curious about the Contrail? I currently have one and have teetered between getting a new one or switching to something different (Zpacks Solo Plus most likely).

I absolutely had a love/hate relationship with that tent. I don't regret the purchase at all though.

Aside from being a front entry tent which I just don't like, I found that the bottom 50% of the tent was unusable space because it is so low to the ground. Every item that wound up down there I'd have to retrieve by crawling down there with my head against the top of the tent. I know... a 1st world problem but it was annoying.

Since there's no pole support (like the Rainbow) it also buffeted badly in the wind which got pretty intense at times.

On the plus side, it can be pitched with just 4 stakes and a pole but to get a good pitch really took 7 stakes - the 4 required, an extra tieout in the middle up front, and 2 more tieouts on the sides.

It probably sounds like I'm talking out of both sides of my mouth - I think it's a great design in that there aren't any "moving parts" to break - the thing I really liked about it is the simplicity of it.

[Studlintsean]

I have definitely had similar thoughts about the bottom half of the tent. Congrats again.

[Coffee]

Congrats on finishing the PCT! I'm currently thinking about how to make a PCT thru happen in 2015.

[July]

Congratulations 10-k !

[kolokolo]

Impressive hike, 10-K. What was your base pack weight?

[10-K]

Impressive hike, 10-K. What was your base pack weight?

My pack weight was generally around 22-25 lbs most of the time - definitely not ultralight, but I was comfortable and didn't have any trouble getting the miles in so I didn't spend a lot of time worrying about it.

There were times I'm sure it was close to 30 lbs, usually because of distance between water source. Heaviest was probably 40 lbs leaving Kennedy Meadows headed to VVR. The first 3 days out of Kennedy Meadows were downright gruesome. But... by the time I got to the point where everyone else was going out over Kersarge Pass it was not a problem.

[garbanz]

How the hell are you. Turkey feather here. I finished at monument 78 Aug 22. I ran into SOCHI hiking back from my circular pond campsite the next day I was heading back to Harts Pass. 1st hitch took me from above Harts Pass to Winthrop where I got a motel room. It passed 33 miles on a steep rocky road past dead horse point where 20 horses tied togeter and loaded with ore had all went over the side years ago. The 2nd hitch took me 20 miles to the boonies around Twisp. The 3rd hitch took me thru the burnt out area 175 miles into Wenache to catch my bus. The ADVENTURE repeated itself every day on and off the trail to make it all worthwhile. Best.

[10-K]

How the hell are you. Turkey feather here. I finished at monument 78 Aug 22. I ran into SOCHI hiking back from my circular pond campsite the next day I was heading back to Harts Pass. 1st hitch took me from above Harts Pass to Winthrop where I got a motel room. It passed 33 miles on a steep rocky road past dead horse point where 20 horses tied togeter and loaded with ore had all went over the side years ago. The 2nd hitch took me 20 miles to the boonies around Twisp. The 3rd hitch took me thru the burnt out area 175 miles into Wenache to catch my bus. The ADVENTURE repeated itself every day on and off the trail to make it all worthwhile. Best.

I knew you were right behind me - just didn't know how far! Glad you made it.

It was great hiking with you - I think we met between Chester and Drakesbad and played leapfrog all the way to Canada. Small world - planning our PCT hikes here on Whiteblaze and then running into each other along the way.

[10-K]

BTW, Turkey Feather - consider hiking the northern half of the CDT with me next July. I'd really like to have a hiking companion for the CDT and our hiking styles aren't that different.

I can give up the 3:00 AM starts.

[Sarcasm the elf]

Hey 10-K, Congrats on another awesome trip! Thanks as always for sharing it with us!

[Dogwood]

Sounds like you had a great time. I suspected you would. I also suspected you'd put up the numbers you did based on the information you shared here about your other hikes. I thought your hiking style and previous hiking experience, as well as some other factors, like your fitness and emotional/mental levels were a great fit for a fast PCT hike.

Thanks for letting us follow along. I know many of us enjoyed you sharing your hike with us.

[10-K]

Sounds like you had a great time. I suspected you would. I also suspected you'd put up the numbers you did based on the information you shared here about your other hikes. I thought your hiking style and previous hiking experience, as well as some other factors, like your fitness and emotional/mental levels were a great fit for a fast PCT hike.

Thanks for letting us follow along. I know many of us enjoyed you sharing your hike with us.

Thank you (and everyone) for sharing so much information about the trail before and during my hike - it was immensely helpful.

[Malto]

I absolutely had a love/hate relationship with that tent. I don't regret the purchase at all though.

Aside from being a front entry tent which I just don't like, I found that the bottom 50% of the tent was unusable space because it is so low to the ground. Every item that wound up down there I'd have to retrieve by crawling down there with my head against the top of the tent. I know... a 1st world problem but it was annoying.

Since there's no pole support (like the Rainbow) it also buffeted badly in the wind which got pretty intense at times.

On the plus side, it can be pitched with just 4 stakes and a pole but to get a good pitch really took 7 stakes - the 4 required, an extra tieout in the middle up front, and 2 more tieouts on the sides.

It probably sounds like I'm talking out of both sides of my mouth - I think it's a great design in that there aren't any "moving parts" to break - the thing I really liked about it is the simplicity of it.

Did you set up your shelter every night or only weather or bugs dependent? I only setup my tarp three times on the PCT once in each state so the weight was more critical than the hassle, which the tarp was a hassle and has since been replaced.

[10-K]

Did you set up your shelter every night or only weather or bugs dependent? I only setup my tarp three times on the PCT once in each state so the weight was more critical than the hassle, which the tarp was a hassle and has since been replaced.

Weather and bug dependent, cowboy camping was the norm - especially in SoCal. There were pretty long stretches where the mosquitos would literally drive you insane and make you run down the trail. I used quite a bit of DEET and I would never, ever, in a million years hike the PCT without a head net.

What didn't you like about the tarp?

Thanks again for the bear canister loan!