Trying to decide when to do it

[rjhouser]

I know the saying "The trail will always be there" but let's be honest, youthful desire and a healthy body might not. I thru hiked the AT in 2012 when I graduated undergrad. It felt like it was the perfect time to do it and it was.
Now I'm struggling with a good time to thru hike the PCT.
I started grad school this fall and will finish up my first year of a 3.5 year program this spring.
My graduation will be in a December, so doing it after graduation seems troublesome.
I've considered taking this first summer to thru hike. That would only give me about 110 days but I did the AT in 108 with no time constraint.
I'm using loans for the first time for school now, and don't know how I feel about using them for hiking.
I feel like if I wait for another "perfect summer" it just won't come, and I imagine I will be in debt well into my adult life from student loans.
I've been a little obsessed over it lately. Has anybody had a similar situation?

[Malto]

Different time in life but roughly the same time constraint. I would take the summer and go for it as long as you enjoyed the faster pace that you did on the AT. A 110 day PCT hike isn't that difficult for someone that already done another thru at a faster pace.

you didn't say what your summer window looked like. Ideally you would be able to start late May. I had a May 21st start on a 100 day schedule and that timing worked perfectly. Starting any earlier than mid-May has the potential of slowing you down in the Sierra especially if you have an above average snow year. you also could get caught up with lingering snow like the 2012 early hiker encountered. on the flip side, targeting a Sept 1 finish keeps you away from most of the rain up north, August on average is much drier than September.

You can check out my journal here. Keep in mind 2011 was an epic snow year which added a bit of a challenge to the schedule. http://postholer.com/journal/viewJou...entry_id=20018

[royalusa]

... That would only give me about 110 days but I did the AT in 108 with no time constraint....

In my opinion, you should have no problem completing the PCT in 110 days given your AT track record. We just finished the PCT this year, in 108 days, which we found to be a comfortable pace, for us. (We are BTW, in our 50s.) We like to hike...we don't like to take many zeros. We took just 4 zeros, two of which were mandated due to a medical issue. We took numerous neros - don't know how many - a few to meet a friend, another one due to the receipt of horribly sad family news, and of course the neros associated with town stops.

We started May 9th and found that window perfect for us - it was a low snow year. But as always, "a low snow year, does not mean a no snow year." So when we say the window was perfect of us, we mean there was some snow, but not too much for our liking. The highest concentration was 5 miles of solid snow up and over Muir Pass.

Our journal can be found here: http://trailjournals.com/entry.cfm?trailname=17752 (We're still in the process of getting it all posted.)

Do you know what date you could start?

[royalusa]

I'm using loans for the first time for school now, and don't know how I feel about using them for hiking.

A PCT hike does not need to cost you a ton. It just depends on your style.

As I said in my post above, "We like to hike...We don't like zeros" and I can add to that statement, "We don't like town stops" as we find them overwhelming and noisy. We like the peace and quiet of a hike and the wilderness. We more happy spending extra time (i.e., a nero or zero) in our tent in the woods than more time in town, even if it does include a hotel stay. Which all boils down to a less costly hike, for us.

For example, our PCT thru-hike cost for TWO HIKERS, excluding travel and gear, was
$1500 for food (108 days of food including both the food bought at home for the resupply boxes and ALL food on trail, whether it was a restaurant food or food for the next segment), $350 for hotels (most of which was due to a medical issue), $700 for postage (15 food/gear drops and mailing gear to San Diego and from Seattle) and $125 medical expenses.

If you take the $1500 cost for food for two people for 108 days, that comes out to $7/day/person, FOR US.
(Our sample food plan can be found here: http://trailjournals.com/entry.cfm?id=477520)

Our hiking style would not agree with many! However, with a limited budget, you can still hike the PCT and have a great time. But as always HYOH, be safe and have fun!!

[rjhouser]

This is all inspiring. My summer window is from about April 25 to August 15, but I'm still waiting to figure out my exam schedule. I also only took four zero days on my AT thru, so laying around in town isn't really my thing either. I was always just anxious to get back on the trail. Do you think starting in April with hopes to be done by mid August would be greatly determined by the snowfall encountered early on?

[RED-DOG]

In my opinion you should get school out of the way first, do what you got to do in school then go hike, that way you will have more time to have fun while you are out their and less frustration about getting home at a certain time then all you have worry about is a job afterwards, and besides a PCT thru would be the perfect Gradation present to your self.

[Miner]

The trail in the Sierra Nevada has several passes over 10,000 ft with the highest over 13,000 ft. You can imagine the amount of snowfall each year. So the amount of snow that falls in the winter has a big affect on how fast you can hike there. The more snow means longer distances traveled on snow which takes more energy and slows your pace down. As the snow warms up each day, you can start to posthole (legs punch through the snow surface up to the knee or sometimes the thigh) which really fatigues your body and makes it feel like its getting beat up. You also have to take more time route finding since you can't see the trail at all. The later you enter the Sierra, the more time snow has to melt off. Just 2 weeks can make a big difference. Most hikers aim for the middle of June for a High Sierra entry date, but it seems like the majority show up earlier (due to a faster then expected pace) and enter during the 1st week. People who are aiming for a fast hike usually enter in late June since they want most of the snow to be melted to increase their speed through the Sierra. But the lower snow levels of the past 2 years have made it easier to start earlier. A high snow year would mean an even later start would be more ideal.

A start date is the result of several compromises. The later your start at the Mexican border means the hotter temperatures you will encounter meaning you may need to carry more water. The advantage of a latter start means you reach the Sierra Nevada that much later which gives the snow more time to melt off which allows a faster pace through there. Then there is the issue of winter storms near the Canadian border. The later you arrive, the more chance you will have to deal with bad weather. Arrive late enough, snow fall may be too deep for the ability of most hikers and the hike ends uncompleted. This last issue isn't a problem for people doing speed hikes since they finish long before summer is over.

[Malto]

A late April start is a bit early unless it is a very low snow year. Not impossible but you will have to do serious miles up north after getting through the Sierra and pray the snow melts further north. At your pace you would be hitting the Sierra in late May which is a bit early in most years. Again not impossible, but a bit tougher.

[Spirit Walker]

Thruhiking is great, but if time is limited, there's nothing wrong with just going as far as you can and returning another year to finish the trail.

You may get lucky with snowfall, or it may turn out that this is one of the really snowy El Ninos. At this point, there is no way to know. If you have the right gear and some winter mountaineering experience, the snow will slow you down, but not stop you. If you lack experience, then take some time this winter to get some.