Pacific Northwest National Scenic Trail

[Kalaallit]

Still looking for trails to thru-hike after I graduate. So far, I've looked at the AT (too far from where I live-basically as northwest as you can get outside of Alaska), the PCT (too long-I'd have to leave in May, before the year ends, and still end late August right before I'd start college or a SOBO, which I wouldn't finish until October-well into college) and the CDT (even longer). I have considered taking a gap year, doing a SOBO of the PCT and then working until the next year, and it's still in the mix. Then I remembered the PNT. It seems the right length - 1200 miles, which would only take ~2 months as opposed to 4 - and it runs through my beloved North Cascades for a long time. Has anyone hiked the PNT and wants to give advice? Any big things to worry about, such as an overgrown trail for a few miles? Would ~2 months be enough time, or should I spend more time in order to absorb the scenery?

[Venchka]

The Great Divide Trail. Guthook app even. Be the first kid on your block to hike a foreign trail.
Wayne


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[Kalaallit]

The Great Divide Trail. Guthook app even. Be the first kid on your block to hike a foreign trail.
Wayne

Hmm, never heard of that. I'll definitely look into it. It'd be beautiful for sure, and 1200 km is achievable.

[Miner]

Don't limit yourself in thinking you have to thru-hike a trail. You can chunk hike instead and do half one year and the other half another summer.

[Spirit Walker]

Colorado Trail.

The PNT goes through some beautiful country, but has a lot of very obscure trail requiring good navigating skills and roadwalking. So does the GDT, but it also has some great national park trails to balance the bushwhacking. Both the trails go through a lot of grizzly country, so it would be good to have a partner.

[BrianLe]

I hiked the PNT in two chunks rather than as a thru-hike, the western ~third in 2014 and the other two-thirds this past year --- finished that roughly 800 chunk just four months ago, so it's pretty fresh.

The key thing I would say is that the PNT is NOT a good choice for a "first" long distance trail. I think it's a much, much better idea to start with one of the two --- what I call the --- "training wheels" long distance trails. I.e., the AT or the PCT. If you don't have time to thru-hike, then "chunk" hike, i.e., hike maybe half one year then do the rest when you can.

There are real advantages to chunk hiking anyway. Both the AT and --- these days --- the PCT can be crowded at some times and in some places. You can pick the right time to hike to keep the crowds under control and yet has some decent company, a good trail social life. And do so while also hitting pretty good weather.

Learning *how* to do long distance hiking is something to factor in, even if you have a lot of experience at shorter trips. There's nothing like hiking with others, ideally folks who already have a lot of experience themselves, to put you on the right path, to help sort out issues as they arise. On the PNT there will be essentially no one.

The PCT and the AT are pretty easy to follow. Navigation is perhaps even a bigger issue in parts of the PNT than it is overall on the CDT, which is renowned for that. The CDT is more well-known, and it's known to be a harder trail to hike than either the AT or PCT. While shorter, on a mile-for-mile basis the PNT is more difficult yet IMO. Chunks of true bushwhacking where you make hardly any progress. Places where you really have to work at navigation and try different alternatives on occasion to find your way. And, should anything happen to you, on the PCT or AT you can generally count on the idea that someone is going to be along and find you in not all that much time, at least much of the time. Forget it on the PNT, apart from the national parks at each end, you're on your own.

I live in the PNW too (Bellevue). If you want to start with something regional, consider starting the PCT near Ashland OR (way south in Oregon) and hike to the Canadian border. Oregon is legendary as just "nice trail" overall, easy to do the miles. Pick a time to start after snow has definitely melted out (check postholer.com, varies by year). Oregon and Washington have a lot that's worth seeing on the PCT. If you want to go farther yet, maybe start near Etna in California or maybe even somewhere further south.

In any event, while the PNT is a definite adventure, I really don't suggest it as a 'first' long distance trail.

[Dogwood]

More goes into choosing a hike than distance or all that you've related are defining your choice. No to the PNT for that time of the year start, with a 60 day window, and as a first hike.

You're limiting yourself with a XYZ end to enders mentality. I'll play along though. Your window, where you live, and assuming you'd be interested in something a bit different at the start of your 2 month window than where you immediately reside don't thru-hike or chunk hike one trail. Get some east west diversity and LD experience with not a huge amount of hassle getting both some feel for the AT and PCT, as well as much more, doing a 2 month or so total thru-hiking both the Long Tr in Vermont and John Muir Tr in California thru-hikes. If you have another week at the end of those hikes and still haven't had enough spend it near home at Olympic NP or a cherry picked segment of the largely unknown Oregon Coastal Tr or the Cali Coastal Tr/Lost Coast Tr segment doing a coastal hike. Lots of diversity for 2 months.

That's a scenario that is IMHO a damn good entry into the world of backpacking/thru-hiking. Follow your hiking up in the future with southwest hiking which builds a wider skills base than just thru- hiking any one of those LD trails you mentioned...in a shorter amount of time.

[Old Hillwalker]

Bear in mind that the OP is probably 17 to 18 years old.

[Venchka]

Another sometime in July long 3 letter trail Chunk Hike would be the CDT.
Start at the Canadian border and hike south.
Start near West Yellowstone, MT and hike north or south.
It's all good. Just get out there and do it.
Wayne


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[RockDoc]

No worries, OP.
I turned 18 on the AT, hiking 1000 miles from HF to ME. Best thing I ever did.

[LuckyMan]

Last summer on the PCT in northern Washington I met a man in his 60s who was doing the PNT westbound as his first long hike. He said that it wasn't easy, especially a bushwack for several miles in Idaho, but that it was a great experience and that he was averaging 18 miles a day. He said he was glad he didn't choose one of the more popular trails. I myself would not want to do the PNT for my first long hike, but it's on my list.

[Dogwood]

That was in summer. May date will include snow travel deep into June in likely remote locations for a first timer sounding like he's going solo. MANY potential worthy alternates on the PNT which makes it harder for first timers to nail down a route and execute logistically. PNT is not so much a cookie cutter friendly maintained mega used trail as the AT or PCT or JMT or LT.... Blazing and signage even on the most comon routes/PNT is sporadic. Forget about relying on signage doing alternates with any consistency PNT is often a more challenging LD hike even for expereieced LD hikers.