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10-K
09-08-2014, 16:19
Nice effort by a thru hiker to list what he believes are the 4 major differences between the AT and the PCT. Keep in mind he's a thru hiker, and these are his thoughts. I liked it not because it's spot-on dead accurate but because there doesn't appear to be a bias for either trail.

http://www.appalachiantrials.com/4-major-differences-pct/

Venchka
09-08-2014, 20:40
1. Mountains.
2. Wide open vistas.
3. More mountains and alpine tundra above treeline.
4. The North Cascades which have all of the above.

That would be my 4.

Wayne


Sent from somewhere around here.

Venchka
09-08-2014, 20:41
Said before reading the story.

Wayne


Sent from somewhere around here.

Violent Green
09-08-2014, 21:28
I can mostly agree with those four. I found that the grade of the PCT was much less than the AT, it just seemed like the climbs went on forever. Instead of 1,000ft/mile climbs like on some parts of the AT, you had 500ft/mile climbs for seven long miles with the PCT. Both are tough. It just depends on which you prefer. Both are so beautiful it makes me long for them just thinking about it.

On my AT and PCT travels this year I ran into two hikers with completely different experiences. One thru hiker on the AT I met at Tellico Gap had walked in the rain for 10 straight days and was soaked to the bone. He was pretty beat down by being constantly wet for so long. I spoke with some PCT'ers at Mather Pass back in June who had been through (2) hours of rain in the last 800 miles. They were ready to dance in the rain if they ever saw it again.

Ryan

Mags
09-08-2014, 21:46
I wrote this to 10k earlier:

I honestly believe most people think their first trail is the hardest (not as used to backpacking, often heavier gear, not as trail savvy,not in trail shape vs later trails, etc) hence the myth that the AT is harder than the PCT.

I also noticed the author of the article has not hiked the PCT! :)


Post script: I only bring up the last sentence because it would be like talking about which is harder..a bike tour or a thru-hike? I can research the heck out of a bike tour, but I have never done one before so my opinion is from very limited (or no) experience.

10-K
09-08-2014, 21:50
I think he qualified that towards the end but I definitely got the vibe that he'd hiked both.

In gathering all this information, I mainly spoke with thru hikers of the PCT whom I have met or were referred to from AT hiker pals.

quasarr
09-08-2014, 22:27
He mentioned rain a little, but for me that was a huge difference. I only set up my tarp like 5 nights in 1500 miles in California, while in New England on the AT it rained 25 out of 30 days.

garlic08
09-09-2014, 08:45
I'm with Mags that relative difficulty depends on the order they're hiked. My first hike, the PCT, was definitely the hardest.

And in my case, my life was never threatened by rain (or anything else for that matter) on the AT, but sustained, bitterly cold rain nearly ended everything for me in the Cascades on the PCT. Snow and stream crossings in the Sierra were difficult and threatening that year, too. For me, the AT was pretty benign, even if very wet. So much depends on what year you hiked.

Thanks for the link, 10K. I thought it was pretty good.

rafe
09-09-2014, 09:39
PCT was graded for horses, and you'll see horses on it. That's one thing you won't see on the AT. I've only done a handful of miles of hiking on the PCT (or was it JMT). The other thing I noticed was the dusty trail, out west, like walking through deep pumice. I don't recall anything like that on the AT. And the views -- no comparison, except maybe to some of the high ridges in the Whites and in Maine. AT still largely shelter-based, PCT isn't. PCT hikers likely to walk long distances through snow and desert.

I think logistically the AT would be much easier -- much more culture and history around it, extremely well blazed and overall, well-maintained, frequent and relatively easy access to civilization. But not necessarily easier to hike -- AT likely to be a tougher footpath, with steeper grades and overall, more vertical gain and loss.

10-K
09-09-2014, 09:53
I didn't think resupply on the PCT was harder than the PCT. Even my wife asked why I was calling her from a town every 3-4 days when I was "hiking the PCT".

In some cases it takes *longer* because the towns are further off trail but it was never *harder*. Even in the Sierras there are passes like Kearsarge and Bishop you can hike out to resupply, MTR, VVR, etc.

RockDoc
09-09-2014, 10:54
It's only 1350 miles from Canada to Mexico. The fact that the PCT is over 2500 miles tells you how much mileage is wasted with long, easy switchbacks. Close to 50%.
Last week I hikes north from Snoqualmie Pass, WA and some of the switchbacks were half a mile long, just to gain a few hundred feet. I think we should put the Maine Appalachian Trail Club in charge of re-routing the PCT…. ha ha that would shorten it up.

rafe
09-09-2014, 11:42
I didn't think resupply on the PCT was harder than the PCT. Even my wife asked why I was calling her from a town every 3-4 days when I was "hiking the PCT".

In some cases it takes *longer* because the towns are further off trail but it was never *harder*. Even in the Sierras there are passes like Kearsarge and Bishop you can hike out to resupply, MTR, VVR, etc.

I stand corrected, then. I noticed on the short stretch of JMT that I did (heading south from Mammoth Lakes) that getting off the trail would involve a long walk (five or ten miles) on some side trail to get down to 395 -- and no reasonable access at all to anything west of the trail.

quasarr
09-09-2014, 13:00
I stand corrected, then. I noticed on the short stretch of JMT that I did (heading south from Mammoth Lakes) that getting off the trail would involve a long walk (five or ten miles) on some side trail to get down to 395 -- and no reasonable access at all to anything west of the trail.

Well, I think you are both right. The towns on the PCT tend to be much farther apart. Forget the 100 mile "wilderness" - 100 or 150 miles between towns is pretty common on the PCT. But the hikers are doing 25 miles most days, so the difference kind of evens out. And the Sierras are definitely a logistical challenge, IMO!

10-K
09-09-2014, 14:35
Well, I think you are both right. The towns on the PCT tend to be much farther apart.

Maybe I just have selective memory and want to believe it was easier than it really was. :)

Mags
09-09-2014, 16:16
The Sierra is definitely a logistical challenge..but is only about 10% of the trail overall.

Most PCTers can comfortably resupply every 5 days fairly easily otherwise (7 if you choose not to hitch out in some places). If you hike more consistent like 10k, 4 day carries would not be unheard of.

Miner
09-09-2014, 16:25
When I average my resupply interval on the PCT, I get an average of 4 days with a low of 2 and a high of 7. As someone pointed out, a few resupply points on the PCT involve hiking extra non-pct miles to get to and involve longer distance hitches on average. On the AT, my high was 6 days with a low of 1, but most places seemed to allow for resupply every 2-3days. More often if you didn't mind hitching more typical PCT distances off trail

10-K
09-09-2014, 16:26
I'm pretty certain the Sierra was the only tine I went more than 4 days without resupply. 3 days was most common I think. It was nowhere near as difficult as I anticipated pre-hike.

Off the top of my head I can only think of twice I went over 100 miles between resupply other than the Sierra.

10-K
09-09-2014, 16:35
......................

Malto
09-09-2014, 20:03
I'm pretty certain the Sierra was the only tine I went more than 4 days without resupply. 3 days was most common I think. It was nowhere near as difficult as I anticipated pre-hike.

Off the top of my head I can only think of twice I went over 100 miles between resupply other than the Sierra.

Here is my PCT plan for 2011. I held close to this schedule other than I lost some time in the Sierra and picked up up the rest of the way. I had a 7 day out of Km to VVR and 4 five days. But given my schedule I very much cherry picked my resupply locations. Washington was sweet with all those 3 day 75-100 mile legs. We got into a nice rhythm of two long days with a shorter Nero into town.

now in comparison on the AT. I had a plan laid out that kept my PCT pace and often did a resupply every day or so without much effort. It was amazing to see how many resupplies there are between SNP and Vermont. Also, consider that the hundred mile wilderness seems scary on the AT from a resupply perspective. Just another leg on the PCT.

http://postholer.com/journal/viewPlan.php?sid=6cdcebd63b34159960f605bf09824e99&event_id=863

10-K
09-09-2014, 20:13
Here is my PCT plan for 2011. I held close to this schedule other than I lost some time in the Sierra and picked up up the rest of the way. I had a 7 day out of Km to VVR and 4 five days. But given my schedule I very much cherry picked my resupply locations. Washington was sweet with all those 3 day 75-100 mile legs. We got into a nice rhythm of two long days with a shorter Nero into town.

now in comparison on the AT. I had a plan laid out that kept my PCT pace and often did a resupply every day or so without much effort. It was amazing to see how many resupplies there are between SNP and Vermont. Also, consider that the hundred mile wilderness seems scary on the AT from a resupply perspective. Just another leg on the PCT.

http://postholer.com/journal/viewPlan.php?sid=6cdcebd63b34159960f605bf09824e99&event_id=863

Our resupply locations are almost identical. Differences are trivial:

You went into Mojave, I went into Tehacapi.
You went to MTR, I went to VVR.
You went to Echo Lake, I went to S. Lake Tahoe.
I skipped Hyatt Lake (closed) and went straight from Seiad Valley to Mazama.
I went to Cresent Lake, you went to Shelter Cove.

Other than that, we had the exact same resupply plan. I finished in just shy of 4 months - you were just over 3, right?

Edited to add: I also hit Chester and Drakesbad which are just 15ish miles apart. I only spent 30ish minutes at Drakesbad and would not stop there again.....

Malto
09-09-2014, 21:25
Our resupply locations are almost identical. Differences are trivial:

You went into Mojave, I went into Tehacapi.
You went to MTR, I went to VVR.
You went to Echo Lake, I went to S. Lake Tahoe.
I skipped Hyatt Lake (closed) and went straight from Seiad Valley to Mazama.
I went to Cresent Lake, you went to Shelter Cove.

Other than that, we had the exact same resupply plan. I finished in just shy of 4 months - you were just over 3, right?

Edited to add: I also hit Chester and Drakesbad which are just 15ish miles apart. I only spent 30ish minutes at Drakesbad and would not stop there again.....

Actually even closer on plan. MTR was still closed so I had to go all the way to VVR. I also stopped to eat at Drakesbad, great meal. I also stopped in Ashland because it was my only zero after Tahoe, actually it was a half and half zero with twenty mile days. With the zeros I finished in 98 days. I actually had a very limited window with the return flight back to ATL booked before I left. I had to do some serious adjustments to pace with the snow from KM north.

10-K
09-10-2014, 08:56
Ah, I forgot Ashland too. :) I actually set a zero record for myself by taking 3 complete days off the trail there. I have to say, Ashland is probably one of the top trail towns I've visited. Only Manchester Center, VT tops it IMO.