Best date to start hiking the PCT?

[Time Traveler]

I know this is a silly simple question but I've been surfing the web trying to find the best starting date and there is allot less info on the PCT then the AT.

I'm trying to figure if I can get another semester of college over with and still start the trail at a reasonable time.
Would the second of third week of May be terribly hot in the desert? And then cold in the Sierras?

[garlic08]

The best time to start is usually in late April at the ADZPCTKO. See http://siechert.org/adz/

A late May start could be tough in the desert and in northern Washington, unless you're a very fast hiker and can cut several weeks off the average time. It'll be much better in the Sierra then, actually--the conditions in early June when the "pack" gets there are usually pretty tough snowfields and stream crossings, so a month later is much easier there.

Good luck with your plans. (I think I met you at Mizpah Springs hut last year. Pickle and I came in late and left early.)

[naturejunkie]

Hey, I am also planning a 2010 PCT hike. I know in Yogi's planner she says that starting a week after the kick-off would be ideal, because she ended up taking a bunch of zeros before the Sierras, as did a lot of other hikers. That would make the ideal start the beginning of May. So, you'd really only be about two weeks behind the "ideal" starting time.

If you minimize your zeros, it seems to me that you should be able to make up much of your two-three week late start. I suppose it will be a hot start though, but hey, extra motivation to catch up:)

But, not being a PCT veteran, I hope I am not steering you wrong. Just applying what I have researched. Good luck!

[sbhikes]

You are best off starting in April or May, not too early in April and not too late in May. But you can start later if you start somewhere other than the Mexican border. You could start in Agua Dulce or Kennedy Meadows, for example, and then return in the fall to finish the rest. You could also do a southbound hike, which is really quite rare. I think I met only 5 southbound thru-hikers this year.

[garlic08]

Hey, I am also planning a 2010 PCT hike. I know in Yogi's planner she says that starting a week after the kick-off would be ideal, because she ended up taking a bunch of zeros before the Sierras, as did a lot of other hikers. That would make the ideal start the beginning of May. So, you'd really only be about two weeks behind the "ideal" starting time.

Good point. It all depends on the amount of snow in the Sierra and the rate of melt. When I hiked, the winter snowpack was above average but April was unusually hot (miserable hiking in SoCal). I was able to enter the Sierra on May 31, a full two weeks before "Ray Day" (when Ray Jardine recommends for the average year). If it had been a cool spring, I might have had to go to LA for a week or two and sit it out.

It also depends on how good you are with snowfields and stream crossings, and on your sense of adventure. Some hikers will flipflop to avoid the hazards in the Sierra, while for some a wicked Sierra hike is the highlight of the trip, or their lives, as it was for me.

[Geo.]

Would the second of third week of May be terribly hot in the desert? And then cold in the Sierras?

Hello Time Traveler,
I left the Mex border on April 20th when I did my thru hike and that worked out just fine for me. The problem I'd think with starting late in May, is that would mean you'd be finishing later with the attendant risk of getting snowed out by the onset of winter before you reached Canada. (depending of course on how fast a hiker you are - typical time frame I'd think is 5 months at just over 17 miles a day overall including any layover days) There were a couple I passed about midway through, and I later heard from one of them that they'd been snowed out and bailed just before reaching Canada. So I'd think it'd be best not to leave it too far into May or earlier if you can.
Maybe this 'Global Warming' thing will work for you and keep the northern winter away! ;)

[Jeff]

Best to pick a time a few days before or a few days after ADZPCTKO weekend. I would avoid hiking with the pack right after the kickoff.

Growing trend is to hike south to the festivities and hitch back north to where you started and continue your hike.