Pacific Crest Trail

Planning

Ninette and I hiked the PCT together. That's less common than you might think: in the annual hiker survey by Halfway Anywhere about 7 in 10 hikers started alone and about 1 in 7 started with a partner (2023 survey). Most of the people we hiked alongside were solo hikers from around the world.

Sections

1. 01The DesertWater carries, San Jacinto in freezing rain, and the Mojave to Kennedy Meadows South.702 mi · Apr to Jun 2023 · 45 days→
2. 02SierraHigh passes, bear canisters and resupply stops that sit off the trail. Hiked in 2024.451 mi · Jul 2024 · 26 days
3. 03NorCalBurned forest near Chester, Hat Creek Rim and a loop around Mount Shasta.386 mi · Jun to Jul 2023 · 20 days
4. 04OregonAshland to Cascade Locks, with long stretches of easy, quick miles.431 mi · Jul 2023 · 30 days
5. 05WashingtonCascade Locks to the Canadian border, through Wenatchee and Winthrop.499 mi · Aug 2023 · 28 days

The mile markers on this page are from the year we hiked each section. The PCT gets rerouted most years so expect them to shift a little.

When to go and which direction

Most thru-hikers go northbound (NOBO) and start between April and early May. That gets you through the desert before the worst of the heat and to the Sierra about when the snow starts to melt.

The right date within that window depends on the winter. In a high snow year like 2023 a later start in late April or May gives the Sierra more time to melt but it also puts you in the north later in fire season. In a dry year an earlier start keeps you ahead of the heat and out of the north before fire season peaks. A start in the middle is the safe default and hikers in the 2023 survey who were happy with their start date began on April 14 on average.

We started from Campo on April 28, 2023 and that date came from the permit release more than from choice. Pick the window you'd like and be ready to take the date you get.

Permits

The Pacific Crest Trail Association issues the long-distance permit. One permit covers all the federal and state land the trail crosses including the 33 areas with their own permit systems. The 50-a-day limit covers every northbound start south of Sonora Pass, which in practice means Campo. Before each release day you register and get a random time slot to pick from the dates still open. You have to start on your date and rangers can ask to see your permit.

For a trip under 500 miles you need local permits instead. Much of the trail needs none but wilderness areas, national parks, and California state parks usually do. The Forest Service points you to each national forest and most quota permits are on recreation.gov. Two examples are the Cleveland National Forest permit for the first miles out of Campo and the Inyo National Forest permits for the southern Sierra.

The permit allows you to wild camp within ½ mile of the trail. You can also walk up to 15 trail miles off it to reach a town or trailhead but you can't camp on those side trails.

The permit doesn't cover:

• Coming back to a skipped Sierra. Once you enter the Sierra at Kennedy Meadows South you have 35 days to reach Sonora Pass. Skip any of it and you can't come back later on the same permit and need new ones from the local agencies. That's what we did when we came back in 2024.
• Exiting Mt Whitney east. You can day hike the summit from Crabtree Meadows but the long-distance permit doesn't allow going east of the summit or exiting at Whitney Portal. That needs a permit from the Inyo National Forest and those are strictly enforced because Whitney is so popular.
• Canada. The permit ends at the border so you have to walk back to Hart's Pass. Canada's entry permit for hikers ended in January 2025.

The PCTA's permit terms cover the rest. That includes camping rules in Yosemite, the Central Cascades, and North Cascades National Park.

Flips, skips, and closures

Plan for the route to change. Ours changed in three ways.

• A high snow year. 2023 was one. On April 1 the southern Sierra snowpack was about 300% of average, the biggest on record (California DWR). We skipped the Sierra and flipped about 630 miles north from Kennedy Meadows South to Chester then kept walking NOBO. Snowpack changes a lot from year to year and the next section covers how to follow it.

• Side trips. Peaks near the trail such as Mt Whitney, Mt Shasta, and South Sister make good side quests. We climbed Whitney on Day 130 after finishing Washington. For South Sister we walked 4 miles off the trail to camp at Moraine Lake right below the peak, and then climbed it the next morning with day packs and rejoined the PCT later that day. Popular summits often need their own permits so check before you go. The permit section covers Whitney if you approach it from the PCT side.

• Wildfire closures. Fires closed part of northern Washington in August 2023 and we finished the state in pieces. The Washington section has the details. Check the PCTA's closure notices on its website or app as you go and have a backup plan for the last sections.

Snow and the Sierra decision

In a high snow year the talk about the Sierra starts early, from Hikertown and Tehachapi on. San Jacinto is the first test. Heavy snow there usually means a hard Sierra. We had to ship microspikes ahead from the desert. Follow the snow in the months before you start and again as you get close:

• Postholer's PCT snow page models snow along the whole trail by mile and has a Sierra entry indicator. It may need a VPN outside the US.
• CDEC shows the southern Sierra snowpack as a percentage of average.
• San Jac Jon's trail report covers snow and trail conditions on San Jacinto, including Fuller Ridge.
• The PCTA's snow information and the snow tab of the PCT water report add hiker reports.

Kennedy Meadows South is the last practical place to decide.

Some hikers went in as far as Kearsarge Pass to test the conditions and others planned the whole way through. Going north the exits are Cottonwood Pass to Horseshoe Meadow, Kearsarge Pass to Onion Valley, and Bishop Pass to South Lake.

Looking back I wish we had tried the high snow Sierra in 2023 for the experience. Years like that may become rarer.

Resupply and towns

The PCT passes a road or town every few days for most of its length. We took 15 zero days and 5 neros in 2023. Most of them were in trail towns: Idyllwild, Big Bear Lake, Tehachapi, Chester, Ashland, Eugene, Portland, Wenatchee, and Winthrop.

Some towns are quick in-and-outs: you hitch in, resupply, and get back on trail the same day. We did that at Lake Morena, Julian, Acton, Agua Dulce, Hikertown, Mt Shasta, Etna, and Seiad Valley.

We mailed ourselves more than 20 boxes that we packed ahead. Family sent them from home and in Oregon brought them to us at Diamond Lake and Shelter Cove (Hwy 58). Flat-rate boxes cost the same whatever they weigh so they work well for a couple. Without someone at home the cost and logistics add up. Most hikers buy food in town and send the odd box ahead, which suits solo and international hikers.

We planned 5 to 7 days of food per carry. Our base weights were light so we carried heavier food on purpose. A bag of chips is light but takes up volume so you can get creative and strap it outside of your pack. After two or three weeks your appetite goes up a lot, especially at altitude.

Trail angels and trail magic

Trail magic is food or drinks that locals leave or hand out at trailheads and road crossings. We came across it 24 times in 2023, from the kickoff at Lake Morena to tomatoes and wine at White Pass. Trail angels also hosted us six times in Tehachapi, Chester, Burney, Ashland, Wenatchee, and Winthrop. Dozens more gave us rides to and from the trail and businesses helped too, like the hardware store in Wrightwood that let us charge our phones.

To everyone who left a cooler, gave us a ride, or opened their home to us: thank you. If you want to give some yourself it goes furthest on the long stretches between towns where a cold drink or fresh food is hardest to come by. These are the places we would have loved some:

• California: Cabazon at the I-10 crossing, Blue Ridge Campground before Wrightwood, and Walker Pass
• Oregon: Mt Ashland, Summit Lake near Diamond Peak, and Rosary Lakes after Hwy 58
• Washington: Chinook Pass

Facebook groups for each part of the trail are the best way to find trail angels and rides in and out of town. Trail Angel Central keeps a list of them by area. Comments in FarOut also carry the latest trail magic and trail angel contacts.

Gear

My pack weighed 32.3 lbs with food and about 1.5 liters of water when we left Campo. It got a lot lighter from there. Within the first week or two in the desert I knew what I didn't need. It went home or into hiker boxes, the shared boxes at post offices and hostels where hikers leave what they don't want. Partway through I switched from a 55-liter Hyperlite Southwest framed pack to a 40-liter frameless Palante V2. Track your base weight and cut early. Everything we carried in 2023 is in the PCT pack list.

Maps and guides

You don't need paper maps for the PCT but you do want offline navigation and a guide to water and towns. These are what we used and what other hikers rely on.

Maps and navigation

• FarOut was essential. It works offline and has every water source, camp, and town stop with up-to-date comments from other hikers. The full PCT guide is paid and the first 77 miles are free to try. Look for sales around Black Friday and the holidays.
• MapOut gave us offline maps with distance and elevation profiles for planning a big day. It's a small one-time purchase on iPhone.
• Halfmile's GPS data is a free track and waypoint set you can load into most map apps.
• The route files behind the maps on this site, for the whole trail and each section, are free to download from disha-trails on GitHub.
• National Geographic's PCT map booklets are the printed option, sold through the PCTA store.

Trail guides

• Halfmile's trail notes are free printable notes with mileage, elevation, and resupply for more than 3,000 landmarks. They match the National Geographic map pages and were last updated for 2023.
• The PCT water report is a free spreadsheet of water sources kept up to date by hikers.
• The Trek's resupply guide lists the town stops section by section.
• The Halfway Anywhere hiker survey asks hundreds of hikers each year about gear, resupply, start dates, and costs.
• Yogi's PCT Handbook has a long-running town guide, though the last edition is from 2020–21.

We planned segment by segment: water to water and then camp to camp. Plans changed all day depending on how it was going. Having offline maps with elevation before a big push is a habit I've kept for all my hiking and running since.

Fitness and daily miles

We came in with little experience. Before the PCT I had done one backpacking trip of 5 to 8 days and it was Ninette's first. We didn't train in any structured way. I tried rucking with a weighted pack in the forest near home and it did more harm than good. Stay active, dial in your gear, and get used to your pack and shoes before you start. Then take the first three or four weeks easy and let your body adapt.

We hiked apart during the day. Ninette left camp an hour or two before me at her own pace and I caught up with her by breakfast. On big days we aimed for 10 miles by 10 a.m. and 20 by 2 p.m. Getting there early takes the stress off and leaves room to relax or keep going. For the biggest climbs like San Jacinto, Mission Creek, the ridge above Wrightwood, and South Sister we left camp between 5:00 and 5:45 a.m.

Our daily miles built up over the trail. In the desert most days were 15 to 24 miles and the longest was 27.9 miles from Hikertown along the LA Aqueduct. By Northern California 24-mile days were normal and our first 30-mile day came on Day 59 from Seven Lakes to Cooper Meadow. Oregon and Washington each gave us another one: 30.3 miles to the Warm Springs River and 30.1 miles to Blowout Mountain.

Our biggest days for climbing were:

• Day 25, Swarthout Canyon to Blue Ridge Campground: about 7,000 ft, up from Cajon Pass to the ridge above Wrightwood
• Day 56, Deer Creek to Girard Ridge: about 7,500 ft
• Day 62, Paynes Lake to Kelsey Creek: about 7,000 ft on our longest day, 35 miles
• Day 98, Rock Creek to Huckleberry Mountain: about 7,000 ft
• Day 123, Mica Lake to Kodak Peak: about 8,000 ft, southbound through the Glacier Peak Wilderness

The Desert

The desert section runs from the southern terminus near Campo to Kennedy Meadows South, the traditional gateway to the Sierra. Before the Mojave the trail crosses the Laguna Mountains, San Jacinto, the San Bernardino Mountains, and the San Gabriels. It isn't always hot. We had freezing rain on Apache Peak in May.

Towns come often enough that food carries stay short and water is the main thing to plan around. The desert has one major dry stretch of more than 20 miles and volunteers haul in water jugs to help bridge it. I carried two 1-liter Smartwater bottles, a 750 ml sports cap bottle, a 2-liter CNOC bag for dirty water, and a 2-liter Platypus as backup. On long carries I used 4 to 4.5 liters so the capacity matters. Some water tastes metallic from tanks and aquifers. I used one filter the whole trail and kept it from clogging by backflushing it regularly. Download the PCT water report in town because conditions change often.

Highlights

• Apache Peak in the freezing rain was one of the best views of the section.
• San Jacinto was our hardest stretch. The climb from Paradise Valley Cafe to Spitler Peak came first. Two days later we left Saddle Junction at 5:15 a.m. for the summit and then walked Fuller Ridge.

• Mission Creek started at 5:30 a.m. and ended at a camp just under 8,000 ft.
• Dawson Saddle on Hwy 2 was a cowboy camp with a view and then one of our longest days in the San Gabriels.
• Deep Creek Hot Springs was our camp two days out of Big Bear.
• Messenger Flat was a hard climb that ended above the clouds.
• Vasquez Rocks was another cowboy camp the day before mochi pancakes in Agua Dulce.
• Hikertown to the LA Aqueduct gave us our longest desert day at 27.9 miles and a night under the wind turbines.
• Tehachapi turned into two nights in a trail angel's backyard.
• Walker Pass had views going in and coming out with Owens Peak beyond it.

For food, the stops we remember are free pie in Julian, burgers at Paradise Valley Cafe, In-N-Out in Cabazon, and the McDonald's at Cajon Pass.

Our desert tally came to 9 rattlesnakes, 3 lookalikes, 7 garter snakes, 8 rabbits, and 99 beetles crossing the trail, plus 9 blisters.

Read the full section guide: PCT Desert: Campo to Kennedy Meadows South →

Sierra Nevada

Ninette and I came back for the Sierra in July 2024 and walked from Kennedy Meadows South to Truckee in 26 days. It was a much more typical snow year than 2023 and the passes gave us no trouble. My nephew joined us as far as Yosemite. After that we hiked most of the way with three other hikers we met.

The Sierra is the highest part of the PCT. Until Sonora Pass there's a high pass every day or two. Forester Pass (13,153 ft) came the day after Whitney and Glen Pass two days later. On Day 8 we crossed Pinchot and Mather back to back and both are above 12,000 ft. Muir Pass came the next day. After Muir Trail Ranch we crossed Selden and Silver on Day 11 and Island and Donahue on Day 14. North of Yosemite the passes get lower and we crossed Benson, Seavey, and Dorothy Lake Pass three days in a row. Most days we started between 5:40 and 7 a.m.

Most resupply stops are off the PCT so they take more planning. Our first was Onion Valley over Kearsarge Pass east of the trail and we got rides to Lone Pine and back. Muir Trail Ranch is 2 miles off the trail and was one of our best resupplies. John Muir Trail hikers pick up their food there and leave a lot of extra behind so it's worth showing up with room in your pack. Mammoth meant a detour to Duck Lake and a ride into town. From Tuolumne Meadows we took the bus to Yosemite Valley. At Sonora Pass a skier drove us to the resort. Bishop Pass is another way out to Bishop that we didn't use. It's 6.5 miles east of the trail.

Highlights

• Mt Whitney was a 3:50 a.m. start for a 28.8-mile day with the summit side trip.
• Glen Pass was a rainy crossing.
• Evolution Lake was a camp with a good view and a place to swim or shower.
• Yosemite Valley was a night off trail and where my nephew's hike ended.
• Benson Lake and Dorothy Lake in northern Yosemite were two more camps with good views.

Treats were rare in the Sierra: a can of beer at Tuolumne Meadows and trail magic at Carson Pass.

Northern California

After the Sierra flip we stopped briefly in Mammoth and rejoined the trail at Chester. Northern California usually means Sonora Pass to the Oregon border. This section is only the part we walked in 2023. It runs past Lassen and over the Hat Creek Rim and then circles around Mt Shasta. From there it goes through Castle Crags, the Trinity Alps, and the Marble Mountains to Seiad Valley then climbs into Oregon and on to Ashland.

The climbs here are long but steady and our daily miles went up. The trail is mostly forest with burned areas around Lassen. In 2023 snow patches were still on the ridges around Mt Shasta and the Trinity Alps. They were passable but needed care. Where snow covered the trail some hikers wandered off route and got into trouble so stay on the trail line through the patches.

Highlights

• Hat Creek to Cache 22 was 24.2 miles. The next morning we did 17.8 miles to Hwy 299 by noon.
• Burney was a nero and a local church hosted us.
• Seven Lakes to Cooper Meadow on Day 59 was our first 30-mile day and the first night we marked as a favorite.
• Russian Peak is a climb and then a long ridge walk with views the whole way.
• The Kelsey Creek alternate out of Etna led to a 25.5-mile day down to Grider Creek the night before Seiad Valley.
• The climb out of Seiad Valley to Devil's Peak was one of the hardest days of the trip with 4,371 ft of gain.
• The climb to Mt Ashland was one of the best-maintained stretches we walked all year.

For food, we remember ice cream in Mt Shasta City and breakfast at Callahan's Lodge below Mt Ashland.

Wildlife in NorCal was mostly chipmunks (16 of them) plus 6 deer and a fox.

Oregon

Oregon has a reputation for fast miles. From Ashland the trail heads east of I-5 until it meets the Cascades. Then it runs north past Crater Lake, the Three Sisters, Mt Jefferson, and Mt Hood to the Columbia River at Cascade Locks.

We reached Ashland by July 4 along with many hikers who had flipped past the Sierra and the town turned into a big reunion. After that we hit Oregon at the peak of mosquito season. They were severe for about two weeks from Crater Lake to Shelter Cove and the dragonflies made them bearable. Snow wasn't a problem in 2023. Crater Lake was clear and Diamond Peak had small patches. My sister's family met us at Diamond Lake and hiked 60 miles with us to Highway 58.

Highlights

• The Crater Lake rim alternate follows the edge of the caldera instead of the main trail. Just past the north rim the Cleetwood Cove trail drops to the water for a swim. Trail angels gave us a ride there.
• Mt Thielsen and Diamond Peak were both side climbs with big views.
• Tipsoo Peak is the highest point on the PCT in Oregon and Washington and we camped near it under clear skies.
• Bobby Lake to South Lake was a 25-mile day through the lake country south of the Three Sisters.
• Koosah Mountain looks over Little Broken Top and South Sister.
• South Sister was our Oregon summit and we were on top by 7:30 a.m. with the trail to ourselves.
• Central Oregon gave us clear skies five nights out of six between Moraine Lake and the north face of Mt Jefferson.
• The Warm Springs River on Day 90 ended a 30.3-mile day and was one of our favorite nights.
• Timberline Lodge had pancakes and beer waiting from a trail angel.
• The Paradise Park Loop on Mt Hood leaves the main trail for wildflower meadows on another side of the mountain.
• Ramona Falls and Eagle Creek were two more alternates on the way to Cascade Locks. Eagle Creek has Punchbowl Falls and basalt columns.

Trail angels left donuts at Crater Lake and ice cream in the Three Sisters Wilderness.

The Oregon count was quiet: 5 deer, a brown snake, and 2 racers.

Washington

Washington starts with the Bridge of the Gods over the Columbia River and ends at the Canadian border in the North Cascades. It's a steady run of big climbs, volcanoes, and lakes.

Wildfires in 2023 split the state into three pieces for us. We walked NOBO from Cascade Locks to Stevens Pass without trouble. North of there the fires closed the PCT on both sides of Stehekin, from Suiattle Pass to High Bridge and north of Rainy Pass (WTA). Stehekin is a much-loved trail town and it's the place we missed most.

We waited out the smoke in Wenatchee and then went north to Hart's Pass and walked to the border and back. After that a ride from Winthrop to Chelan, the Lady of the Lake ferry to Lucerne, and the bus to Holden put us on the PCTA's detour. From Holden we walked southbound over Cloudy Pass to the PCT at Suiattle Pass and on to Stevens Pass. The PCTA's closure maps made the reroute easy to follow. Holden Village is closed to hikers through 2026 after storm damage so check before counting on this route.

Highlights

• Trout Lake was Day 100 and one of our favorite nights. The wildflowers on the way out were some of the best of the trip.
• Goat Rocks started with a 28-mile day to camp at Cispus Pass. Old Snowy and the Knife's Edge came the next morning.
• Chinook Pass and the climb out of Sheep Lake had big views and trail magic.
• Blowout Mountain was our longest Washington day at 30.1 miles.
• Snoqualmie Pass had both the hardest descent and the hardest climb of the state with views to match.
• Spectacle Lake to Deep Lake came after a nero at Spectacle Lake and was one of the prettiest stretches in Washington. Huckleberries lined the trail before Hope Lake.
• Hopkins Lake was our camp at the border and it's only a few miles from the northern terminus.
• Mica Lake and the White Chuck River had the best views of the southbound stretch. They ran from the climb out of the lake down to the valley below White Mountain.

In Washington we remember huckleberry pancakes and shakes in Trout Lake and beer from a trail crew at Urich Cabin.

Washington had the most varied wildlife: 20 marmots, 7 grouse, 5 deer, a black bear, a mountain goat, and a wolf.

Reflections

Two days after Whitney we flew to Hawaii to recover. Recovery ended up including another hike, this time up Mauna Kea.

That hike set the tone for what came next. The PCT was the start of a much more active life for me. Since then I've moved into ultra running and fastpacking, multi-day trips that mix hiking and running. Fastpacking feels like my sweet spot now and trips like the Peaks of the Balkans grew out of what I learned on the PCT.

After the Sierra in 2024 I wrote down a few things I'd do differently: play around the trail more, take more zeros on trail, say hi and ask people how they're doing, and celebrate more at the end of the day.