PCT Milestones

[John Papini]

Hello! I am planning for a 2016 PCT thru hike and I’m beginning to dive into the weeds re: logistics.

I would like to create a list of “milestone” stops: places where I will need to take extra supplies, swap gear, etc. Something like, “At location A, pick up box with crampons and ice axe, and Location B, mail home crampons and ice axe, at Location C, pony up with 7 liters of water, at Location D, pick up box with mosquito repellent, at Location E, pick up box with bear canister, at Location F, mail bear canister home, at location G, mail mosquito repellent and sunscreen home.”

Obviously people will differ about food and supplies generally, depending on what they eat, to what extent they are relying on mail drops, etc. But I’m trying to get a sense of, regardless of my style, the places where I will most likely require special gear or extra clothing, places I can rid myself of gear and extra clothing, places where I’ll need extra food and water. Milestone places. I suppose these might be determined by weather, mileage to the next supply, trail conditions, or any number of other factors I haven’t considered.

Personal experience or reference to outside material both appreciated.

John

[Link .]

PMAGS A Quick and Dirty Guide to The Pacific Crest Trail 

PCT Laminated Resupply List 

Yogi’s PCT Handbook 

The PCT Planner  …A great little program for figuring out your mileage between re-supply points

Plan Your Hike

Guthook’s Hiking Guides, hiking trail guides for your smartphone 

HIKING THROUGH HYPERBOLE: THE VORTEX OF FEAR …A very good series by Ryan Lynn who does the smartphone trail guides(Guthhook)

Walking with Wired

 

[rick .]

I thru-hiked last year.  Number one piece of advice (from a fellow planner)

Don’t plan very much.

It all changes anyways.

Send a bearcan full of warmer clothes to kennedy meadows.

Have your gear in one place, labeled, so you can tell your resupply person:  I need more socks in next box.  Everything you decide now will 100% not be what you want anyways.

Water MUST be decided on the ground.  You will use the water report every day, except Sierras and Washington.

Big food carries were: 9 days from Tehachapi, and 11 days from kennedy meadows, both specifically so I didn’t have to take a long hitch to a town.  The rest of it was 5-6 days between obvious town stops.

Use craigs pct planner to make a schedule ONLY for rough guide, you will be finding your pace, meeting cool people who are faster/slower, etc.

This will give you an idea of what is popular, but feel free to revise and go your own way:

http://www.halfwayanywhere.com/trails/pacific-crest-trail/pacific-crest-trail-hiker-survey-2015/

A year ago today I hadn’t started planning a thing for a month, and started april 6.  You just have to dig in and wrap your head around the idea that it is many 5-day trips.

PM me your email and I will share my spreadsheetz

I’m very envious!

 

 

[George F]

Rick makes some very good points. The community on the trail will be one of your best sources of information once you get going. And remember, you can always do online shopping while on the trail if you need to tweak your gear, just have it delivered two stops ahead and double check what type of delivery is accepted there (ups vs usps, etc).

Enjoy.

[rick .]

You might want to have Microspikes and ice axe sent to kennedy meadows.  But if you don’t need them it’s a lot of weight and expensive to ship back out.  I left May 24 and got thru with trail runners and 1 trek pole.  Neither would have helped me, the snow was soft and postholing was more likely than needing traction.

There is no way to get info at kennedy meadows, except for the payphone.  So if you want conditions reports you need to use up your “phone a friend”  mostly you just want to know “snow melted up to 9,500′ ” or whatever.  Then the north side of passes typically had a bit more snow because of more shade.  By then you are a seasoned hiker looking for a bigger challenge after 700 miles of desert that cold is welcomed!

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