How long does a PCT thru-hike take?

Lint. Photo by Ryan Weidert

Habitual hiker ‘Lint’. Photo by Ryan Weidert

Curious how long it takes to walk from Mexico to Canada on the Pacific Crest Trail? Last fall 70 PCT thru-hikers from 2012 posted their start and finish times on Facebook. The average was 152 days.

This is just slightly longer than the 2009 and 2010 hikers, based on their journals.

We were surprised by the late season finish for some of these 2012 hikers. October in the North Cascades can be a snowy winter mountaineering experience. For a sense of what it can be like, read about Dances With Lizards’ final 88 miles here or I’m Fine’s adventure and self-rescue here. And try to make it to Canada well before October 1st.

Here are the results:

Hiker Start Date Finish Date # of Days
Hiker 1 5/9/12 7/30/12 83
Hiker 2 4/28/12 8/4/12 99
Hiker 3 4/27/12 8/4/12 100
Hiker 4 5/14/12 9/8/12 118
Hiker 5 4/28/12 8/24/12 119
Hiker 6 4/15/12 8/14/12 122
Hiker 7 4/26/12 8/26/12 123
Hiker 8 5/19/12 9/21/12 126
Hiker 9 4/27/12 9/6/12 133
Hiker 10 4/10/12 8/21/12 134
Hiker 11 4/19/12 8/31/12 135
Hiker 12 5/16/12 9/28/12 136
Hiker 13 4/21/12 9/4/12 137
Hiker 14 5/1/12 9/14/12 137
Hiker 15 4/26/12 9/11/12 139
Hiker 16 4/22/12 9/8/12 140
Hiker 17 4/27/12 9/13/12 140
Hiker 18 5/23/12 10/9/12 140
Hiker 19 4/23/12 9/10/12 141
Hiker 20 4/19/12 9/7/12 142
Hiker 21 4/8/12 8/28/12 143
Hiker 22 4/20/12 9/10/12 144
Hiker 23 4/23/12 9/13/12 144
Hiker 24 4/29/12 9/19/12 144
Hiker 25 5/15/12 10/5/12 144
Hiker 26 4/27/12 9/17/12 144
Hiker 27 5/1/12 9/24/12 147
Hiker 28 5/1/12 9/24/12 147
Hiker 29 4/27/12 9/21/12 148
Hiker 30 5/1/12 9/25/12 148
Hiker 31 4/25/12 9/24/12 153
Hiker 32 4/27/12 9/27/12 154
Hiker 33 4/21/12 9/21/12 154
Hiker 34 4/28/12 9/29/12 155
Hiker 35 4/28/12 9/29/12 155
Hiker 36 4/20/12 9/21/12 155
Hiker 37 4/29/12 10/1/12 156
Hiker 38 4/27/12 9/30/12 157
Hiker 39 4/26/12 9/30/12 158
Hiker 40 4/16/12 9/20/12 158
Hiker 41 4/29/12 10/4/12 159
Hiker 42 4/26/12 10/1/12 159
Hiker 43 4/27/12 10/3/12 160
Hiker 44 4/12/12 9/20/12 162
Hiker 45 4/12/12 9/20/12 162
Hiker 46 4/29/12 10/7/12 162
Hiker 47 4/29/12 10/8/12 163
Hiker 48 4/27/12 10/6/12 163
Hiker 49 4/27/12 10/6/12 163
Hiker 50 4/24/12 10/4/12 164
Hiker 51 4/26/12 10/7/12 165
Hiker 52 4/26/12 10/7/12 165
Hiker 53 4/14/12 9/26/12 166
Hiker 54 4/18/12 10/1/12 167
Hiker 55 4/6/12 9/20/12 168
Hiker 56 4/27/12 10/12/12 169
Hiker 57 4/27/12 10/12/12 169
Hiker 58 4/1/12 9/17/12 170
Hiker 59 4/26/12 10/13/12 171
Hiker 60 4/12/12 10/1/12 173
Hiker 61 4/10/12 9/30/12 174
Hiker 62 4/19/12 10/12/12 177
Hiker 63 4/18/12 10/13/12 179
Hiker 64 4/19/12 10/14/12 179
Hiker 65 4/25/12 10/20/12 179
Hiker 66 4/27/12 10/22/12 179
Hiker 67 4/27/12 10/22/12 179
Hiker 68 4/10/12 10/13/12 187
Hiker 69 4/19/12 10/23/12 188
Hiker 70 4/10/12 10/20/12 194
Average: 4/24/12 9/22/12 152.4