In a high snow year, the biggest schedule danger for many NOBO thru-hikers is waiting for the snow in the Sierras to melt. As of May 16, 2019 the “Sierra Entry Indicator” suggests June 15th as the first safe entry day for the Sierras. This timing will just barely work ...
Fire closures on the PCT combined with heavy snow accumulation earned 2017 the nickname “The Year of Fire and Ice,” and in 2018 with lighter snow, we had at least as much trouble with fire closures, including closures in the symbolic section between Hart’s Pass and the Northern Monument. Many ...
In 2017 many people told me on trail that they wouldn’t finish because they spent too much time trying to get through the Sierras, or waiting out the snow between Kennedy Meadows and Bishop. After hiking 2,000 miles in 2017 and thru-hiking the PCT in 2018, I’ve talked to a ...
These cookies pack a sweet and spicy punch. If bakery and commercial ginger snaps seem bland to you, then give this recipe a try. This is a “double” recipe, but don’t worry about overdoing it. These cookies freeze well sealed in ziplock bags, and they also keep well backpacking due ...
You can count on questions about bears and mountain lions, and even whether you are planning to carry a gun as soon as people hear that you are planning to hike the PCT. Hardly anyone will ask what you plan to do about blisters.This post is a quick overview of ...
Hiking the PCT in 2018 I met quite a few hikers who had no schedule for their hike, or even a way to realistically assess their chance of finishing–they had never “done the math”. For very-fast hikers this would not usually be a huge problem, but for slower hikers, the ...
The great majority of PCT thru-hikers are from 20 to 40 years old, so most of the forum discussions are aimed at recommendations from and for hikers in this age range. Hiking 2,000 miles on the PCT in 2017 and thru-hiking the PCT in 2018 at 62, and talking with ...
My Accidental Thru-hikeI wasn’t planning to thru-hike in 2018 … I just wanted to get out on trail and enjoy hiking the PCT. Over the course of five months, the miles just rolled by and pretty soon I was within a few hundred miles of hiking the whole trail. At ...