Foreword

Duncan (D) and I (K) are attempting to thru hike the Pacific Crest Trail (PCT) southbound (SOBO) from Pasayten Wilderness, Washington on the US/Canadian border to Campo, California on the US/Mexico border. This has been a long-term dream for both of us. It’s taken a while but we’ve final got up the courage to quit our jobs, put our possessions into storage, and head out into the wilderness. We’ve spent many a day walk or week-long hike talking about the PCT and the planning has taken over 6 months. There are still a few jobs to do (like parcel up and post 60 days of food to various post offices along the route) but the “to do list” is now down to just 1 page, which feels like a big achievement.

A few things we’re looking forward to experiencing on trail:

• Seeing spring and then summer arrive while walking South and the sense of journey
• Visiting Mt Rainer, Lassen, and Crater Lake NP
• Walking the Sierra High Route (going on a slight detour to do this)
• Meeting new people and hopefully making a few hiking buddies
• ..oh and 1 of us (K) is particularly looking forward to taking a few photos

So, what is the PCT? It’s a 2,659 mile trail that runs through Washington, Oregon, and California along a protected green corridor, containing several national parks (see map). Last year 4,991 people were issued a thru hike permit for the trail of which 491 were for SOBO. Our plan is to start the trail on June 14. We’ll hike the trail in 4- to 8-day sections, covering an average of 26 miles/day, with a maximum of 10 (0 mile) rest days to ensure that we make it through the Sierra section before the snowfall in October. We’ll be aiming to post an update on our progress approx once a week, when we’re in town and can find some WIFI.

We hope you’ll follow our progress and enjoy the blog!