Hiking the Pacific Crest Trail
A lot of people call the Pacific Crest Trail magical. I’d call it curious. I finished it in 95 days in 2018 and spent most of that time impressed by the trail’s variety and occasionally baffled by its logic. The desert is harder than you expect. The Sierra is everything people say. Oregon is fast. Washington humbles you right when you think you’ve got it figured out.
The PCT runs 2,650 miles from the Mexican border at Campo, California to the Canadian border north of Rainy Pass, Washington. Most thru-hikers go northbound starting in late April. A smaller contingent goes southbound from the Canadian border starting in late June. I went northbound.
I documented my hike through listserv emails — scroll to the bottom for those. My full itinerary is here. My gear list is embedded at the bottom of this page.
What You Should Know Before Starting
The PCT is the most popular long trail in the country by a wide margin. That shapes what the hike actually feels like. Trailheads are crowded in April. Campsites in the Sierra fill up fast. You will see the same 50 people for weeks at a time, which is either great or exhausting depending on the day.
The permit situation changed in 2021 and has shifted around since. Before you go, check the PCTA permit page for current requirements. For a northbound thru-hike you will need a long-distance permit. They are not hard to get but you do need to apply.
Season and Start Date
The snowpack in the Sierra Nevada is the main constraint on timing. In a normal to low snow year, starting in late April puts you into the High Sierra when conditions are manageable. In a heavy snow year (2023 was one), even a May start can mean dangerous crossings at elevation.
Target start window for NOBO: April 20 to May 5 at Campo. Earlier and you race snow north; later and you hit fire closures in northern California and southern Oregon in peak summer.
Check the Postholer snow report before you commit to a start date. It is the most reliable single data source for Sierra conditions.
Navigation and Apps
The PCT is well-signed and well-maintained compared to trails like the CDT or PNT. You can get through most of it without major navigation work. That said:
- FarOut (formerly Guthook) is essentially mandatory. It has the trail GPS, water sources, campsite reviews, and current conditions from other hikers. Get it before you leave.
- A topo app (Gaia or CalTopo) is worth having for any Sierra alternate or snowfield navigation.
- Download maps offline before you enter any remote section. Cell service is sparse from Kennedy Meadows to Tuolumne Meadows.
Planning Your Hike
How Long Does It Take?
The average NOBO thru-hiker takes around 150 days. I finished in 95, with two full zeroes and a handful of half days. That pace requires consistent 27-30 mile days and a willingness to push through tired legs. It worked for me because I was already in good hiking shape and had the right gear from the start.
If you’re planning your first thru-hike, budget 120-150 days and build in time to actually enjoy the towns. Rushing the PCT is easy to do and easy to regret.
Bear Canisters and Food Storage
A bear canister is required in Yosemite, Kings Canyon, and several other sections of the Sierra. Violating this gets you a real fine. I carried a BV450 from Kennedy Meadows to just past Tuolumne Meadows, then sent it home.
Outside the required zones, an Ursack with an OpSak liner works fine. I’ve used this combination for thousands of miles and have not had an incident.
What’s the Trail Like?
The PCT has five distinct personalities:
- Southern California (Campo to Kennedy Meadows, ~700 miles): Desert, water carries, heat. This section is harder than it looks and breaks more people than the Sierra. The water logistics are real. Plan every water source.
- The Sierra (Kennedy Meadows to South Lake Tahoe, ~450 miles): The reason people hike the PCT. High passes, granite basins, snowfields in early season. In a heavy snow year this section is legitimately dangerous. I hit a sub-zero hailstorm at the top of Mt. Whitney. In June. Plan accordingly.
- Northern California (South Lake Tahoe to Ashland, ~550 miles): Beautiful but underrated. The Hat Creek Rim stretch is notoriously waterless. Lassen, Trinity Alps, Castle Crags. This section goes fast once you’re fit.
- Oregon (~450 miles): Flat, fast, and often smoky in late summer. Crater Lake is spectacular. Oregon is where you make up time.
- Washington (~500 miles): The North Cascades are genuinely stunning and genuinely hard. The weather turns fast. Goats and exposed ridgelines. Worth every step.
Getting to and from Trail
Southern Terminus (Campo, CA)
Most people fly into San Diego. From the airport, take the trolley to the Santa Fe Depot, then the Greyhound/FlixBus or a rideshare to Campo. There’s also a dedicated hiker shuttle service from San Diego that runs during peak season — search the PCT Facebook groups for current operators since they change year to year.
Most NOBO hikers spend the night before at Lake Morena or in Campo itself. The Campo port of entry has a monument for photos; do that in the morning before you start.
Northern Terminus (Manning Park, BC)
The northern terminus is at the Canadian border near Hart’s Pass, Washington. You will need to walk out to Manning Park in British Columbia (about 8 miles), where there’s a lodge, bus service, and real food. From Manning Park you can take a bus to Vancouver or to Bellingham for the drive/fly home.
Make sure your passport is in order. You are entering Canada.
Resupply
The PCT has excellent resupply options compared to other long trails. You can do the whole thing without mailing a single box if you want. Most people mail a few packages for gaps or to get specific foods. My philosophy: don’t overthink it. Gas station and grocery store resupplies are fine and give you flexibility.
The main exception is Kennedy Meadows (southern entrance to the Sierra). The general store there has limited selection. Mail yourself a package here if you have specific food needs, and definitely plan to pick up your bear canister here if you’re shipping one from home.
| Town | Mile | Notes |
| Mt. Laguna | 42 | Small store, decent resupply for early SoCal |
| Warner Springs Resource Center | 110 | Community center — limited selection, worth a stop |
| Idyllwild | 168 | Mail drop. Hitch from Saddle Junction. Idyllwild Inn accepts packages. Great trail town. |
| Big Bear City | 266 | Vons grocery, gear at Big 5. Hitch from Cougar Crest TH. Longest resupply stretch before Wrightwood. |
| Wrightwood | 370 | Small town, easy hitch, good selection. Mountain Hardware has fuel. |
| Agua Dulce | 455 | Sweetwater Ranch is a hiker institution. Stock up here for the desert stretch ahead. |
| Hiker Town | 518 | Private property, hiker box only. Top off, don’t count on it as a resupply. |
| Tehachapi | 568 | Full service town, gas station food options, easy hitch. Good place for a zero before the Sierra. |
| Kennedy Meadows | 702 | Mail drop. General store has limited food. Mail your bear canister and Sierra resupply here. Pick up ice axe / microspikes if needed. |
| Lone Pine | 750 | Side trip via Cottonwood Pass or hitch. Full town resupply. Stock up for MTR section. |
| Muir Trail Ranch | 858 | Resupply buckets accepted. Expensive but on-trail. Stock up here for the high Sierra stretch. |
| Red’s Meadow / Mammoth | 907 | Mail drop. Red’s Meadow store (limited) or hitch into Mammoth. Mail your bear canister if you’re sending it home here. Mammoth has full services and good gear shops. |
| Tuolumne Meadows | 943 | NPS store inside Yosemite — check hours. Still need bear canister through here. |
| Kennedy Meadows North | 1017 | 10-mile hitch to resupply in Bridgeport. Send bear canister home here if you shipped it for the Sierra. |
| Echo Lake | 1092 | Echo Lake Chalet has a small store. Genuinely viable for a few days of food — you might end up eating 2 lbs of red vines depending on where you are in the PCT bubble, but it works. Tahoe City is a more robust option if you have the time to hitch. |
| Truckee | 1154 | Full service town, real grocery stores. HEET fuel at Napa Auto. Good meetup spot if you have people coming out. |
| Belden | 1285 | Small store with iffy selection — don’t plan a full resupply here. Consider a mail drop or push on to Chester. |
| Drakesbad / Chester | 1347 | Mail drop. Drakesbad Guest Ranch accepts packages. Bear boxes required from mile 1343 to 1363. Good spot to ship new shoes. |
| Burney Falls | 1424 | Hitch required. McArthur-Burney Falls State Park store is limited. Burney town has a real grocery. |
| Dunsmuir | 1500 | Full resupply. Good restaurant options. Easy hitch from I-5 corridor. |
| Etna | 1596 | 6.5-mile hitch into town. Hardware store for fuel. Small grocery for resupply. Recommended stop. |
| Seiad Valley | 1654 | Seiad Valley Store — small but reliable. Famous for the pancake challenge. |
| Callahan’s Lodge | 1716 | Mail drop. Callahan’s accepts packages ($5 pickup fee). Ashland is just south — better selection if you hitch further. |
| Crater Lake | 1820 | Mazama Village store — perfectly fine resupply, on-trail. One of the better mid-Oregon stops. |
| Shelter Cove Resort | 1904 | Small resort store. On-trail. Good mid-Oregon resupply. |
| Sisters / Bend | 2000 | Oregon resorts (Shelter Cove, Elk Lake, Elk Meadow) are a better bet than hitching in this section — they stock real hiker food and you don’t lose time on the road. Hitch to Sisters (full resupply) or Bend (full city) if you need a town day. Fire closures can affect this section in late summer. |
| Olallie Lake | 2043 | Small resort store. On-trail. Limited selection — top off only. |
| Timberline Lodge | 2095 | On-trail. Restaurant resupply — hiker-friendly, allows food purchases. Worth the stop at the lodge. |
| Cascade Locks | 2144 | Bridge of the Gods, OR. Full town resupply. One of the best stops on the trail. Easy access, great food options. |
| White Pass | 2293 | Mail drop. Kracker Barrel store on-trail. Mail your WA shoes here. Very remote section ahead. |
| Snoqualmie Pass | 2391 | Chevron station with food. Summit Inn. Fuel and resupply — not a full grocery but workable. |
| Skykomish / Stevens Pass | 2462 | Mail drop. Stevens Pass Lodge accepts packages (UPS or FedEx only, 8am-5pm). Skykomish has a small store. Plan this one carefully. |
| Stehekin | 2570 | Mail drop. Accessible by ferry from Chelan or floatplane only. USPS mail only. Order food from Red Apple Market by phone in advance. Remote and spectacular. |
| Manning Park, BC | 2659 | Northern terminus area. Manning Park Lodge has a restaurant and bus service back to Vancouver or Bellingham. Have your passport. |
Miles are approximate and shift with trail reroutes. Verify with FarOut before your hike.
Gear Notes
The PCT exposes you to a wider range of conditions than almost any other trail — desert heat, Sierra snowfields, Pacific Northwest rain, and everything between. A few things that mattered:
- Shoes: I started the PCT in La Sportiva Wildcats and ended up with serious foot issues — the fit just didn’t work for me over long mileage. Switched to Altra Timps mid-trail, which I found uncomfortable and would not recommend. Eventually landed on Hoka Challengers, which are now my go-to long distance hiking shoe. Durability is questionable on the Hokas, but the cushioning and fit are right. Plan your shoe rotation in advance and mail pairs to yourself if your size isn’t easy to find. I sent myself microspikes to Kennedy Meadows for the Sierra; sent them home at Emigrant Pass once the snow conditions improved.
- Rain: SoCal gets almost no rain. Northern California, Oregon, and Washington can get a lot. Don’t skimp on rain protection in the northern half.
- Sierra gear: In early season, treat the Sierra like an alpine mountaineering environment. Ice axe or microspikes depending on your start date and snow year. Know how to self-arrest. The passes are real — Forester at 13,200 feet, Muir Pass, Pinchot. People die in the Sierra every year. Respect the conditions.
My Packing List
ListServ Email Updates
Below are the emails I sent to my listserv during my PCT thru-hike in 2018. These capture the day-to-day experience of what hiking 2,650 miles over 95 days actually looks like.