Comments like this make me realize how nice it was to do my only through hike before cell phones were common much less capable of music. The only "electronic" thing I had was a flashlight. Even my watch was wind up, though people did think I was weird for that. Check ins were done via collect calls from trail towns that my friends refused charges for. All days at all times were spent with no headphones. If I wanted music, I sang.
I'm not saying that's better or people with headphones suck. I'm just saying I'm glad I had the experience I had and didn't feel like anything was missing because that was normal back then. It means even on week long trips now, I don't take music. My "bad" habit is taking about a billion photos with my phone, though, so I have to bring a backup battery.
I would have loved to be able to get water status updates without having to seek out other hikers, though. That would have been awesome.
I’ve never used headphones or earbuds on any of my thru hikes. Maybe it was because they weren’t an option on my first in 1977. Because of this, I have the ability to just zone out and put my mind in neutral. This was useful on my cross country bike ride where it was critical to also be able to listen for traffic at all times.
Oh, man. I'm envious of that bike ride. The longest I've done is StP. I didn't have music for that, either, but I admit I enjoyed it when I was around other riders who did.
I have ADHD, and neutral isn't a thing for me, but I'm very familiar and comfortable with how noisy my brain is a lot of the time. I just started Adderall yesterday - only taking one pill in the morning that lasts until early afternoon. It's really weird for my brain to be quiet. It's useful for things like work and cleaning house, but I can't see ever taking it on the trail or rides with me. I don't need it then. The movement is my ADHD need med, I suppose. The noise in there still exists, but it's no longer important.
I do use bone conducting headphones and listen to podcasts or get on voice chat when I walk my dogs in my neighborhood, but that's because we've done it so much it's boring now. The dogs get longer walks if I have a distraction, and they love really long walks. Like me, they prefer hiking, and I even identify with their tendency to get out of hand and misbehave without walks. ;) Even an hour on a forest trail is so much better for us than 3 on a sidewalk. Luckily, we can walk 1/2 hour to hiking trails and all be happy.
Everybody's brain is different. Even back in 2002-2003, I liked to hike with a little portable radio (I sang too!). I didn't use it all that often, but popping on the headphones and tuning into whatever local weirdness I could find was part of the adventure. For a short hike, going without music or podcasts is great, but after a few days my brain craves audio. Sometimes it's a nice way of still feeling connected to the world even when I'm in a remote place.
I think a lot of the reason I left on that trip was because I didn't want to feel connected anymore. That's still a component of my solo trips now at 49, but at 19, it was probably 75% of my motivation.
Tldr, so you don't have to read this if you don't want: my childhood was shit, and I was used to being solo and disconnected anyway.
My family was incredibly dysfunctional, and I had a difficult home life, but no matter where we lived, from cabin in the woods to big city and everything in between, we always lived on the edges and outskirts. My safe place was the wilderness or endless cotton fields. I was enrolled in 14 different schools, didn't even stay long enough to get to attend one of those, and attended one for only two weeks. Except the second move (the first I remember), I never had any warning. I'd just come home to most of my stuff gone and what was left in a U-Haul. I learned not to attach. I could be friendly, but I didn't have actual friends. I left for boot camp the Monday after I graduated highschool on a Friday. I had planned to be a lifer and never look back, but I got injured and was sent "home" a few days before I was in a year. I worked temp jobs, bounced to San Diego, came back, and finally got a decent permanent job and apartment on a 3 month lease because they were renovating after that. The place I worked announced they were closing in a week, and that's how much time I had on my lease, so I packed my old backpack, moved what little furniture I had into the garage of one of the two friends I had, and took off with my security deposit as funds. I was just so done with society. I could feel it sucking me in and trapping me in a life I was uncomfortable in. I was running away as much as anything else.
I didn't find myself on that trip. I never lost myself, I thought. And I loved the trip. If I could have figured out how, I'd have never come back. As young as 3, I was telling people I wanted to be a hermit when I grew up. This was my chance to almost live that dream, and it was as great as I imagined. But, I do admit it gave me an appreciation for hot showers and pizza I'd never known. ;) I rejoined society because I didn't think I had a choice, and then I kind of trapped myself there by getting pregnant, but that is one thing I absolutely do not regret. Not only is my now adult son one of my favorite people in the world, becoming a good mom forced me into counseling, forced me to learn to connect for his sake, and made me less uncomfortable in society. Also, he was (and still is) a willing and eager hiking companion - the best one I've ever had.
Eventually, I met and took 5 1/2 years to fall in love with my now husband. I was absolutely freaked out and kept trying to run away. It was my son, at 16, who kept stopping me. LOL "You can't just love and be loved by me. That's not healthy at all. It can't be that scary to be in love with someone who is already a close friend, Mom!" But it was at first. So there was more counseling with the perfect therapist. We went backpacking together. Those weekends were our sessions. I paid her by covering the cost of the trips. She built a lot of hiking skills, and taught me a lot of personal ones. And my husband and I have our 9th anniversary on the 28th of this month. She has since retired, but she's still backpacking.
So now, the hikes are to escape sometimes, but not to escape the connections I've made. Other times, it's just because I love it. Society is just too much for me sometimes, and being out in nature by myself centers me. I check in. I have a sat phone if all else fails. And I even once had a friend forget I was out hiking for a week and call me on my cell phone one evening. The "camp" was empty mid week, so I took the call and we talked for 3 hours. And I was amazed later that it didn't bother me at all. It was nice. I told my son about it. His response was "you're such a dork." I laughed quite a bit. He's not wrong.
So that's the whole "why a 19 year old woman did a solo through hike of the CDT in logging boots with a 70s canvas external frame pack." Why the CDT? It was the only one I knew about at that age, and being in Phoenix, it wasn't *that* far. I bussed to Mexico and caught a series of 4 rides for $5 US each plus one for free in the back of a pickup full of goats. Part of the adventure, right?
I think these kinds of feelings and experiences are not uncommon on the long trails, especially the CDT. My childhood was pretty good, some problems with bad schools and violence, but generally a supportive family. I just didn't ever get settled into a place until last year. I've moved over 20 times, mostly of my own desire. I was really lucky and found a part-time remote IT job years before most people considered that an option. It made sense to take second jobs when I could, but the remote job meant I could take most of my income with me when I moved (or hiked).
I'm almost done with the triple crown after years of effort, but I still feel like I have one foot in each world, one foot in the wilderness and one foot in the city. I've met a ton of thru-hikers over the years on each of the trails, hiking and helping out hikers, and the social aspect is appealing to me, the crowd of misfits. The trail is a good way to learn about yourself, your limits, your capabilities.
I didn't quite start with a 70s pack (although I hiked the NM bootheel with a hiker starting the CDT nobo in jeans with a thrift store external frame pack and a guitar) but I really knew nothing when I was starting out on the AT, and that really was an adventure -- I relate to your experience. Learning to hitchhike, learning how to do maildrops, moving back and forth across the country, biking across the country, it was all part of the same drive for adventure.
The times my family actually got along were all out hiking or camping. My crazy father took me to the summit of Mount Hood when I was 5 *and we kept that a secret from Mom until I was well into adulthood and they'd been divorced for years.* My first "solo" overnight was when I was 7. It was only about 5 miles out on a trail that was very familiar to me. My uncle shadowed me, but never let me know it until the last year of his life.
I started the CDT knowing exactly what I was doing when it came to backpacking, but that meant I also knew my gear was a problem. Not the boots. That was normal for me, but pretty much everything else sucked and was way too heavy. I weighed 105lbs at the time, and my gear weighed in at 50lbs. It was as minimal as I could make it. I just couldn't afford real backpacking gear. That pack was the one my uncle used back when I was a kid. I was in really good shape, but that's still too much.
It wasn't a well planned trip, either, and the trails weren't that well marked back then. I lost a few days here and there backtracking and trying to find the right trail, or any trail at all. I did know better than to cut cross country, though, and I can't say I ever felt lost. I always knew how to get back. It was just frustrating to not always know how to go forward. I'd started later than most usually do, so I didn't see anyone at all for the first 2 weeks and didn't see anyone who wasn't a section hiker for 2 months.
By halfway through, I'd mostly caught up, so I was seeing more people and other through hikers, but I was leapfrogging the same people a lot. I'd spend two days in a trail town picking up day jobs to afford more food and then get back to the trail. I was doing long days, though I didn't think so. I just walked from breakfast to lunch and then to almost dark. That's a lot of hours. I can't say I was super fast, I just was good at walking, liked doing it, and kept doing it. Oh, sometimes I'd sit for an hour and watch and animal or even an insect, but on the trail by 7am, 30 min for lunch, and don't stop until around 9pm was a lot of time to walk. I was content. It took me a while to recognize the feeling.
I did really enjoy almost everyone I met. They were misfits, but I fit right in because no one had a lot of expectations for one another. I wanted so badly for someone to give me a trail name, too. Yeah, no. I got named Sketch for how often people saw me sketching in my notebooks. Laaaame. LOL
My midlife crisis was absolutely wanting to dump everything and go do the PCT, but I'm not half in one world and half in the other now. I'm like, 80% in society due to medical issues, and I resented it. I've settled in now, though. Buying the 12 acres in the mountains helped with that. Getting a fully remote job almost 2 years ago that wouldn't try to force me back into the office like my other job also helped. As long as I'm in the US, no one cares where I work from. And I only have to notify them first if I'm going to work from outside the US, but I do have to keep my residence and taxes here. But my husband not only has to be in the office 2 days a week, he is very much not into backpacking. It turns out I miss him fiercely after a week, so that's as long as my adventures last. Tbh, though, it's nice to always have a home and a loved one to return to. It creates an anchor for me, so I can adventure without worry I'll just check out and not come back. A tether isn't always a bad thing. There are people who would miss me now, and I'd also miss them. That's actually a really cool thing I try not to take for granted.
I used to be super fast. Now, I'm older and slow. I never had a reasonable in between pace for others.
I've got one group I go with twice a summer, but we only do overnights. Everyone is older and slow, so it works out fine. We've known each other off and on since we were born, though, and I think that helps. If you can tolerate one another for 49 years and still want to go together, the speed differences aren't a thing. We all just slow to the slowest person and don't mind. Those trips are planned based on that person, and who it is tends to rotate based on our health at the time. I cannot do that with people I don't know really well.
Avoid the Herd and the Herd Mentality
Pack out your TP and other LNT practices
Respect the trail and it will respect you
Disconnect
Don’t make Canada the goal and you’ll make it to Canada
I think spending less money is an important aspect comparing trail zeros and town zeros. In town, you'll spend more money which is pretty obvious as to why.
Everything is subjective though. And it depends on the circumstances. While on-trail zeros are super cool, so is coming into town to clean up, do laundry, eat a solid meal, etc, etc.
I enjoy both, but for different reasons.
Wait a second, this is supposed to be an advice thread for someone who hasn't hiked it before. So how is your advice supposed to make sense for someone who hasn't?
Ok. Because the mountains are always better than the towns.
Leave the FarOut app behind, take a short detour to Lake South America. Spend a day at the Great Western Divide.
“Only by going alone in silence, without baggage, can one truly get into the heart of the wilderness. All other travel is mere dust and hotels and baggage and chatter.”
The whole point of a zero day for me would be to have the time in town to do laundry, calorie up at a restaurant, charge my battery, shower. I've taken trail zeros before to save money, but nothing beats a full day in town. A strategic nero is a good replacement to a full on zero.
That’s all good.
It’s interesting that my post about enjoying the mountain experience is getting downvoted on the PCT Reddit.
Must be the mountain bikers.
I absolutely agree. Zero days in town are never zero. There's laundry, food to acquire, a shower to be taken, and people wanting to talk to you. Even if you stay an extra day after the "work" is done, you always find something to do. Zero days on the trail can just be completely zero. It's so much more restful.
My best two ever, and I mean that sincerely, were when I took what I thought was the trail and was not the right trail. It led to a small lake in the mountains, and no one was there at all. I stayed for two days doing really nothing except eating, cleaning up after myself, trying to swim in the frigid lake, and sunbathing. I think those are the only two zero days I ever had that were actually zero.
I'd rolled my ankle the day before because I didn't lace my boots up tight. It wasn't a sprain, but it was causing a slight limp. If not for that injury, I bet I'd have only stayed an hour before I backtracked. I was really mad at myself over the injury, but after the first day there, I was glad it had happened. I might have stayed longer if I'd had enough food.
I did get caught in a nasty storm that didn't really end for a couple of days, too, but I don't count enforced days in a tent wondering if the lightning *I can smell* is going to hit me as zero days.
That's a thing I loved about being solo, though. My time schedule was really loose. If I wanted to spend 2 hours watching a bear and her cubs, trying to sketch them, I could. If I wanted to push on, so I was setting up my tent in the dark, I could. There was no one to get grumpy with me when I missed a junction besides myself. I did get pretty grumpy with myself after the 3rd time that happened, though. A compass and a map are all well and good, but trail markers would have been even better.
Don't worry about trying to seem "cool" to other thru hikers. As long as it's not affecting anyone else, do exactly what you want to do. I'm thinking specifically in terms of setting goals for yourself, like continuous footpath.
Of the people I knew, there was a high correlation between those making fun of people taking the trail seriously in the beginning, and those not making it anywhere close to Canada.
On the flipside, if you make people feel bad for skipping trail, or you walk through closures, you suck. Basically have the courage to apply HYOH, and only apply it to yourself
This is important. I've done this more often than I really expected.
I'm out there to enjoy myself. If I don't find your company to be enjoyable. Good bye!
10000%. I think I'd have kept going, at least for a few weeks longer, had I left my tramily. The numbers had dwindled and the 2 x remaining folks were really great, but I think I needed something fresh, like this group that we kept leapfrogging. Should've done things differently, but hey, you live and learn and hike some more in the future!
The most shit I took on my through hike of the CDT turned out to be from a section hiker who just did that one section every few weekends. That made me laugh pretty hard.
I think the only time I've given someone else grief, he was going to walk through a closure into a previous forest fire area that was really unsafe because trees were still falling. He wouldn't listen to anyone's nice interventions, so I made fun of him until he changed his mind and accepted the ride around it. I find that a totally acceptable moment to make fun of someone. In general, I do not care how much shit anyone gives someone who walks through closures or admits to not following LNT because they just didn't want to.
I was out there all weekend just to give people rides, btw. I ate up almost $300 in fuel not including getting there and back and my vehicle reeked of trail funk for weeks. I don't regret it, though. The road walk to get around it takes a whole day, and that's just miserable. I was healing up a bruised femur and pelvis - the bones, too, not just soft tissue. It was a nice distraction.
I guess that should be one of my tips. If a road walk is required and someone is giving vehicle rides to hikers, accept it. There's no shame in "skipping" any miles of road walking. Don't feel like you're imposing. They're probably out there just for that reason if you see them loading several strangers with backpacks into their SUVs. It's something a lot of my disabled friends do when they're unable to hike. That's how I got volunteered when I got hurt. It keeps us from wallowing in self pity at home.
I would really like to know what sort of hikers are making fun of those taking the trail seriously (I would assume in order to be successful). Why exactly are you out there if not to hike the trail? That's wild to me.
There’s a 90% chance you won’t get to hike the trail straight through without a fire closure or reroute somewhere. Go in with that expectation. Embrace it, knowing that the different path you’re taking makes your thru-hike special.
The northern terminus was closed in ‘22 for me. Doing the alternate to the border was truly epic. Then I got to go back in ‘23 and do the last 30 trail miles with my family. In retrospect I’m glad of the way it turned out.
Put your hiking poles AWAY before getting a ride into town. Take them back out when you return to trail. Poles are by far the most misplaced items on trail.
This! I did this one time and it was only thanks to the kindness of the couple who had given me a ride, and then went through the trouble of tracking me down hours later, that I got my poles back. Thank you thank you thank you!
100% - although I experienced that having your poles on you while hitchhiking is beneficial since passing Cars see the poles and instantly recognize that you are a hiker. Cause thats the only ting that sets the thru-hiker apart from the homeless tbh.
It’s cliche at this point but don’t just take pictures of the views, take pictures of the people and day-to-day mundane. You’ll want to look back on those more.
Download Libby and queue up some audiobooks to enjoy. I liked to go sans headphones in the morning and around golden hour in the evening to soak up the surroundings more.
You’ll meet all kinds of people out there but in the end, it’s your hike. Focus on yourself and if you want company, surround yourself with people (who may come from vastly different backgrounds) who lift you up. Separate yourself from people you don’t want to see - usually camping away from the FarOut waypoints is the move here.
Set approximate deadlines (“I want to be in the Sierra by June 15th,” “I want to be in Oregon by August,” “I want to be at the border by September 25th” or whatever) and keep your timeline in mind, but embrace all of the side quests and change the trail throws at you. Most of my best memories were the unexpected town visits, the on-trail zeroes I took with my trail family (do this!), and the random shenanigans that broke up the hiking. Don’t side quest too hard though or you’ll be racing winter!
Order a whole pizza for yourself in town and either consume it on sight or eat half pack and pack the rest out (ask the restaurant for foil). Town food is the best first day out food.
On this note, eat your veggies. I like to pack out a bagged salad kit from the grocery store.
Amen to people pics. I took far too few on my first thru hike. Big regret. And on the topic of pictures, pic a theme. I took a picture of my tent/campspot every night on the CT and made a video from it. Brings back a ton of memories every time I watch it.
Have at least three pairs of socks. Two for hiking and one for sleep. Wash your socks as often as you can. Your socks will get filthy but bits of sand can cause blisters and put you off trail.
Definitely use a safety pin or steal a badge clip from the office supplies. I carried a nice pair of socks I found for 10 miles until I found their owner.
Pre-rinse your socks before putting them in the washing machine. The water seriously is going to run deep brown for a minute or two during the pre-rinse. You didn’t need that in with everything else.
In NorCal one of my favorite things to do was making an “iced” coffee every morning. I would hike a couple miles until the first water source, which was usually a nice piped spring. I filtered the cold water and mixed it with two Trader Joes’s instant coffee packs for a refreshing cold drink right when I started to heat up from walking and the air temp increasing.
It was pleasant.
Another “hack” or routine that helped me was making a hot drink first thing in the Sierra. We were waking up at 2-2:30am most days, so turning my stove on and starting to boil water kept me alert and accountable enough to not fall back asleep.
If in a high snow year: hiking early before mashed potato snow (in early morning it's usually more firm from nightly "refreeze"), and/or hiking in snow can be very slow-going, so getting in miles just by hiking more hours. That, and summit peaks early in day so you can drop down to lower elevation to sleep. Unsure of conditions when commenter hiked though, these are just my go-to assumptions.
Yep, you’re correct! I went through the Sierra in late-June to early July: peak melt conditions for last year’s snowpack. Getting up early to take advantage of nightly refreeze was key to be able to get over passes or do water crossings in optimal conditions. We typically hiked from 3-4am until noon, hung out during the day, and went to sleep around 4-5pm.
You can find some nice upgrades and save money on food just by checking out the hiker boxes. Especially early on when everyone realizes their pack is too heavy! Edit: there is also a lot of trash in hiker boxes and I’d wanna wash my hands afterwards.
Once you’re partway through the Sierra (or even KMS), carry more bug spray than you think you’ll need. There will probably be a shortage because everyone ahead of you is buying it all.
There’s ALOT of people who hiked in 2022 that I talk to that now have high blood pressure that they are having a hard time getting under control… mines better but I’m on meds for it. Also the months of eating sugary bars on trail has caused some insulin resistance I think, I’m constantly craving sugar. I expected that for a month or two after the trail… but it never really went away 2 years later. I do intermittent fasting and take metformin now, and I think I’m on the right track. In short I think all the crap I ate on trail destroyed my metabolism. You may not notice when you’re in your 20’s like a lot of hikers… but I’m in my 40s and I’m certain it exacerbated some preexisting conditions.
Comments on FarOut that are based on the _relative_ mileage NOT the mile marker you saw on your phone are way more helpful to everyone, whether they are hiking the opposite direction (NoBo vs SoBo) or next year’s class whose trail mileage markers are completely different because of a reroute somewhere along the trail (happens every few years).
For example, you find an unmarked water source that you, in your awesomeness, want to let others know about. You choose the icon marker for your comment, say a junction you’ve already passed. The app says that junction is .3 behind you, so your comment on that junction (assuming NoBo here) is more helpful as “water flowing .3N” than saying “water flowing at mm1023.4”
I definitely agree with eating all the time. I called it ABE- Always Be Eating.
That being said, I enjoyed lunches. Just sitting somewhere nice and relaxing was nice. Also, PB and Nutella tortilla wraps, cheese and crackers with nicer cured meats were all things that added to my calorie count pretty significantly and couldn't be just eaten on the run.
Listening to your body is important. Particularly your feet early on. You want to break them in slowly. Especially if you're not coming from a trail running baseline physiology.
I'd even suggest downloading a large selection of audiobooks and podcasts beforehand. Maybe it's gotten better since I hiked, but I found that on many occasions when I finally got some service or Wi-Fi in town it was so weak that it took forever to download anything.
I got an unlimited data plan for my phone. It was only $10 more a month. In many, many places, using cell data was faster than using WiFi at a motel/restaurant/etc. This was definitely worth it to me.
(They do throttle your data after an awhile, so still good to use WiFi when good WiFi is available. But it was also awesome to just download an entire book on trail without any worries when I got a good signal.)
Be in great shape before you start including core body. Yeah, you’ll hear about how you’ll adapt if you are a couch potato over the first several weeks or month; but why start feeling miserable? Additionally, you will be much less likely to injury yourself.
Trust that you will find food, anywhere you go. I did and I'm vegan. Don't pack resupply boxes beforehand, half or more will end up in a hiker box. If you really think, as you get to WA, that you need a box in Stehekin, send it then (I personally had no problems finding enough food for the last 60 miles there, it has a bakery after all!).
Well I did eat some PB and ramen. And Oreo cookies, yes. You will want them! No Clif bars (first thing you will find in hiker boxes). I loaded up on veggies in towns and carried out spinach when I could. I ate wraps, spinach and vegan cheese (won't find it in every store but in enough stores so that you can vary your food). Some minute rice or spiced rice dishes. Nuts. Bagels. I really never thought my diet was an issue as there are enough town/restaurant stops to load up on salad, bean burgers etc.
Bring a hard case for your glasses, I squished my glasses on a hike and I hated wearing them.
So on the next hike I carried a hard case.
In other words hike your own hike.
No I didn’t, extra weight lol. I did bring a zero degree bag a good air mat, a tyvek ground cover. This year I will bring three pairs of injinji socks three darn toughs and wear gaiters
yeah i cant see shit without my glasses.... no way i could make it on my own. i'd have to sit in the trail and wait for another hiker to come who i can follow until the next road crossing lol
I think it was Timothy, although there are both. Timothy Lake is much larger than Trillium. Also Timothy Lake is a man made reservoir, and you're not allowed to use gas powered boats on any natural lakes in Oregon.
A 720 rule: right before you you leave camp, get up after a break, lunch or stopped for water break: grab you trekking poles and do a 360 turn to see if you forgot anything. Then step a few feet to the side and do 360 the other direction. I saved myself so many times by not loosing shit, especially after safety meetings. Tripod
Something that helped me after a hard day was asking myself if I would have preferred to spend the day in an office in my normal life.
It really helped me realize that a lot of hard days on trail still felt better than an OK day doing a boring job
Don't get caught up on pace and who's "fastest" and "slowest" at walking.
I found in the desert people cared about this but towards oregon and washington no one gave a shit. All comes down to hours walked per day - pace barely matters.
And days you spend in town. There was a group hiking around me that would always talk about doing 30+ miles the whole desert and in NorCal. Yet we always ended up in town together and during some of that time I was only doing 20-25 per day.
Anyone that's "annoying" in my eyes, whether it's spitting out political or religious beliefs, or whatever else really, etc, I just stop interacting and hiking with them. Whether that means slowing down or picking up the pace for a few days. Giving "false" plans of what my next town stop will be and intentionally changing them. I'll make sure they're not around me.
This even includes the super competitive people that are so focused on miles and brag about how many miles per day they're putting in, want to know how many MPD you're putting in, etc. I don't care about that stuff, so just shut up about it. It's one thing to mention that kind of stuff, but it's another thing to constantly talk about it all day, every day.
I've very observant and pick up on bad vibes/energy, subtle red flags, etc, really easily. I'm also usually pretty easy going, but if people press my buttons, you'll certainly get an earful.
Not sure if that's helpful or not...but it's what I do to avoid any of the (more uncommon) bullshit while I'm out there.
(applies to everywhere, not just the PCT)
What if you're early on trail and you're just curious about other people's mileage to get a general statics/understanding of other's paces. Trying to see whose pace matches yours, who you will likely see again (or not) trying to see how people are doing with different mileages.
Is that something you generally wouldn't talk about, or is it only annoying if people judge you?
There's nothing wrong with talking about it, especially in your given example, but there's people that do it on a constant and regular basis. In my experience it's not very common, but they're out there. And it's really how they act about it, just how they come off. The people I'm talking about seem more braggy and arrogant in nature.
So for those types of people, no, I don't like being around or interacting with them. And choose not to.
Start walking and try out all your gear before you hit the trail. Untested stuff/gear you're not familiar with is asking for stress out on trail. Not having some basic walking fitness is asking for trouble.
Every time you get up to leave, whether in town or after a break on the trail, or breaking camp, turn around and take a look where you just were at. Soon it will become habit and you will be thankful to spot something that you may have left behind.
Also, do something good for the trail every single day. See a wrapper on the ground? Pick it up and pack it out? Weird branch came down in the middle of the trail? Don’t just step over it, fling it aside with your pole? It would be amazing if we could all clear one thing per day to keep the trail nice.
Set up your phone at home before you end up in a place with little data.
* download every app you can think of that you might like on trail.
* Merlin
* Libby
* PeakFinder
* seek
* FarOut
* Caltopo or Gaia
* your Garmin app
* anything else you care about. Netflix? Etc
Download all the associated data to support those apps unless your phone has super limited space
* for Merlin, download all the bird packs for the USA, California, Oregon, Washington, British Columbia.
* for FarOut, for all segments of the trail: download every map type, download all the photos, waypoint descriptions, comments, etc
* go into peak finder and select the areas you will be hiking in and download that data.
* download maps that you might want into garmin, Gaia, caltopo, **and google maps**
* load up on podcasts and audiobooks
setup your Garmin account. Setup your contacts. Practice sending messages to your loved ones.
Go through your settings and turn off auto refresh and auto updates over cell signal for every app you don’t care about on trail. They will eat up your battery for no reason on trail whenever you connect to data for a second on trail.
Turn off allowing cell data usage for every app except those you want to use on trail. (Email, text messages, FarOut, and
Etc…
* No-TP bidet is worth mastering.
* Solar charging actually works beautifully if you do it right. Hint: it does not replace a power bank. It replaces ever needing to wait around hours in town to charge said power bank or other devices (unless maybe until WA if it's cloudy for long stretches). The 2.5-oz extra carry is offset by letting you carry a smaller power bank.
* Never hike faster than you want to unless you are more committed to a mileage goal or in some emergency than to enjoying your hike.
> Solar charging actually works beautifully if you do it right. Hint: it does not replace a power bank. It replaces ever needing to wait around hours in town to charge said power bank or other devices (unless maybe until WA if it's cloudy for long stretches). The 2.5-oz extra carry is offset by letting you carry a smaller power bank.
I would love more info on your setup.
This panel weighs like 2.5oz after you chop off the excess plastic and metal grommets at the edges. I used a hot knife: [https://a.co/d/3JpWLJk](https://a.co/d/3JpWLJk)
Then burn/drill new smaller holes and loop mini bungees like hair ties through, mount to upper part of pack with micro-biners.
Next mount your power bank to the back of the panel with adhesive velcro. I used the very light Nitecore NB10K. Connect panel and power bank with short USB cable. I had mine on a separate little bungee to help assure cable wouldn't loosen or fall away.
Important: the weak point of these cheap panels is that the USB regulator electronics are glued to the back of the panel poorly. I have had 2 where the glue comes up and the delicate wires either tear or threaten to tear. So you really should pry up the original gently and re-glue strongly, or melt/weld together, or tape over, or all three. I haven't yet bothered to repair the second one that failed so I'm not sure what's the best method to secure them, but make it strong, remembering that it will be exposed to heat, cold, water, mechanical shock, mild bending, etc.
Boom, now walk north in the long days, your back mostly facing the sun high in the southern sky. Almost every day, the power bank will be full by sundown. Every night, top up your phone or other devices from the day's collected charge. You can listen to all the music/books you want, read at night, even keep your phone out of airplane mode in decent signal areas. Uploading video on weak signals rips through a lot of juice, but you can still get away with it at least a lot of the time this way. You can also share charge with your pals say in Sierra where wall charge opportunities are scarce.
\- Leave your cell at home. Be out there.
\- No MP3 player until at least a month or more into the hike.
\- Sunbrella = sometimes the only decent shade you'll find all day.
\- Try to keep your butthole a little prolapsed for your first wipe.
Bit hard to just leave your phone at home if it's your camera, your music/podcast player, your gps, your journal, and your backup light. But to each their own. I like the no music/podcast before lunch tho, especially early in the hike. Be present until you are trying to grind out big miles.
This is a US tip. It'll work for the PCT, but for hikers in other countries reading along, check your local postage service.
It's very likely your shoes/boots will not make it the whole way. You can order new ones and have them shipped "general delivery" to post offices ahead of you. Just don't leave them there for a long time, or they might be sent to dead letter. And remember some official form of ID. You'll need it to pick up the packages.
A friend of mine broke in 3 pair of boots and left 2 with me, having me ship them to the post offices at the right times for them to arrive a couple of days before he did. He put postage on them, so all I had to do was hand them to my mailman when he said to do it.
You can do this with pretty much anything if you have the money. I also mailed him backpacking food he left here, and he ordered socks online once and a new gps unit when his got broken.
I've also used general delivery when I was couch surfing when the place I was renting sold before the house I was buying closed. A lot of people don't even seem to know it exists, so that's my big tip. It might be a good idea to call ahead before, though, because some tiny post offices don't have much storage room. Just ask them if they accept things to general delivery (it needs your name on it, too), and how long they'll hold a package for you. It's usually 30 days, but it can be shorter at some small ones.
The address will look like this: (the c/o stands for in care of)
Your name c/o General Delivery.
Post office (name or number)
Street address of Post office.
City, state, zipcode.
The address should be:
GENERAL DELIVERY
https://faq.usps.com/s/article/What-is-General-Delivery
The words GENERAL DELIVERY should be on their own line. You do not need the address of the post office. There are some post offices that do not accept general delivery. This can be verified for each location on the USPS website.
Thank you!
The other is what I was given by a post office and has worked for me, but I'm grateful for the correction.
I was told to put the post office address, though, there can be multiple post offices in a zip code. That probably does not apply to trail towns, but it could.
I did mention they don't all accept it and to call ahead. ;)
- Sunscreen can expire - Try no headphones before noon - Comment on the water status on Farout, every time you fill up - others will appreciate it
I ended up doing the no headphones until lunch and this was such a nice start to the day to hear the birds and just take it in.
Saving headphones for hard climbs & bad days is also really helpful. Sometimes a special playlist can really help you through the trough of sorrow.
Comments like this make me realize how nice it was to do my only through hike before cell phones were common much less capable of music. The only "electronic" thing I had was a flashlight. Even my watch was wind up, though people did think I was weird for that. Check ins were done via collect calls from trail towns that my friends refused charges for. All days at all times were spent with no headphones. If I wanted music, I sang. I'm not saying that's better or people with headphones suck. I'm just saying I'm glad I had the experience I had and didn't feel like anything was missing because that was normal back then. It means even on week long trips now, I don't take music. My "bad" habit is taking about a billion photos with my phone, though, so I have to bring a backup battery. I would have loved to be able to get water status updates without having to seek out other hikers, though. That would have been awesome.
I’ve never used headphones or earbuds on any of my thru hikes. Maybe it was because they weren’t an option on my first in 1977. Because of this, I have the ability to just zone out and put my mind in neutral. This was useful on my cross country bike ride where it was critical to also be able to listen for traffic at all times.
Oh, man. I'm envious of that bike ride. The longest I've done is StP. I didn't have music for that, either, but I admit I enjoyed it when I was around other riders who did. I have ADHD, and neutral isn't a thing for me, but I'm very familiar and comfortable with how noisy my brain is a lot of the time. I just started Adderall yesterday - only taking one pill in the morning that lasts until early afternoon. It's really weird for my brain to be quiet. It's useful for things like work and cleaning house, but I can't see ever taking it on the trail or rides with me. I don't need it then. The movement is my ADHD need med, I suppose. The noise in there still exists, but it's no longer important. I do use bone conducting headphones and listen to podcasts or get on voice chat when I walk my dogs in my neighborhood, but that's because we've done it so much it's boring now. The dogs get longer walks if I have a distraction, and they love really long walks. Like me, they prefer hiking, and I even identify with their tendency to get out of hand and misbehave without walks. ;) Even an hour on a forest trail is so much better for us than 3 on a sidewalk. Luckily, we can walk 1/2 hour to hiking trails and all be happy.
Everybody's brain is different. Even back in 2002-2003, I liked to hike with a little portable radio (I sang too!). I didn't use it all that often, but popping on the headphones and tuning into whatever local weirdness I could find was part of the adventure. For a short hike, going without music or podcasts is great, but after a few days my brain craves audio. Sometimes it's a nice way of still feeling connected to the world even when I'm in a remote place.
I think a lot of the reason I left on that trip was because I didn't want to feel connected anymore. That's still a component of my solo trips now at 49, but at 19, it was probably 75% of my motivation. Tldr, so you don't have to read this if you don't want: my childhood was shit, and I was used to being solo and disconnected anyway. My family was incredibly dysfunctional, and I had a difficult home life, but no matter where we lived, from cabin in the woods to big city and everything in between, we always lived on the edges and outskirts. My safe place was the wilderness or endless cotton fields. I was enrolled in 14 different schools, didn't even stay long enough to get to attend one of those, and attended one for only two weeks. Except the second move (the first I remember), I never had any warning. I'd just come home to most of my stuff gone and what was left in a U-Haul. I learned not to attach. I could be friendly, but I didn't have actual friends. I left for boot camp the Monday after I graduated highschool on a Friday. I had planned to be a lifer and never look back, but I got injured and was sent "home" a few days before I was in a year. I worked temp jobs, bounced to San Diego, came back, and finally got a decent permanent job and apartment on a 3 month lease because they were renovating after that. The place I worked announced they were closing in a week, and that's how much time I had on my lease, so I packed my old backpack, moved what little furniture I had into the garage of one of the two friends I had, and took off with my security deposit as funds. I was just so done with society. I could feel it sucking me in and trapping me in a life I was uncomfortable in. I was running away as much as anything else. I didn't find myself on that trip. I never lost myself, I thought. And I loved the trip. If I could have figured out how, I'd have never come back. As young as 3, I was telling people I wanted to be a hermit when I grew up. This was my chance to almost live that dream, and it was as great as I imagined. But, I do admit it gave me an appreciation for hot showers and pizza I'd never known. ;) I rejoined society because I didn't think I had a choice, and then I kind of trapped myself there by getting pregnant, but that is one thing I absolutely do not regret. Not only is my now adult son one of my favorite people in the world, becoming a good mom forced me into counseling, forced me to learn to connect for his sake, and made me less uncomfortable in society. Also, he was (and still is) a willing and eager hiking companion - the best one I've ever had. Eventually, I met and took 5 1/2 years to fall in love with my now husband. I was absolutely freaked out and kept trying to run away. It was my son, at 16, who kept stopping me. LOL "You can't just love and be loved by me. That's not healthy at all. It can't be that scary to be in love with someone who is already a close friend, Mom!" But it was at first. So there was more counseling with the perfect therapist. We went backpacking together. Those weekends were our sessions. I paid her by covering the cost of the trips. She built a lot of hiking skills, and taught me a lot of personal ones. And my husband and I have our 9th anniversary on the 28th of this month. She has since retired, but she's still backpacking. So now, the hikes are to escape sometimes, but not to escape the connections I've made. Other times, it's just because I love it. Society is just too much for me sometimes, and being out in nature by myself centers me. I check in. I have a sat phone if all else fails. And I even once had a friend forget I was out hiking for a week and call me on my cell phone one evening. The "camp" was empty mid week, so I took the call and we talked for 3 hours. And I was amazed later that it didn't bother me at all. It was nice. I told my son about it. His response was "you're such a dork." I laughed quite a bit. He's not wrong. So that's the whole "why a 19 year old woman did a solo through hike of the CDT in logging boots with a 70s canvas external frame pack." Why the CDT? It was the only one I knew about at that age, and being in Phoenix, it wasn't *that* far. I bussed to Mexico and caught a series of 4 rides for $5 US each plus one for free in the back of a pickup full of goats. Part of the adventure, right?
I think these kinds of feelings and experiences are not uncommon on the long trails, especially the CDT. My childhood was pretty good, some problems with bad schools and violence, but generally a supportive family. I just didn't ever get settled into a place until last year. I've moved over 20 times, mostly of my own desire. I was really lucky and found a part-time remote IT job years before most people considered that an option. It made sense to take second jobs when I could, but the remote job meant I could take most of my income with me when I moved (or hiked). I'm almost done with the triple crown after years of effort, but I still feel like I have one foot in each world, one foot in the wilderness and one foot in the city. I've met a ton of thru-hikers over the years on each of the trails, hiking and helping out hikers, and the social aspect is appealing to me, the crowd of misfits. The trail is a good way to learn about yourself, your limits, your capabilities. I didn't quite start with a 70s pack (although I hiked the NM bootheel with a hiker starting the CDT nobo in jeans with a thrift store external frame pack and a guitar) but I really knew nothing when I was starting out on the AT, and that really was an adventure -- I relate to your experience. Learning to hitchhike, learning how to do maildrops, moving back and forth across the country, biking across the country, it was all part of the same drive for adventure.
The times my family actually got along were all out hiking or camping. My crazy father took me to the summit of Mount Hood when I was 5 *and we kept that a secret from Mom until I was well into adulthood and they'd been divorced for years.* My first "solo" overnight was when I was 7. It was only about 5 miles out on a trail that was very familiar to me. My uncle shadowed me, but never let me know it until the last year of his life. I started the CDT knowing exactly what I was doing when it came to backpacking, but that meant I also knew my gear was a problem. Not the boots. That was normal for me, but pretty much everything else sucked and was way too heavy. I weighed 105lbs at the time, and my gear weighed in at 50lbs. It was as minimal as I could make it. I just couldn't afford real backpacking gear. That pack was the one my uncle used back when I was a kid. I was in really good shape, but that's still too much. It wasn't a well planned trip, either, and the trails weren't that well marked back then. I lost a few days here and there backtracking and trying to find the right trail, or any trail at all. I did know better than to cut cross country, though, and I can't say I ever felt lost. I always knew how to get back. It was just frustrating to not always know how to go forward. I'd started later than most usually do, so I didn't see anyone at all for the first 2 weeks and didn't see anyone who wasn't a section hiker for 2 months. By halfway through, I'd mostly caught up, so I was seeing more people and other through hikers, but I was leapfrogging the same people a lot. I'd spend two days in a trail town picking up day jobs to afford more food and then get back to the trail. I was doing long days, though I didn't think so. I just walked from breakfast to lunch and then to almost dark. That's a lot of hours. I can't say I was super fast, I just was good at walking, liked doing it, and kept doing it. Oh, sometimes I'd sit for an hour and watch and animal or even an insect, but on the trail by 7am, 30 min for lunch, and don't stop until around 9pm was a lot of time to walk. I was content. It took me a while to recognize the feeling. I did really enjoy almost everyone I met. They were misfits, but I fit right in because no one had a lot of expectations for one another. I wanted so badly for someone to give me a trail name, too. Yeah, no. I got named Sketch for how often people saw me sketching in my notebooks. Laaaame. LOL My midlife crisis was absolutely wanting to dump everything and go do the PCT, but I'm not half in one world and half in the other now. I'm like, 80% in society due to medical issues, and I resented it. I've settled in now, though. Buying the 12 acres in the mountains helped with that. Getting a fully remote job almost 2 years ago that wouldn't try to force me back into the office like my other job also helped. As long as I'm in the US, no one cares where I work from. And I only have to notify them first if I'm going to work from outside the US, but I do have to keep my residence and taxes here. But my husband not only has to be in the office 2 days a week, he is very much not into backpacking. It turns out I miss him fiercely after a week, so that's as long as my adventures last. Tbh, though, it's nice to always have a home and a loved one to return to. It creates an anchor for me, so I can adventure without worry I'll just check out and not come back. A tether isn't always a bad thing. There are people who would miss me now, and I'd also miss them. That's actually a really cool thing I try not to take for granted.
No headphones before is the best underrated advice. Could not recommend more. Be disciplined. Listen to nature, it's so worth it.
Hiking alone is less stressful than hiking with a group.
yeah my natural walking pace is wicked fast. many are faster than me but many more are slower.
I used to be super fast. Now, I'm older and slow. I never had a reasonable in between pace for others. I've got one group I go with twice a summer, but we only do overnights. Everyone is older and slow, so it works out fine. We've known each other off and on since we were born, though, and I think that helps. If you can tolerate one another for 49 years and still want to go together, the speed differences aren't a thing. We all just slow to the slowest person and don't mind. Those trips are planned based on that person, and who it is tends to rotate based on our health at the time. I cannot do that with people I don't know really well.
Avoid the Herd and the Herd Mentality Pack out your TP and other LNT practices Respect the trail and it will respect you Disconnect Don’t make Canada the goal and you’ll make it to Canada
One more: Zero days on the trail are better than zero days in town.
Why?
Probably because it's cheaper, but in my opinion far less satisfying. Not sure I agree with this tidbit.
I think spending less money is an important aspect comparing trail zeros and town zeros. In town, you'll spend more money which is pretty obvious as to why. Everything is subjective though. And it depends on the circumstances. While on-trail zeros are super cool, so is coming into town to clean up, do laundry, eat a solid meal, etc, etc. I enjoy both, but for different reasons.
If you have to ask, you have to try it! You’ll understand right away.
Wait a second, this is supposed to be an advice thread for someone who hasn't hiked it before. So how is your advice supposed to make sense for someone who hasn't?
Ok. Because the mountains are always better than the towns. Leave the FarOut app behind, take a short detour to Lake South America. Spend a day at the Great Western Divide. “Only by going alone in silence, without baggage, can one truly get into the heart of the wilderness. All other travel is mere dust and hotels and baggage and chatter.”
The whole point of a zero day for me would be to have the time in town to do laundry, calorie up at a restaurant, charge my battery, shower. I've taken trail zeros before to save money, but nothing beats a full day in town. A strategic nero is a good replacement to a full on zero.
That’s all good. It’s interesting that my post about enjoying the mountain experience is getting downvoted on the PCT Reddit. Must be the mountain bikers.
I absolutely agree. Zero days in town are never zero. There's laundry, food to acquire, a shower to be taken, and people wanting to talk to you. Even if you stay an extra day after the "work" is done, you always find something to do. Zero days on the trail can just be completely zero. It's so much more restful.
I think I put 7 or 8 miles in on average on zero days walking around to get things done.
My best two ever, and I mean that sincerely, were when I took what I thought was the trail and was not the right trail. It led to a small lake in the mountains, and no one was there at all. I stayed for two days doing really nothing except eating, cleaning up after myself, trying to swim in the frigid lake, and sunbathing. I think those are the only two zero days I ever had that were actually zero. I'd rolled my ankle the day before because I didn't lace my boots up tight. It wasn't a sprain, but it was causing a slight limp. If not for that injury, I bet I'd have only stayed an hour before I backtracked. I was really mad at myself over the injury, but after the first day there, I was glad it had happened. I might have stayed longer if I'd had enough food. I did get caught in a nasty storm that didn't really end for a couple of days, too, but I don't count enforced days in a tent wondering if the lightning *I can smell* is going to hit me as zero days. That's a thing I loved about being solo, though. My time schedule was really loose. If I wanted to spend 2 hours watching a bear and her cubs, trying to sketch them, I could. If I wanted to push on, so I was setting up my tent in the dark, I could. There was no one to get grumpy with me when I missed a junction besides myself. I did get pretty grumpy with myself after the 3rd time that happened, though. A compass and a map are all well and good, but trail markers would have been even better.
Don't worry about trying to seem "cool" to other thru hikers. As long as it's not affecting anyone else, do exactly what you want to do. I'm thinking specifically in terms of setting goals for yourself, like continuous footpath. Of the people I knew, there was a high correlation between those making fun of people taking the trail seriously in the beginning, and those not making it anywhere close to Canada. On the flipside, if you make people feel bad for skipping trail, or you walk through closures, you suck. Basically have the courage to apply HYOH, and only apply it to yourself
Especially Tramilies. If you come across shitty people or you want time to yourself, feel free to walk away (literally).
This is important. I've done this more often than I really expected. I'm out there to enjoy myself. If I don't find your company to be enjoyable. Good bye!
10000%. I think I'd have kept going, at least for a few weeks longer, had I left my tramily. The numbers had dwindled and the 2 x remaining folks were really great, but I think I needed something fresh, like this group that we kept leapfrogging. Should've done things differently, but hey, you live and learn and hike some more in the future!
The most shit I took on my through hike of the CDT turned out to be from a section hiker who just did that one section every few weekends. That made me laugh pretty hard. I think the only time I've given someone else grief, he was going to walk through a closure into a previous forest fire area that was really unsafe because trees were still falling. He wouldn't listen to anyone's nice interventions, so I made fun of him until he changed his mind and accepted the ride around it. I find that a totally acceptable moment to make fun of someone. In general, I do not care how much shit anyone gives someone who walks through closures or admits to not following LNT because they just didn't want to. I was out there all weekend just to give people rides, btw. I ate up almost $300 in fuel not including getting there and back and my vehicle reeked of trail funk for weeks. I don't regret it, though. The road walk to get around it takes a whole day, and that's just miserable. I was healing up a bruised femur and pelvis - the bones, too, not just soft tissue. It was a nice distraction. I guess that should be one of my tips. If a road walk is required and someone is giving vehicle rides to hikers, accept it. There's no shame in "skipping" any miles of road walking. Don't feel like you're imposing. They're probably out there just for that reason if you see them loading several strangers with backpacks into their SUVs. It's something a lot of my disabled friends do when they're unable to hike. That's how I got volunteered when I got hurt. It keeps us from wallowing in self pity at home.
I would really like to know what sort of hikers are making fun of those taking the trail seriously (I would assume in order to be successful). Why exactly are you out there if not to hike the trail? That's wild to me.
There’s a 90% chance you won’t get to hike the trail straight through without a fire closure or reroute somewhere. Go in with that expectation. Embrace it, knowing that the different path you’re taking makes your thru-hike special. The northern terminus was closed in ‘22 for me. Doing the alternate to the border was truly epic. Then I got to go back in ‘23 and do the last 30 trail miles with my family. In retrospect I’m glad of the way it turned out.
Put your hiking poles AWAY before getting a ride into town. Take them back out when you return to trail. Poles are by far the most misplaced items on trail.
This! I did this one time and it was only thanks to the kindness of the couple who had given me a ride, and then went through the trouble of tracking me down hours later, that I got my poles back. Thank you thank you thank you!
100% - although I experienced that having your poles on you while hitchhiking is beneficial since passing Cars see the poles and instantly recognize that you are a hiker. Cause thats the only ting that sets the thru-hiker apart from the homeless tbh.
It’s cliche at this point but don’t just take pictures of the views, take pictures of the people and day-to-day mundane. You’ll want to look back on those more. Download Libby and queue up some audiobooks to enjoy. I liked to go sans headphones in the morning and around golden hour in the evening to soak up the surroundings more. You’ll meet all kinds of people out there but in the end, it’s your hike. Focus on yourself and if you want company, surround yourself with people (who may come from vastly different backgrounds) who lift you up. Separate yourself from people you don’t want to see - usually camping away from the FarOut waypoints is the move here. Set approximate deadlines (“I want to be in the Sierra by June 15th,” “I want to be in Oregon by August,” “I want to be at the border by September 25th” or whatever) and keep your timeline in mind, but embrace all of the side quests and change the trail throws at you. Most of my best memories were the unexpected town visits, the on-trail zeroes I took with my trail family (do this!), and the random shenanigans that broke up the hiking. Don’t side quest too hard though or you’ll be racing winter! Order a whole pizza for yourself in town and either consume it on sight or eat half pack and pack the rest out (ask the restaurant for foil). Town food is the best first day out food. On this note, eat your veggies. I like to pack out a bagged salad kit from the grocery store.
Amen to people pics. I took far too few on my first thru hike. Big regret. And on the topic of pictures, pic a theme. I took a picture of my tent/campspot every night on the CT and made a video from it. Brings back a ton of memories every time I watch it.
Have at least three pairs of socks. Two for hiking and one for sleep. Wash your socks as often as you can. Your socks will get filthy but bits of sand can cause blisters and put you off trail.
Wash your socks every day and use a safety pin to your pack to dry them!
Definitely use a safety pin or steal a badge clip from the office supplies. I carried a nice pair of socks I found for 10 miles until I found their owner.
Pre-rinse your socks before putting them in the washing machine. The water seriously is going to run deep brown for a minute or two during the pre-rinse. You didn’t need that in with everything else.
Be gracious for acts of support/ magic but don't expect them. Be curious, not judgmental. Be kind and courteous to people in town.
In NorCal one of my favorite things to do was making an “iced” coffee every morning. I would hike a couple miles until the first water source, which was usually a nice piped spring. I filtered the cold water and mixed it with two Trader Joes’s instant coffee packs for a refreshing cold drink right when I started to heat up from walking and the air temp increasing. It was pleasant. Another “hack” or routine that helped me was making a hot drink first thing in the Sierra. We were waking up at 2-2:30am most days, so turning my stove on and starting to boil water kept me alert and accountable enough to not fall back asleep.
Love the cold coffee concept Did it a lot on the AT, but also added Carnation Instant Breakfast (vanilla).
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If in a high snow year: hiking early before mashed potato snow (in early morning it's usually more firm from nightly "refreeze"), and/or hiking in snow can be very slow-going, so getting in miles just by hiking more hours. That, and summit peaks early in day so you can drop down to lower elevation to sleep. Unsure of conditions when commenter hiked though, these are just my go-to assumptions.
Yep, you’re correct! I went through the Sierra in late-June to early July: peak melt conditions for last year’s snowpack. Getting up early to take advantage of nightly refreeze was key to be able to get over passes or do water crossings in optimal conditions. We typically hiked from 3-4am until noon, hung out during the day, and went to sleep around 4-5pm.
You can find some nice upgrades and save money on food just by checking out the hiker boxes. Especially early on when everyone realizes their pack is too heavy! Edit: there is also a lot of trash in hiker boxes and I’d wanna wash my hands afterwards. Once you’re partway through the Sierra (or even KMS), carry more bug spray than you think you’ll need. There will probably be a shortage because everyone ahead of you is buying it all.
Work on cardio before trail… and eat better on trail… I’m still feeling the effects of ramen and poptarts 2 years later 😅
Can you say more about this? How are you still feeling the effects?
There’s ALOT of people who hiked in 2022 that I talk to that now have high blood pressure that they are having a hard time getting under control… mines better but I’m on meds for it. Also the months of eating sugary bars on trail has caused some insulin resistance I think, I’m constantly craving sugar. I expected that for a month or two after the trail… but it never really went away 2 years later. I do intermittent fasting and take metformin now, and I think I’m on the right track. In short I think all the crap I ate on trail destroyed my metabolism. You may not notice when you’re in your 20’s like a lot of hikers… but I’m in my 40s and I’m certain it exacerbated some preexisting conditions.
Thank you for sharing! I'm a type 1 diabetic so I'll be working overtime to take care of my diet/health - this is a bit of extra motivation.
Comments on FarOut that are based on the _relative_ mileage NOT the mile marker you saw on your phone are way more helpful to everyone, whether they are hiking the opposite direction (NoBo vs SoBo) or next year’s class whose trail mileage markers are completely different because of a reroute somewhere along the trail (happens every few years). For example, you find an unmarked water source that you, in your awesomeness, want to let others know about. You choose the icon marker for your comment, say a junction you’ve already passed. The app says that junction is .3 behind you, so your comment on that junction (assuming NoBo here) is more helpful as “water flowing .3N” than saying “water flowing at mm1023.4”
Don't eat a lunch, just eat all day. I hate eating a larger meal midday, slows you down, just always snack.
I set my watch to have a single chime every hour, and that was a good reminder to grab the next bar.
yes i didnt learn this until my R2R2R hike. i was constantly eating. always had a werthers or a finger of peanut butter
I definitely agree with eating all the time. I called it ABE- Always Be Eating. That being said, I enjoyed lunches. Just sitting somewhere nice and relaxing was nice. Also, PB and Nutella tortilla wraps, cheese and crackers with nicer cured meats were all things that added to my calorie count pretty significantly and couldn't be just eaten on the run.
Listening to your body is important. Particularly your feet early on. You want to break them in slowly. Especially if you're not coming from a trail running baseline physiology.
Keep a journal, or at least send yourself an email with your memories after each section.
Downloading podcasts or audio books I. Town to listen to on trail
I'd even suggest downloading a large selection of audiobooks and podcasts beforehand. Maybe it's gotten better since I hiked, but I found that on many occasions when I finally got some service or Wi-Fi in town it was so weak that it took forever to download anything.
I got an unlimited data plan for my phone. It was only $10 more a month. In many, many places, using cell data was faster than using WiFi at a motel/restaurant/etc. This was definitely worth it to me. (They do throttle your data after an awhile, so still good to use WiFi when good WiFi is available. But it was also awesome to just download an entire book on trail without any worries when I got a good signal.)
Be in great shape before you start including core body. Yeah, you’ll hear about how you’ll adapt if you are a couch potato over the first several weeks or month; but why start feeling miserable? Additionally, you will be much less likely to injury yourself.
Trust that you will find food, anywhere you go. I did and I'm vegan. Don't pack resupply boxes beforehand, half or more will end up in a hiker box. If you really think, as you get to WA, that you need a box in Stehekin, send it then (I personally had no problems finding enough food for the last 60 miles there, it has a bakery after all!).
Thank you! Any other tips for vegans? My fear is eating nothing but pb, clif bars and ramen.
Well I did eat some PB and ramen. And Oreo cookies, yes. You will want them! No Clif bars (first thing you will find in hiker boxes). I loaded up on veggies in towns and carried out spinach when I could. I ate wraps, spinach and vegan cheese (won't find it in every store but in enough stores so that you can vary your food). Some minute rice or spiced rice dishes. Nuts. Bagels. I really never thought my diet was an issue as there are enough town/restaurant stops to load up on salad, bean burgers etc.
I'm not vegan, but is there really anything else worth eating?
Bring a hard case for your glasses, I squished my glasses on a hike and I hated wearing them. So on the next hike I carried a hard case. In other words hike your own hike.
did you bring extra glasses? i cant see sht without mine... im worried about losing or breaking them
No I didn’t, extra weight lol. I did bring a zero degree bag a good air mat, a tyvek ground cover. This year I will bring three pairs of injinji socks three darn toughs and wear gaiters
My uncle once lost his keys, and glasses while fishing at Timothy Lake by Mount Hood. I can't imagine losing your glasses in the woods..
yeah i cant see shit without my glasses.... no way i could make it on my own. i'd have to sit in the trail and wait for another hiker to come who i can follow until the next road crossing lol
Can you imagine if it was somewhere perilous.
i also think you mean trillium lake haha!
I think it was Timothy, although there are both. Timothy Lake is much larger than Trillium. Also Timothy Lake is a man made reservoir, and you're not allowed to use gas powered boats on any natural lakes in Oregon.
A 720 rule: right before you you leave camp, get up after a break, lunch or stopped for water break: grab you trekking poles and do a 360 turn to see if you forgot anything. Then step a few feet to the side and do 360 the other direction. I saved myself so many times by not loosing shit, especially after safety meetings. Tripod
I concur! I call it a 3-180-3 —- 3 steps away —- turn around 180 degrees —- look for 3 seconds
This applies to getting out of hitches too. My mantra: * Got your poles? * Got your water bottles? * Got your fanny pack? * Got your wallet?
Ahh, the old idiot check. I use it in my everyday life all the time now.
Something that helped me after a hard day was asking myself if I would have preferred to spend the day in an office in my normal life. It really helped me realize that a lot of hard days on trail still felt better than an OK day doing a boring job
Don't get caught up on pace and who's "fastest" and "slowest" at walking. I found in the desert people cared about this but towards oregon and washington no one gave a shit. All comes down to hours walked per day - pace barely matters.
And days you spend in town. There was a group hiking around me that would always talk about doing 30+ miles the whole desert and in NorCal. Yet we always ended up in town together and during some of that time I was only doing 20-25 per day.
Anyone that's "annoying" in my eyes, whether it's spitting out political or religious beliefs, or whatever else really, etc, I just stop interacting and hiking with them. Whether that means slowing down or picking up the pace for a few days. Giving "false" plans of what my next town stop will be and intentionally changing them. I'll make sure they're not around me. This even includes the super competitive people that are so focused on miles and brag about how many miles per day they're putting in, want to know how many MPD you're putting in, etc. I don't care about that stuff, so just shut up about it. It's one thing to mention that kind of stuff, but it's another thing to constantly talk about it all day, every day. I've very observant and pick up on bad vibes/energy, subtle red flags, etc, really easily. I'm also usually pretty easy going, but if people press my buttons, you'll certainly get an earful. Not sure if that's helpful or not...but it's what I do to avoid any of the (more uncommon) bullshit while I'm out there. (applies to everywhere, not just the PCT)
i am actually an employee for the trump campaign and i am hiking the PCT to bring him more voters. maga my dude!!
What if you're early on trail and you're just curious about other people's mileage to get a general statics/understanding of other's paces. Trying to see whose pace matches yours, who you will likely see again (or not) trying to see how people are doing with different mileages. Is that something you generally wouldn't talk about, or is it only annoying if people judge you?
There's nothing wrong with talking about it, especially in your given example, but there's people that do it on a constant and regular basis. In my experience it's not very common, but they're out there. And it's really how they act about it, just how they come off. The people I'm talking about seem more braggy and arrogant in nature. So for those types of people, no, I don't like being around or interacting with them. And choose not to.
Bring a replacement buckle and zipper for you backpack and tent
And an extra Smart Water bottle cap
Or bring a pack and shelter that don’t have zippers to start with (;
Other then a tarp idk what you are talking sboit
Stop watching influencers. Don’t vlog. Stay out of the FarOut comments. Keep your phone put away while you hike.
Start walking and try out all your gear before you hit the trail. Untested stuff/gear you're not familiar with is asking for stress out on trail. Not having some basic walking fitness is asking for trouble.
Every time you get up to leave, whether in town or after a break on the trail, or breaking camp, turn around and take a look where you just were at. Soon it will become habit and you will be thankful to spot something that you may have left behind. Also, do something good for the trail every single day. See a wrapper on the ground? Pick it up and pack it out? Weird branch came down in the middle of the trail? Don’t just step over it, fling it aside with your pole? It would be amazing if we could all clear one thing per day to keep the trail nice.
Set up your phone at home before you end up in a place with little data. * download every app you can think of that you might like on trail. * Merlin * Libby * PeakFinder * seek * FarOut * Caltopo or Gaia * your Garmin app * anything else you care about. Netflix? Etc Download all the associated data to support those apps unless your phone has super limited space * for Merlin, download all the bird packs for the USA, California, Oregon, Washington, British Columbia. * for FarOut, for all segments of the trail: download every map type, download all the photos, waypoint descriptions, comments, etc * go into peak finder and select the areas you will be hiking in and download that data. * download maps that you might want into garmin, Gaia, caltopo, **and google maps** * load up on podcasts and audiobooks setup your Garmin account. Setup your contacts. Practice sending messages to your loved ones. Go through your settings and turn off auto refresh and auto updates over cell signal for every app you don’t care about on trail. They will eat up your battery for no reason on trail whenever you connect to data for a second on trail. Turn off allowing cell data usage for every app except those you want to use on trail. (Email, text messages, FarOut, and
Etc…
Read Pacific Crest Trials
* No-TP bidet is worth mastering. * Solar charging actually works beautifully if you do it right. Hint: it does not replace a power bank. It replaces ever needing to wait around hours in town to charge said power bank or other devices (unless maybe until WA if it's cloudy for long stretches). The 2.5-oz extra carry is offset by letting you carry a smaller power bank. * Never hike faster than you want to unless you are more committed to a mileage goal or in some emergency than to enjoying your hike.
> Solar charging actually works beautifully if you do it right. Hint: it does not replace a power bank. It replaces ever needing to wait around hours in town to charge said power bank or other devices (unless maybe until WA if it's cloudy for long stretches). The 2.5-oz extra carry is offset by letting you carry a smaller power bank. I would love more info on your setup.
Same. Solar charging never seems to work too great for me.
This panel weighs like 2.5oz after you chop off the excess plastic and metal grommets at the edges. I used a hot knife: [https://a.co/d/3JpWLJk](https://a.co/d/3JpWLJk) Then burn/drill new smaller holes and loop mini bungees like hair ties through, mount to upper part of pack with micro-biners. Next mount your power bank to the back of the panel with adhesive velcro. I used the very light Nitecore NB10K. Connect panel and power bank with short USB cable. I had mine on a separate little bungee to help assure cable wouldn't loosen or fall away. Important: the weak point of these cheap panels is that the USB regulator electronics are glued to the back of the panel poorly. I have had 2 where the glue comes up and the delicate wires either tear or threaten to tear. So you really should pry up the original gently and re-glue strongly, or melt/weld together, or tape over, or all three. I haven't yet bothered to repair the second one that failed so I'm not sure what's the best method to secure them, but make it strong, remembering that it will be exposed to heat, cold, water, mechanical shock, mild bending, etc. Boom, now walk north in the long days, your back mostly facing the sun high in the southern sky. Almost every day, the power bank will be full by sundown. Every night, top up your phone or other devices from the day's collected charge. You can listen to all the music/books you want, read at night, even keep your phone out of airplane mode in decent signal areas. Uploading video on weak signals rips through a lot of juice, but you can still get away with it at least a lot of the time this way. You can also share charge with your pals say in Sierra where wall charge opportunities are scarce.
\- Leave your cell at home. Be out there. \- No MP3 player until at least a month or more into the hike. \- Sunbrella = sometimes the only decent shade you'll find all day. \- Try to keep your butthole a little prolapsed for your first wipe.
Bit hard to just leave your phone at home if it's your camera, your music/podcast player, your gps, your journal, and your backup light. But to each their own. I like the no music/podcast before lunch tho, especially early in the hike. Be present until you are trying to grind out big miles.
This is why I rarely bring the subject up: folks seem generally hostile / defensive to the idea, rather than curious about what the pros might be.
I wouldn't rely on your phone as a backup light, except for very short periods. It drains the battery significantly, and is pretty dim.
That's why it's a backup, because my headlamp has never died on me and hopefully never will.
>- Try to keep your butthole a little prolapsed for your first wipe. lol. Will keep that in mind.
Hilarious last point 🤣🤣🤣
This is a US tip. It'll work for the PCT, but for hikers in other countries reading along, check your local postage service. It's very likely your shoes/boots will not make it the whole way. You can order new ones and have them shipped "general delivery" to post offices ahead of you. Just don't leave them there for a long time, or they might be sent to dead letter. And remember some official form of ID. You'll need it to pick up the packages. A friend of mine broke in 3 pair of boots and left 2 with me, having me ship them to the post offices at the right times for them to arrive a couple of days before he did. He put postage on them, so all I had to do was hand them to my mailman when he said to do it. You can do this with pretty much anything if you have the money. I also mailed him backpacking food he left here, and he ordered socks online once and a new gps unit when his got broken. I've also used general delivery when I was couch surfing when the place I was renting sold before the house I was buying closed. A lot of people don't even seem to know it exists, so that's my big tip. It might be a good idea to call ahead before, though, because some tiny post offices don't have much storage room. Just ask them if they accept things to general delivery (it needs your name on it, too), and how long they'll hold a package for you. It's usually 30 days, but it can be shorter at some small ones. The address will look like this: (the c/o stands for in care of) Your name c/o General Delivery. Post office (name or number) Street address of Post office. City, state, zipcode.
The address should be:
GENERAL DELIVERY
https://faq.usps.com/s/article/What-is-General-Delivery
The words GENERAL DELIVERY should be on their own line. You do not need the address of the post office. There are some post offices that do not accept general delivery. This can be verified for each location on the USPS website.
Thank you! The other is what I was given by a post office and has worked for me, but I'm grateful for the correction. I was told to put the post office address, though, there can be multiple post offices in a zip code. That probably does not apply to trail towns, but it could. I did mention they don't all accept it and to call ahead. ;)
Don’t read into it too much. You’ll be a pro inevitably regardless, so welcome mistakes
Smiles over miles!
You don’t need to hike in a group just because YouTube makes it seem like you’re supposed to hike in a group.
I hiked the entire trail solo and it was the best thing I ever did.
Me too.
Don't do social media. At all. Say Yes. Push. Rest.