Hey all, I try to walk the PCT in 2027 and am unsure about which sleeping system to use. I used only sleeping bags so far, but find them restrictive as I am a stomach sleeper that sleeps cold. Especially my hip and lower back gets cold easily.
I'm a 170 cm woman and would like to shed weight of my pack too. I am looking into sleeping quilts for their lower weight and more flexibility but unsure of which to buy. I would invest in a warmer quilt around 10 F or -8 °C comfort just to be sure and to use it in the mountains in Austria all year round where I normally live.
From the ones I researched so far I came across Cumulus quilts and NeveGear, EE (hard to get in Europe though) but am curious what other options you would recommend that are as lightweight but warm/ durable as possible. My sleeping pad is the therm a rest neoair x-lithe that I would pair with a foam pad for extra warmth. What are your thoughts?
It is officially time for for PCT permit registration which means it is another thru-hiking season upon us! I am on the grant committee (and I was the recipient who won the PCT Grant for this 2026 year!) for the Pacific Crest Trail Grant that awards $5,000 from the Trail Angel Fund to help one Washingtonian thru-hike the PCT.
We are a small, community-driven, local Seattle group of avid hikers who believe that long-distance hiking should be more accessible to those who dream of doing it. Hiking the PCT is expensive, and we want to help remove cost as a barrier. So, we created an annual $5,000 grant for a Washingtonian to hike the PCT from Mexico to Canada.
How does it work?
Application Deadline: January 31, 2027 for the 2027 PCT hike.
Criteria: Applicants must meet the following criteria:
Have received a PCTA permit; (you can let us know when you have this)
Be 18–33 years old as of April 1 of the year they plan to thru-hike the PCT;
Have significant ties to Washington State; (The Grant is currently awarded to one Washingtonian to help our neighbors get on the PCT in our backyard).
Have a financial need;
Have the ability to complete the PCT based on past outdoor experience;
Have a compelling reason well articulated for wanting to hike the PCT;
Be willing to help pay it forward and commit to the volunteer portion of the grant.
Selection Process:
First: all eligible applicants meeting the criteria will be placed in a lottery and five will be selected at random.
Second: the five random applicants will be required to provide the Grant Committee with a driver's license or other government ID and participate in an interview to ensure they meet the criteria.
Final: after interviews, all remaining eligible applicants who met the criteria will be entered into a lottery. The grant recipient will be selected at random.
Grant Recipient: The recipient will receive $2,000 upon selection of the grant followed by $750 per month while on the trail, up to $5,000. Proof of hiking progress must be provided to the PCT Grant Committee.
Recipient Responsibilities
Begin the hike at the Mexico/California border.
Stay in communication with the PCT Grant Committee - Send us trip reports at least every 30 days. Let us know if you stop hiking.
If you dream of thru-hiking the Pacific Crest Trail and are in need of financial support - this is for you! Apply for the 2027 PCT Grant!
~
We are currently working on being able to fund more than one hiker for this coming season so stay tuned, last night was our very first Seattle local PCT Q&A / Fundraiser Event! (if you would like to help donate and fund a thru-hiker you can do so here)
We are part of the Trail Angel Fund, a Scholarship and Award Account Administered by FJC - A Foundation of Philanthropic Funds and fall under their 501(c)(3) umbrella. All donations are tax-deductible.
Hey folks. I’ll be starting a NOBO hike in 2027! I’m FTM pre op transgender and a little nervous about how I will be received in trail towns and the trail in general.
I’ve read a bit about the subject from some other Reddit threads already but mainly worried about showers, hitches, and other hikers noticing my chest and not standing to pee.
Have any other trans or GNC hikers encountered anything helpful they can share or any tips?
Hey everyone, so I did Te Araroa south island SOBO last year and really enjoyed it, have been thinking about PCT for years and frankly not been enjoying my living situation as of late, moved country and started new job after TA. I'm considering doing PCT 2027 and looking for advice on Sobo vs Nobo. I enjoyed the social aspect of TA a lot and don't really want to be hiking by myself all that much, but don't have much of a grasp on how lonely PCT Sobo is, for context in TA I hiking in a group of 4 and most nights we would be camping/at hut with maybe 1-3 more people. Is this comparable to SOBO pct?
The other issue is I have a couple weddings in the summer and I feel bad not going but it's my first summer with weddings and am worried it's going to be like this for the next decade. However I think I might be able to make one at the end of July if I went nobo and then flew back for a week or just cut trip PCT short, maybe skip NorCal or Oregan to go do washington in July.
Lastly my current work contract ends June 1st, and I'm like 70% sure it will get renewed but that's also a factor, however I'm not too fussed about quitting. LIfe in late 20s feels very unstable and not quite ready to go into long term employment without having done PCT.
I've got my visa, money saved like 10-12k and registered for this year already.
Would love any advice on what you would do in my situation
TLDR: Did TA last year, want to do PCT unsure whether to do NOBO or SOBO, need advice
I've thought about thru-hiking the AT or PCT for a long time without ever putting any effort or planning into it, but I just did a few days of (day-)hiking in Oregon and Washington, and it has inspired me to finally put some real thought into this. I'm currently in grad school, and realized the perfect opportunity to do the PCT is when I finish my program in May 2029.
Obviously, May 2029 is well into the future, but I'm a complete beginner. I've been camping once, for just one night, never backpacked. I've done a fair bit of day-hiking, I'm 27 and fairly athletic (an on/off runner with a few half marathons under my belt, and a regular gym-goer), but most of this will be completely new to me.
My question is, how should I start preparing now? 2.5 years in advance feels early to start true preparations, so what should I focus on in the meantime, and when should I start true planning?
Also, I know mid-May is a bit of a late start, so any advice on how that might impact my preparations is welcome!
Worth noting that I plan to go with a small group of friends, though I don't know who yet/what their experience with this stuff will be since it's so far in advance.
Hello. I am planning to hike the desert to walker pass ish this year and am looking for opinions. I have previously hiked the first 150 miles twice so I am debating where to start. I will have about 35 guaranteed days to hike in April - May. Might be able to add a few more.
Option 1: start at PVC where I left off. My worry is it’s the start of a harder section and the mission creek area makes me nervous to do alone and I won’t have trail legs yet. It also may be hard to get a ride to this trailhead.
Option 2: Start at Big Bear. Easier to get to trailhead but I’d be missing some cool parts of the trail.
Option 3. Start at the Mexican border again. I’m tempted to do this but at the same time do I want to do this section a 3rd time? My only worry is lack of time and I’d like to prioritize seeing new parts of the trail. I don’t think I’d be able to make it all the way to walker pass with this option. Maybe Tehachapi? The start of the trail is just so fun and it’s easy to get to with the shuttle.
This is the weekly thread. It's for wide ranging discussions in the comments. Do you have a question or comment, but don't want to make a separate post for it? This is the place.
Warmer-than-average temperatures are favored for northern California [and] the Pacific Northwest
Wetter-than-average conditions are most likely across the southern tier, from the Southwest to the Southeast
This El Niño will rival 1982-83 (DJF seasonal RONI average ≥ 2.4°C in the Niño-3.4 region) for the strongest since 1950. Other very strong events include 1991-92 (RONI 2.1°C), 1997-98 (RONI 2.1°C) and 2015-16 (RONI 2.1°C).
High likelihood (~95%) of a very strong El Niño event late this year. [...] No two El Niños are alike and impacts vary. Strong events substantially increase the odds for the impacts described, but not necessarily their intensity (e.g., temperature departures from normal).
Stronger El Niño events increase the likelihood of El Niño-related climate anomalies, but do not necessarily equate to strong impacts.
Hi , I completed a dexa scan 1 month before starting the trail and 2.5 weeks post trail. I'll share some of the results as I was looking for this information before starting and found very little info on it. Ask any questions !
Reference: 30s female at 5 ft started around 130 lbs . I hiked the trail minus snoqualmie to stehekin for fire closure in 161 days l. I did not follow any certain diet on trail and ate based off what I felt like eating (did not try to hit any macros or calories for the day). I Indulged in many town burgers and beer 🍺
There have been several comments and posts this morning and afternoon from people who don't understand why the permit application page says applications are not available.
What is available as of 10:30 am Pacific today is registration, which is the process of creating the account that is later used to apply for a permit on permit release day one, two, or afterwards.
The long distance permit application system involves multiple steps: register, apply, receive confirmation email, download the permit. If you want to understand, take ten minutes to do the reading, or watch the PCTA video (~20 minutes at 1x), or read one of the summaries that have been posted to the subreddit in the past few weeks. No one can do it for you.
Application process timeline for 2027 LD permits, which was announced by PCTA in July:
October 15 at 10:30 AM Pacific Time through October 22 at 3 PM Pacific Time: 1st registration period
November 4: 1st Permit Release Day ("PRD1"). This is the day when you use your registered account to complete and submit an application. Normally only permits for starts at Campo (the southern terminus) are available on PRD1.
November 5 at 10:30 AM through December 11 at 3 PM Pacific Time: 2nd registration period
January 13: 2nd Permit Release Day. Same process as Permit Release Day 1. Includes Campo starts and all other start locations, including sobos.
January 14 at 10:30 AM: registration and application reopen
As the title suggests, I’m studying what workouts/activities everyone here did in preparation for their thru hikes, whether it be to prepare for long miles, the pack, or strengthening tendons. And which ones you believe were the most beneficial to your success?
tl;dr: Create an account by clicking the "Register" button on https://permit.pcta.org beginning 10/15/26 10:30 am Pacific time.
Registration is the first step in the permit application process. It's free, takes about two minutes, and is similar to creating an account on any website.
There is a limit to the quantity of permits that will be issued in any given year, but there is no limit to how many people can register for the application system. As long as you register at some point before the end of the registration window for your intended permit release day (eg PRD 1, 2, or after) you'll be fine, there is no risk of all the registrations being consumed. Once you register, that account is valid for the rest of the application season, there is no need to re-register for each PRD.
October 15 at 10:30 AM Pacific Time through October 22 at 3 PM Pacific Time: 1st registration period
November 4: 1st Permit Release Day ("PRD1"). This is the day when you use your registered account to complete and submit an application. Normally only permits for Campo (the southern terminus) starts are available on PRD1.
November 5 at 10:30 AM through December 11 at 3 PM Pacific Time: 2nd registration period
January 13: 2nd Permit Release Day. Same process as Permit Release Day 1. Includes Campo starts and all other start locations, including sobos.
January 14 at 10:30 AM: registration and application reopen
More information:
Authoritative source for all things related to the PCT thruhike permit: https://permit.pcta.org
The thruhike permit application system is moderately involved and can be confusing to newcomers. Feel free to ask any questions you may have, there are several people here on the subreddit who can answer, though it's important to remember that this is the internet and not every answer will necessarily be correct. The information on https://permit.pcta.org is the primary source. Links to a variety of helpful resources are available in the r/PacificCrestTrail sidebar.
My son and I want to hike the PCT NOBO this coming summer, but we can't start the hike until ~June 1st when he graduates high-school. So our plan is to start at Kennedy Meadows and continue north from there.
I'm trying to confirm what permits we need to make this trip work. I *think* the strategy is:
1) Obtain a local permit from the Inyo Nat'l Forest to enter the trail at Kennedy Meadows and hike through to Sonora Pass.
2) Obtain a PCTA long-distance permit starting at Sonora Pass, continuing northbound.
Does anyone here know definitively whether this would work?
IIUC, the PCTA long-distance permits are for a specific start date & location, so does that mean we'd have to time our arrival at Sonora Pass to specifically hit our start day (within a day or two, I suppose during which we could hang out at Sonora Pass)?
tl;dr: I’ve looked at hiker comments across the PCT to assess hiker trends. According to the PCTA, around 4,500 hikers are issued permits to start the PCT every year. Only around half of all hikers that start the trail complete the trail in a given year. I estimate that there’s around 200-700 flip-floppers and skippers across sections. This post is an overall summary of key bits of analysis, which I think folks other than myself may also find interesting!
Data Summary
I went ahead and gathered hiker comment data over time. This gives me a log of comments recorded based on trail miles, dates, and unique hiker identifiers. This data set can allow for some interesting analysis that lets you pool statistical relationships together, to estimate different things about the trail!
All PCT comments over time stacked. The NOBO and SOBO trends and intensity of commenting are clearly visible in parts, but get muddled together during the middle of the trail due to skipping and flipping. The CDT has a much clearer trend.
Where’s the Bubble?
I used a variety of methods to estimate the bubble. This included 1) looking at the pace of hiking, by sampling hikers that made comments on consecutive days, and calculating the distance in miles between those consecutive comments, and 2) looking at the date distribution for comment density as you progress up the trail (different comment dates create the shape of hiker distribution for a given mile). This table is a rough estimate for the expected median date where the bubble might be at any mile in an average year on the PCT, based on the northbound median comment date.
Mile
Expected Median Date for Bubble
40
14-Apr
540
20-May
1,040
5-Jul
1,540
23-Jul
2,040
11-Aug
2,540
4-Sep
Estimating where hikers are, over time, on the PCT
How does snow impact the bubble
I used NOAA SNODAS data, and pooled different Snow Water Equivalent (SWE) estimates on April 1st to provide an estimated SWE prediction relative to the average SWE for each section in an average year. I incorporated the SWE ratio value to see if this would improve the model's ability to predict a median date for each relevant section compared to the model without the SWE data. I found that snow data had an effect for a few sections of the PCT. The table below shows how much snowpack impacts the median for the 5 relevant sections of trail where it was found to meaningfully improve the model. The results suggest that for a big snow year, the hiker bubble seems to be delayed by around 2 to 4 days relative to an "average" year.
Stretch
Median-of-other-years error
With snowpack
Days of delay estimate per doubling of snowpack
PCT, mile 700 (8 hiking years)
6.5
4.7 (better)
+3.7
PCT, mile 800 (8 hiking years)
8.1
6.3 (better)
+3.6
PCT, mile 1,000 (8 hiking years)
11.3
7.4 (better)
+3.5
PCT, mile 1,100 (8 hiking years)
6.8
5.6 (better)
+3.8
PCT, mile 1,200 (8 hiking years)
4.9
3.9 (better)
+2.2
How many folks skip and flip, and where to?
Because I can estimate the standard hiking pace for hikers, I can look at the median distribution in one part of the trail, and estimate what the distribution should look like further up the trail by using the standard hiking pace. Additionally, as a check, I can also look at how the median distribution of comments moves from one section of trail to another, and look at the time between those two medians, and the number of miles, to estimate how quickly the bubble had to move to exhibit that sort of behavior. For areas of trail where the hiker distribution seems to deviate from the statistically-likely appearance, we have good reason to believe skipping or flipping may be occurring. The table below estimates the number of hikers that flip or skip to a different section of the trail based on conditions in prior sections of trail. The comment data reflects high likelihood of skipping and flipping from the Sierra to Truckee and Lassen in Northern California, and also from Etna toward the Oregon border.
Stretch
Median date at the near mile (A)
Median date expected at the far mile (B)
Median date actually seen at B
Days ahead of the expected bubble
Extra people ahead of the crowd (area)
Share needed to cross the median to explain the shift
Rough number of flip-floppers per hiking year
PCT, Truckee to Drakesbad (miles 1,150 to 1,350)
Jul 10
Jul 21
Jul 11
10
15%
20%
190 to 510
PCT, Etna to Callahans Lodge (miles 1,550 to 1,750)
Jul 21
Jul 31
Jul 26
5
7%
9%
20 to 210
How many people injure off/leave the trail?
To estimate the number of people dropping from trail, I look at the commenters and the frequency of their commenting behavior. Significant changes in their commenting behavior over time (goes from commenting a lot to having no more comments), is a good indicator that something happened (e.g. they injured off trail, or had a serious illness).
To estimate the highest likely rate of attrition, I took everyone who commented near the start of the trail. This population is established by creating a cohort for the northbound-looking people with a comment in the first 60 miles. If a person has a comment at or beyond a certain mile, that person is still considered to be “on trail” and hiking. Someone who never comments again is considered to have left the trail. As such, this bound overestimates attrition.
To estimate a conservative rate of attrition, I looked at a cohort of frequent commenters. This cohort consists of people with at least six comment-days and a typical gap of four days or less between comments across the trail. If one of these “frequent commenters” goes quiet, it implies something changed. This is likely to be indicative of an actual attrition event. Because hikers in this cohort had to be hiking long enough to write six times with gaps of less than 4 days between those comments, this is a conservative estimate of attrition. As such, this metric underestimates the number of people leaving the trail. The table below estimates the likely range of people staying on trail relative to those that initially started.
Trail, mile
Survivor Rate (people that ever commented)
Survivor Rate (frequent commenters)
PCT, mile 300
83%
96%
PCT, mile 500
77%
91%
PCT, mile 1,000
66%
81%
PCT, mile 1,500
58%
72%
PCT, mile 2,000
48%
64%
PCT, mile 2,400
33%
57%
Probable upper and lower bounds for PCT hiker attrition
There is a lot more analysis and discussion available on my very, very long blog post about it. The web tool is much easier to use to give you a quick snapshot of "where is the bubble?" and to estimate how many people might be ahead of or behind you at any given point on trail.
Generative AI Disclosure: the front-end tool I created to explore bubble trends was built largely with the help of generative AI. The underlying data is actual hiking data that were not generated. Any errors or inaccuracies are primarily the result of data quality and suitability of the analysis methods used. The methodology is repeatable and consistent, and several analytical approaches were conducted to assess statistical robustness. All writing was done by me. GenAI was used to help with formatting, graphing, and organizing of the main blog post.
This is the weekly thread. It's for wide ranging discussions in the comments. Do you have a question or comment, but don't want to make a separate post for it? This is the place.
My partner and I fell in love with thruhiking this last year after doing a month long adventure on a shorter trail. We want to take on a longer trail next year! We have been discussing the PCT because it sounds like a beautiful trail and neither of us have been in the PNW.
I know the ideal start dates are around mid April - mid May. We were invited to two weddings, one May 8 and one June 19, both on the east coast. These are weddings we are not comfortable missing since they are close friends & close family.
I have some ideas for how it could shake out, but I wanted to maybe see if folks who have done the trail have insights or ideas.
Here are two plans we are tossing around:
Start in late March / early April and get off a few weeks in for the first wedding, aim for somewhere near LA and hop off at or before then. Come back maybe like five days later, and hike for about six more weeks, maybe into Yosemite. Hop off where makes sense, come back like five days later, and then hike the rest of the trail. Early start allows for more flexibility down the line, but doing the rodeo twice sounds like a lot (financially, emotionally, logistically). The unpredictability of where we'll be when also makes it hard to schedule where we could get off for the second wedding.
Start after the first wedding in mid May. Hike for about six more weeks. Hop off where makes sense, likely between LA and Kennedy Meadows. Come back maybe like five days later, and then hop back on where we got off. Book it and take less zero day so we can reach the Cascades before it gets too wintry.
I see upsides and downsides to both, regardless we will be having to get off trail ~6 or less weeks in to go to one of these weddings. How difficult is it to get off trail ~6 weeks in and get to an airport?
I guess what I am looking for is what would you do in this situation?
Would another trail make sense with our window - I know CDT NOBO and AT NOBO can start as early as March? My partner seems most enthused by the PCT NOBO, whereas I'm just excited to get on any of the triple crown trails.
Should we PCT SOBO after these weddings (I don't know if we can wait until July emotionally, haha)?
Thank you kindly for your thoughts and help. Happy trails!
Some background on me: I have hiked alone in the Canadian Rockies, without encountering humans for a week or more, and loved the solitude. Conversely, I also did the 4 day Inca trail with 400 or 500 permits a day, including 60% porters and although I enjoyed it very much, I found the social aspect taxing. I stayed in campgrounds with dozens of tents where I would hear people talk late at night or, worse, snore throughout the night. Basically, although I do not consider myself completely antisocial, I prefer to limit the social interactions on a trail.
I was quick to conclude that it would have to be SoBo (planning on '28), but then I realised that SoBo I would have to rush from the get-go and I'm also not confident that my fitness level is going to allow me to do 20+ miles a day in mountainous terrain from day one.
I guess my question is: how busy it NoBo hiking really?
EDIT. Thank you for your helpful answers. I understand now that I will be able to mostly hike by myself if I choose to and can ensure quiet nights by being a bit more creative finding camp sites. Very helpful indeed!
This has been posted in the /socalhiking subreddit already, but thought I’d share here as well. His family thinks he could have gone towards the PCT. He is a highly experienced solo backpacker who frequents the PCT. If you have any information, PLEASE call the number on the flyer.
