The very first step of hiking the PCT does not take place outside, but behind a computer.\u00a0 Seems only fitting for me.\u00a0 You need a permit from the Pacific Crest Trail Association if you are hiking for more than 500 miles.\u00a0 Getting that permit from the PCTA saves you from having to get a permit for every single National and State Forest you’ll pass through.<\/p>\n
To protect the fragile ecosystem only a limited number of permits are issued.\u00a0 Today, 35 permits will be released for each day in March, April and May.\u00a0 Later in January, they will release another 15 permits for the same window.<\/p>\n
Here is where it gets complicated.\u00a0 There is a time limit to this race.\u00a0 Everyone who hikes north needs to make it to Canada by October 1st.\u00a0 Once you get past October 1st, the weather in Washington becomes dangerous for hiking, even for an experienced winter camper like me.\u00a0 So, it would seem to make sense that a starting date like March 1st would give you the most time to complete it.\u00a0 However, you have to cross the Sierra Mountains.\u00a0 They might not be safe to cross until June 15th.\u00a0 Generally, it takes forty days to hike from Mexico to Kennedy Meadows, the traditional town where you swap your desert gear for your mountain gear.\u00a0 Therefore, most thru-hikers aim for April 20th.<\/p>\n
I have decided that I want to start my hike on just one date — April 6th.\u00a0 It is the one year anniversary of my best friend, Dennis passing away.\u00a0 I will walk with a relaxed pace to start to avoid blisters and to build my hiking legs.\u00a0 If I get there early, I have friends in California I can visit.<\/p>\n
So I sit in an empty house waiting for 12:30 Central Daylight Time, when every single person thinking about hiking north is going to sign up for one of those limited number of permits.\u00a0 It is going to be a mad rush!\u00a0 I’ve heard horrors about this process.<\/p>\n
Yes.\u00a0 I am nervous.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The very first step of hiking the PCT does not take place outside, but behind a computer.\u00a0 Seems only fitting for me.\u00a0 You need a permit from the Pacific Crest Trail Association if you are hiking for more than 500 miles.\u00a0 Getting that permit from the PCTA saves you from having to get a permit … Continue reading Permit Day<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1949","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-pct"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/jphikes.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1949","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/jphikes.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/jphikes.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jphikes.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jphikes.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1949"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/jphikes.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1949\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2674,"href":"https:\/\/jphikes.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1949\/revisions\/2674"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/jphikes.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1949"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jphikes.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1949"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jphikes.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1949"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}