Some important information to know before going hiking.
Where to start ?
The Pacific Crest Trail Association (PCTA), whose mission is to protect, preserve and promote the trail, provides plenty of information for hikers on its website and issues long-distance hiking permits. You must have one to walk more than 500 miles (800 km) of the trail. They are free and can be obtained through an online reservation system, as if buying a ticket for a show. And they’re going fast: thousands of people fill the virtual queue when the system opens, in the fall and mid-January. For 2022, permits will fly out on November 9 and January 11.
When to go
90% of hikers start at the US-Mexico border and walk north. The PCTA grants 50 permits for this trip per day from 1er March to May 31. Departures in April are the most popular: temperatures tolerable in the desert and conditions acceptable in the Sierra Nevada if it hasn’t snowed too much. For departures from the Canada-US border, the association grants 15 permits per day from June 15 to September 15. It takes an average of five months to complete the trail.
What about COVID-19?
The Pacific Crest Trail Association has recommended hikers to drop out in 2020, but has issued permits for 2021 urging them to take steps to reduce exposure to the virus (keeping your distance, washing your hands, wearing a mask, refuel in town less often, etc.) and get vaccinated. The spokesperson for the association, reached by email, hopes that the year 2022 will be “normal”. The hikers must of course comply with local, state or federal guidelines and laws, which may change.
Weather and fires
The temperature can rise to over 40 ° C and drop below -10 ° C. The climate is dry, and the sun is often shining, although rain, hail, snow or thunderstorms can be expected. Forest fires, more often started by humans than by lightning, can force hikers to detour or skip a section. The PCT is currently closed for more than 250 km due to fires in 2020 and 2021.
Dangers
Dehydration, hypothermia or inexperience are more to be feared than bears, cougars or rattlesnakes. The PCT should not be taken lightly and it is better to know how to recognize avalanche terrain, stop your fall with an ice ax, ford rivers with strong current, etc. Since the beginning of the 1980s, nearly fifteen people have died from falling, drowning, getting lost or from the heat.
The effect Wild
American Cheryl Strayed covered 1,100 of the 2,650 PCT miles in 1995. Wild, his memoir, published in 2012, became a bestselling book and was adapted for film in 2014 with Reese Witherspoon in the title role. The PCTA has since observed an ” Wild »: More hikers, more volunteers and more donors.