I now have my itinerary (tentatively) courtesy of Craig's PTC
planner. I'll try to post the complete itinerary later. I can give
the following statistics:
Departing 4-20-12 to 9-28-12
(northbound hike)
Days
137
days walking
2
on trail layover days
22
in town layover days
161
Total days
Averages
without layovers:
19.4 mi/day
2,292 ft/day
with layovers:
16.5 mi/day
1,950 ft/day
Total Distance:
2,658.5 mi
Total Elevation gain:
314,711
Resupply:
33
***
I am leading a quiet life
outside of Mike’s Place every day
watching the world walk by
in its curious shoes.
I once started out
to walk around the world
but ended up in Brooklyn
Lawrence Ferlinghetti, “Autobiography” from A Coney Island of the Mind.
Sunday, January 29, 2012
Saturday, January 28, 2012
In a little more than two months, if all goes according to plan, I will be hiking North through the Sonoran desert on the Pacific Crest Trail. This is my journal, or will be. Through it I hope to have a channel of communication with family and friends who may be interested (or concerned) regarding my progress. I've never kept a blog so these first posts are necessarily experimental. Before my departure, over the next couple of months, I will try to answer some of the questions that people frequently ask me about the hike.
The Pacific Crest Trail is, by common acknowledgement, divided into five parts. (I suppose I should have started with that line). Southern, Central and Northern California, Oregon and Washington. Or you could think of it as the Desert (Sonoran and Mojave), the Sierras, and the South, Central and North Cascades. It begins at the California/Mexico border, ends in Manning Park, British Columbia and covers 2,650 miles (4,265 km). As many as 300 people begin the hike each year and maybe one-third to one-half finish. Most hike from South to North as I will do.
My plan is to complete the trail in five months, departing on April 23 and finishing by late September. The most recent reports, however, are of unusually low snow levels in the Sierras which might make an earlier departure possible. Because of the snow, entry into the Sierras usually has to wait until about June 15. If that could be moved up by a couple of weeks it would make it much easier to get through the North Cascades in Washington before the rain and snow there begins in earnest, usually about mid-September. It could also make for a more leisurely hike. And it would have the added benefit of cooler weather and more abundant water in the desert at the beginning.
The Pacific Crest Trail is, by common acknowledgement, divided into five parts. (I suppose I should have started with that line). Southern, Central and Northern California, Oregon and Washington. Or you could think of it as the Desert (Sonoran and Mojave), the Sierras, and the South, Central and North Cascades. It begins at the California/Mexico border, ends in Manning Park, British Columbia and covers 2,650 miles (4,265 km). As many as 300 people begin the hike each year and maybe one-third to one-half finish. Most hike from South to North as I will do.
My plan is to complete the trail in five months, departing on April 23 and finishing by late September. The most recent reports, however, are of unusually low snow levels in the Sierras which might make an earlier departure possible. Because of the snow, entry into the Sierras usually has to wait until about June 15. If that could be moved up by a couple of weeks it would make it much easier to get through the North Cascades in Washington before the rain and snow there begins in earnest, usually about mid-September. It could also make for a more leisurely hike. And it would have the added benefit of cooler weather and more abundant water in the desert at the beginning.
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