the walking’s like
Southern California
The distance between Campo and Kennedy Meadows is approximately 700 miles. The terrain is varied, with rolling hills and mountains rising to 9000ft separated by sections of desert. This is an arid landscape with desert vegetation at low altitudes and chaparral (brush) at intermediate altitudes; only in the mountains is it cool and damp enough for forests to thrive. The PCT goes right past Deep Creek Hot Springs in San Bernardino National Forest, possibly the best wilderness hot springs in California.
Spring is the best season for hiking this section of the PCT but you need to wait until the snow has melted in the higher mountains. Thru’-hikers will tackle this section in April, May and June and this is the best time for section-hikers as well. In a dry year most of the creeks and springs will have dried up by early spring and you will encounter long stretches without water. Fortunately this section is well provided for by trail angels, who maintain many water caches to help hikers through the drier parts. Despite their help, there could be times when you need to carry up to six litres of water. To be successful and enjoy the conditions, you must work out a strategy to cope with the heat.
Even in April temperatures can reach 90°F (32°C) but don’t depend on it. You can get snow in the mountains and it can freeze at night. By May or June temperatures can exceed 100°F (38°C).
The ground is mainly sandy and finding somewhere to camp will rarely be a problem. You will see plenty of rattlesnakes but these are only really a danger to those who try to handle them. Any wild bears you encounter will run when they sense you and mosquitoes shouldn’t pose any problems.
The High Sierra
The 450 miles from Kennedy Meadows to Donner Pass take you through a spectacular alpine landscape. You reach an altitude of 13,180ft at Forester Pass and cross a succession of passes above 11,000ft. For much of the time you will be above tree-line, where ice age glaciation has produced a landscape of crags and bare rock, dotted with thousands of lakes. Between the high passes you drop into deep, forested valleys. The mountain ridges and summits are the realm of the rock climber and mountaineer, the valleys and high passes are for the walker.
Many hikers take a day off to scale 14,494ft Mount Whitney, the highest mountain in the US outside Alaska. For 200 miles the PCT coincides with the world famous John Muir Trail (JMT), which starts on the summit of Mount Whitney and ends in Yosemite Valley. The PCT leaves the JMT at the head of Yosemite and some hikers might want to take a few days off to explore this wonderland of rock domes and plunging waterfalls.
The High Sierra is the most exciting section of the PCT but also the part with most problems to overcome. Supply is a problem, with a 200-mile section without a single road. Any bears you meet might be after your food and mosquitoes can be a problem, especially just after the snow has melted.
You will probably enjoy days of endless sunshine but, in high mountains, fresh snow can fall in any month of the year and thunderstorms can be spectacular. Despite the altitude it can get very hot in the sun but you must be prepared for freezing temperatures at night.
The biggest problem is winter snow. The JMT is best hiked in late July, August or September but most PCT thru’-hikers pass through in June or early July when there is still snow on the passes. Rapidly melting snow can produce high water levels in the many unbridged creeks that need to be crossed. Conditions vary from year to year. In 1996 there was substantial snow on the passes into August, while in 2006, a record snow year, there was almost continuous snowpack for 300 miles in June, together with dangerous or impossible creek crossings. In other years hikers wonder what all the fuss is about. Thru’-hikers would be advised to read the section in this guide on starting dates and decide, very carefully, the date on which they should leave Kennedy Meadows; section-hikers would be best to visit the area in late summer.
Summit ridge, Mount Whitney (Section 30A)
A number of the photos in this guide, taken in June 2006, show how fantastic the scenery can be before the snow has melted but these are not safe conditions for hikers without extensive winter mountaineering experience.
Northern California
You’ve already hiked 1150 California miles but a further 550 remain before you reach Oregon. In the first half of the Northern California section, much of the PCT passes through forest on rolling hills. On entering the Cascade Mountains, large volcanoes, including Lassen Peak and Mount Shasta, dominate the landscape. Approaching Oregon, you return to alpine terrain as you enter the Klamath Mountains.
Thru’-hikers will pass through this section in July and August, which is a good time to hike these mountains. It is likely to be sunny most of the time but it is also the main season for thunderstorms, and torrential rain or hail is possible. There is also the risk of fire, started by lightning striking the often tinder-dry forests.
Several long sections, where forests were clear-felled in the last century or where they have been destroyed by fire, present very little shade. Water can become a problem again as the springs and creeks start to dry up through the summer.
The hiking is fairly easy and fast and remains so until you reach Northern Washington.
Oregon
There is generally less ascent in Oregon than elsewhere on the PCT and the 430 miles here are fast going; fit thru’-hikers should cover 20 miles comfortably each day.
In geological terms, the Cascade Mountains in Oregon are extremely young with unvegetated lava flows only 200 years old. The landscape is dominated by volcanoes, large and small. Crater Lake, one of the wonders of the natural world, was created a mere 7000 years ago, when Mount Mazama underwent a cataclysmic volcanic explosion which spread a thick layer of ash over hundreds of miles. The Three Sisters, Mount Washington, Three Fingered Jack, Mount Jefferson and Mount Hood are spectacular volcanoes that tower above tree-line. Thousands of lakes are dotted throughout the mountains.
Wizard Island, Crater Lake (Section 70)
When the PCT was under development it temporarily followed the fantastic Oregon Skyline Trail (OST). As the trail was designed to keep hikers and horses away from environmentally sensitive areas, however, it was eventually routed through dry, viewless forests, avoiding far too many of the lakes. The author recommends that you follow the old OST rather than the PCT through large sections of Oregon; these alternatives are detailed in the map section of this guide.
Mount Jefferson, seen through a ‘ghost forest’ (Section 77)
Probably 99 per cent of PCT hikers follow an alternative route along the rim of Crater Lake, which has now become an official pedestrian variation to the official trail. Similarly, most hikers follow the spectacular Eagle Creek Trail down to Cascade Locks, with only horses taking the official PCT.
There will be some fairly long stretches without water, especially if you ignore the author’s advice and follow the official PCT all the way through Oregon. At lower altitudes you will hike through forest where there is plenty of shade from the sun.
Oregon is notorious for its mosquitoes. By August, when the first thru’-hikers will be passing through, they will have become only a minor nuisance; if you are hiking immediately after the snowmelt, however, you could find them extremely annoying.
Thru’-hikers
