I’m PCT obsessed!!

So, Richard and I have a plan to thru-hike some trail when we finish paying off our school loans as a reward.

Since we are both originally from the Mid West, the Appalachian Trail is the first trail to come to mind. I hiked it in 2009, but would love to go back. And Richard has wanted to hike it for years. It’s an accessible trail. Resupplies are easy. Hitch-hiking is fairly easy.

This summer, I have been reading blogs of folks who are currently hiking the Pacific Crest Trail that runs from Mexico to Canada through California, Oregon and Washington.

Their posts are fantastic. Their photos are beautiful. They have completely sold me on the PCT.

Until recently, the PCT sounded fun, doable, but way more of a logistical headache than the AT. Planning for months of food, when your appetite is insane, when you don’t know what you’ll get sick of, when you want to live on more then gas station food, is hard enough when you’re hiking through towns, past stores and within a few miles hitch of a WalMart at (almost) all times. On the PCT, hikers regularly hike MILES out of their way to get to a town or a road where they can hitch to a town.

That said, the PCT is young in comparison to the AT. The AT was completed in 1937 and the first thru-hike was in 1948. The first PCT thru-hike wasn’t until 1970. Also, more people attempt and complete a thru-hike of the AT each year.

But what I am really looking for in a thru-trail anyway? Something easy? Nope. I want a challenge.

And the PCT is likely to provide that for me.

If you want to become obsessed with the PCT too, I recommend these blogs:

http://bearsinthesewoods.blogspot.com/
http://carrotquinn.wordpress.com/
http://somanymiles.wordpress.com/pct-hike-2013/
http://www.walkingwithwired.com/p/home-page.html She hiked the PCT in 2011 and is hiking the Continental Divide Trail right now.