How to Prepare for a Hike of the Pacific Crest Trail

So you've decided to undertake the life changing experience of hiking the Pacific Crest Trail. How should you prepare for it? I'm assuming that you already know it's 2,650 miles long and will likely take five to six months of hiking through rugged wilderness at the expense of valuable earned income and time with your loved ones. If you complete this you could be one of the few privileged individuals who have done so, and it will likely be an experience you will never forget.

Preparation for such a daunting task should be divvied up into three discernible areas planning, physical training, and logistics. We'll delve in to all three with recommendations and resources for each general area.

A great first place to start is the Pacific Crest Trail (PCT) Association website - http://www.pcta.org/index.asp. This website has many staring points of consideration when planning your trip, assessing the logistics, and generating ideas of how and what to plan. Planning should include gear selection and testing (not to be taken lightly since you may have to rely on your gear to save your ass at some point), shoe choice, finding suitable maps, means to stay in touch with your family and friends, methods of resupply (see the paragraph below on logistics, as well as what to do with your life (possessions? house? apartment? car? bills?) while you're away. These are all questions that will require planning on your part and should be addressed prior to your hike. You'll also find dozens of other things to consider as you're doing your planning, but this is a good starting point.

All of these items will likely take many weeks and months to adequately research, plan and prepare you for your hike. Planning typically takes a year or more, so give your self plenty of time before your hike begins. It's also a good idea to contact someone who has hiked the trail before to learn of their experiences. Try this website www.trailjournals.com which contains the journals of folks who've hiked the PCT before. You can get in touch with them and ask them specific questions about gear, resupplying, or anything else. Most are more than happy to share their experiences with you and make your memorable. A couple of them will also give presentations on their PCT experiences. Check your local outdoor retailer (try www.rei.com) , they'll likely have a PCT related event, or at least be able to point you to additional resources.

The next important area of planning should be physical training. You're going to be hiking twenty to thirty miles per day, you need to be prepared for it. You're also going to be carrying a pack that may weigh up to twenty-five pounds during these hikes and you need to ensure that your body is ready for it. Check with your doctor first to ensure that you are in adequate physical health for such an undertaking. Take smaller duration hikes (this is the time to test your gear as well) of up to a week at a time to get your body in shape. Running is a great method for training your body for a PCT hike.

The final aspect to consider is logistics. Are you going to resupply in each town? Are you going to have periodic food drops made via mail? Either way you're going to want to plan your trip (the PCTA website above as a great planning calculator) and thoroughly prepare each food drop or town resupply. Food is vitally important to you and you'll find that your caloric needs increase greatly and your tastes for food may change along the way as your body needs various different nutrients.

Hiking the PCT is a great undertaking, one which will change your life and give you a newfound respect for nature. You'll likely come back into the "civilized" world and long to go back into the wilderness.