FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
1) Where Do You Use the Bathroom?
The woods. Number 1 can be done anywhere. Number 2 is done out of sight somewhere off the trail. Common procedure is to dig a small "cat-hole" approximately 4-6" deep, do your business, then cover the hole back up with dirt. And yes this will require me to carry my own toilet paper.
2) Where Do You Sleep?
I will be spending the majority of my nights sleeping in my Henry Shires Squall Tarptent, or cowboy style under the stars. And on nights when I'm in towns, I'll be sleeping in the occasional motel.
3) Where Do You Get Food?
The same place you do . . . in a grocery store. The PCT has towns located fairly close to the trail all the way from Mexico to Canada. I'll resupply every 3-8 days in these towns at grocery stores. Sometimes I will buy extra food and mail it ahead to myself C/O General Delivery at the next town's post office. If you want, you can mail me food too!! See my Maildrop Schedule.
4) Where Do You Shower?
Since there aren't any showers located on the trail, I'll be showering at the occasional campground, but mostly in towns. Which means every 3-8 days with a possible 10-day showerless stretch in the Sierras.
5) What Will You Do About Bears?
I will avoid them by camping in areas that normally don't get campers . . . a practice called "stealth camping." Bears are opportunists . . . they want to do the least amount of work possible to get the most food. So they come back night after night to the same high-use camping areas in National Parks, National Forests, etc. I won't camp in these high-use areas unless they have metal bear storage boxes, which bears can't get into. So you might ask, what I would do if I encountered one anyway?? And this has happened . . . I've had a total of 8 bear encounters in the past 5 years. 2 of those 8 were in the middle of the night in the Sierras of California. I'll do what I did then. Get the bears to leave the area by hurdling a couple of choice rocks at them and then pack up my stuff, hike a mile or two and then set up camp again. This worked fine then and will work fine on the PCT.
6) How Much Does a PCT Thru-Hike Cost?
The hike itself will cost about a dollar a mile . . . so about $2500. Sounds like a lot. But think about it . . . $2500 over 5 months is about $500 a month. Could you live where you live right now doing what you do for only $500 a month? Probably not. Most peoples monthly rent/mortgage payment is more than that! The $2500 amount includes everything . . . food, lodging (haha), personal expenses, etc. It does not include gear. Luckily I have most of the gear I need and won't need to drop more than $500 more on new gear and possible replacement gear I will need as the hike progresses.
7) Aren't You Scared to be Alone?
Not really. But the truth is that I won't be alone much. I'm starting with a fellow I hiked with on the Appalachian Trail in 1999. Not to mention that most northbound PCT thru-hikers (about 300) start their hikes right after the PCT Kick Off Party which is held the last weekend in April. This way everybody kind of starts out together which is good for moral support if nothing else. I've been told that as many as 25-30 thru-hikers will be in trail towns at any given time during the beginning of the trip!
8) Aren't You Worried About Your Safety?
Not at all. I hiked the 2,160 miles of the Appalachian Trail in 1999 with not a single problem. Long distance trails are some of the safest places one could be. Most cities, including the one you live in, have crime rates that dwarf anything that happens on a long distance trail. Besides, what type of criminal would want to hike 10 miles in the Mojave desert to harass a bunch of poor and smelly hikers?? Some long distance hikers carry pepper spray just as an added precaution, including yours truly.
9) What Do You Do When It Rains?
I'll put on my rain jacket and keep hiking or or I'll take a layover day in a town.
10) How Many Miles Do You Hike Each Day?
We will be averaging between 15-20 miles per day from the Mexican Border thru the Sierras. After the Sierras we will be averaging 20-30 miles per day. This may sound like a lot, but keep in mind that by the time we get thru the Sierras, we will have 1,000 miles under our belt and will be in really really good shape physically.
11) Are You Carrying a Gun?
No. I don't own a gun and don't need one for a long distance hike. The cost of a gun and the concealed weapons permit that I'd need for each state I hike thru would cost more than the hike itself. Plus guns are illegal in a good number of the places I will be hiking in (National Parks, National Monuments, etc.) See my comments above under the Safety question.
12) How Can You Afford to be Unemployed for 5 months?
I love this question. I can afford to be unemployed for 5 months because I've saved money over the past year and paid off all my debts. When I got my current job at Fort AP Hill as a Forester, the first thing I did was pay off my car and pay off my credit card. I don't have kids, I don't have a house payment because I rent an apartment, and I made saving money for this trip a priority. It's all about priorities. Instead of buying the $18,000 Audi A4 that I wanted, I bought the $6,000 Saturn. I opted not to go gambling in Vegas! I opted not to buy that really cool DVD player I had my eye on . . . or that new Dell laptop I though would be useful. I chose not to run up my credit cards. See a pattern here?
I think that "Debt" owns most people these days and it subsequently dictates their lives and it dictates that they have a steady job constantly so that they can continue to pay off their debts. So it's simple . . . pay off your debts, don't incur more debt and boom . . . you get to go out and hike, travel or whatever it is you want to do. I want to hike the Pacific Crest Trail so I made it a priority and am now making it happen.
I also realize that at some point I'll be tied down for whatever reasons . . . another job, wife and kids, mortgage on a house, etc. So while I'm in my twenties and am not tied down, I will go out and do the things I want to do. You only get your twenties once!