I finally secured a PCT permit!

First of all, how do PCT permits work?

Long distance permits like the one I applied for are for those traveling 500 or more miles in a continuous footpath. The Pacific Crest Trail Association (PCTA) allocates 50 per day for the dates between March 1 and May 31. This quota is only for the first 900 miles are so, as large amounts of hikers leave the Mexico border each spring. It spreads them out enough so there aren't hundreds of hikers leaving the monument at the same day.

The 50 permits/day are released in two batches- 35 on November 15, and 15 on January 10.

It is still possible to hike the trail without a PCTA permit, as many hikers secure local permits for areas that the trail passes through. The PCTA permit makes the logistics much easier because all forests, national parks, etc.  honor it. 


Getting a permit

The quest to get a Pacific Crest Trail permit started in October of 2022, when I first registered for the first permit release day on November 15th. This put my name in a lottery that would happen on Nov 14 to assign appointment times to apply for the permit on the 15th. These times ranged from 10:30 am to 3:00 pm. 

Unfortunately, I received a time of 2:44, which put me in position where I would be extremely lucky to get a permit at all, let alone one with a favorable start date (I was aiming for late march/early april).

Sure enough, the next day I watched hopelessly as the dates slowly filled up. At around 2:30, the very last permits in late may filled up. 

During my month at Holden Village in December, I checked the permit availability several times a day, hoping to see that someone cancelled their permit. One time I saw several slots open up, but they vanished as I signed into the permit portal. 



On January 9th, the same process began all over again for the second permit release the next day. I refreshed my email waiting for my time slot to get sent, praying that I would get a decent time. Getting a similar time as last time could mean ending up using local permits, refreshing constantly for cancellations, or rethinking my thru-hiking plans altogether. 

The email finally arrived. It read : 

Your unique appointment time is:

Tuesday, January 10, 2023 - 10:35:04 AM Pacific Time

 I was ecstatic. My luck completely changed from what it was in November, from one of the worst possible times to one of the best. I would essentially be able to freely choose whatever date I want. 

I decided on April 7th for no particular reason. For a while I was thinking about a time in mid-March to make sure I had more than enough time to finish the trail, but after seeing news of near- record snow in the Sierras , I decided later would be best. If I get to the sierras in late May and the spring melt proves too dangerous or tedious, I imagine I will skip the sierras or "flip flop" up north.

The next several months will consist of purchasing the remaining gear I need, making travel arrangements, and training. I envision my training will consist of bicycling, running, urban hikes with a loaded pack, and day hikes. When I am on the trail I will be posting pictures on my instagram, @crazyian9 and making occasional blog post updates in this space.

Comments

  1. LuciaJanuary 10, 2023 at 9:38 PM

    Yay!

    ReplyDelete
  2. AnonymousJanuary 11, 2023 at 5:23 AM

    Wonderful. I look forward to following your journey.

    ReplyDelete
  3. AnonymousJanuary 11, 2023 at 9:15 AM

    Ian: you don’t need to train or prepare—remember Cheryl Strayed—😆! Yes, the snow in the Sierra’s could be a challenge this year. Proud of you

    ReplyDelete
  4. AnonymousJanuary 12, 2023 at 10:01 PM

    Good for you! John and I will love reading your blog!

    ReplyDelete
  5. AnonymousFebruary 16, 2023 at 4:39 PM

    Looking forward to tracking your progress, and of course all of the amazing pics and stories.
    Jonathan

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Day 15-18 (aug 21-24) mile 2395.8-2466.8

Image
  On day 15 I left Snoqualmie Pass, heading back out into smoky air. I felt the air was just fine to breathe and I didn’t notice any irritation all day. It was a 5 mile climb out of the pass gaining almost 3000 feet. Halfway through the climb a man named Karel Sabbe passed me running up the mountain, and I’ve been following his entire hike online. He is attempting the fastest known time on the pct and he left the Mexican border 42 days ago averaging almost 60 miles a day.     The record is 51 days so he’s well on pace. At the top of the climb the trail went across a narrow ledge called the Kendall Catwalk. People make it sound like it’s super scary but I didn’t think it was much worse than a lot of other places on trail. The next 10 miles were through the beautiful Alpine Lakes wilderness, but I didn’t take many pictures because it was hard to see the scenery through the smoke. I set up camp at mile 2414.8 for a 20.7 mile day By the morning of day 16, the smoke had fully ...
Read more

Day 20-24 (Aug 26-30) mile 2466.9-2554.5 (+11 hike to Holden Village)

Image
  On day 20 I got back on trail at Stevens Pass loaded with five days of food. I started late and got 12.8 miles in setting up camp at mile 2479.6.   On day 21 I went through some incredible alpine scenery, with the colors just starting to turn to the fall reds and oranges. I stopped for a while at the spectacular Pear Lake and had it all to myself. I passed a very significant milestone of 1000 miles hiked on the pct combined with the desert section. I began to see a big cloud of smoke billowing from one of the fires that is burning just a few miles off the trail. I ran into a forest service ranger who was telling hikers about the upcoming fire closure and to be cautious of the nearby airplane lake fire that is steadily growing. So far that fire hasn’t closed the pct but it might if it grows any further. I set up camp back in the smoke at mile 2502.9 for a 23.3 miles day. On day 22 I awoke to a strong campfire smell- the wind had blown even more thick smoke into my direction f...
Read more

Day 2-3, miles 11.4-36.1

Image
Day 2-3, miles 11.4-36.1 Day 2 (april 8) was when the nerves of starting the trail started to recede, letting me focus on the experience of hiking the trail. The day started with hiking down into Hauser canyon, then immediately hiking back out of it. It is the first decent climb of the trail, and it actually felt pretty good! It was nice not having to carry a ton of water from Hauser creek, because there was a stream at the top of the climb.  By noon I arrived in Lake Morena, the first town on the trail. I ate Lunch at the Oak shores malt shop with Chris, Alashua, and Elizabeth from the camp the night before. The three hours I spent at Lake Morena was really chill and relaxing, and a group us were resting in the shade at the campground there.  I set up camp at mile 23.0, eventually joined by 5 other thru hikers: Chris and Elizabeth from the night before; Jinx and two-tone, 2 experienced Appalachian Trail thru hikers; and two-tone’s friend Jamie from new york. On day three (apr...
Read more