so, we are hiking south...

Posted by Jenna.

We have previously explain that we are hiking the PCT south, but I just wanted to talk a little more about this. 90% of PCT hikers head north, from Mexico and Canada, and they leave in the very early spring. The timing is what made Tom and I decide to hike southbound: he is not graduating until May, which means we wont be able to leave until after that. I didn't really think anything of it, until recently. The Pacific Crest Trail Association advises heading north because, "you are more apt to successfully negotiate the snow, runoff, dryness and heat, and early winter storm windows this way". Great.

But that isn't even where the difficulties end. Since we are among the minority, there has never been a PCT guide book written in the perspective of a southbounder. This means we have to read all of our books backwards and inversely (when they say we go up, we are really going down). I am currently "translating" The Pacific Crest Trail: A Hikers Companion, by Karen Berger and Daniel R. Smith, into a more comprehensible guide for me and Tom.

One thing that I find really interesting, though, is that we are literally going to pass (and meet) 90% of thru-hikers. And it is mostly going to happen in Oregon, because of the timing. One book I read advised that Oregon is going to be very slow and you just need to keep your head down and keep going, because everyone will want to question you about what is ahead (behind for you) and know about the trail in Washington. Right now I find it very intriguing that we will run into all of those people, but lets see how I am liking it mid-way through Oregon.