[pct-l] Woman Hiking Solo

[Mary Kwart]

Hello:

I have sectioned hiked the entire PCT and was alone 95% of the time. I am a single female. The times that are most dicey for me were the hitches to towns for re-supply and zero days. I minimized this by hooking up with non-hiking friends who lived in the area and were willing to pick me up. Many people have their parents get involved with support of this kind for them. Also, more times than you would think there are other hikers hitching at the same time. I also got the names of trail angels in the areas where I needed to get off the trail and called them up and pre-arranged for a lift. It is customary to give them gas money. You can find these names at the post offices and other establishments in towns along the trail that host the hiker boxes and trail registers. Also--you can query for trail angel rides on the PCT list serve.

Every day I would see someone on the trail when I hiked in the normal hiking season. More people near big cities because of day hikers. It varied from 1-2 to 12-20. An average would be 6-8. If you hike during the winter/ very early spring there may be some days you won't see anyone on the trail.

In the 34 years I have been backpacking on the PCT the only bad situation happened this summer. A manic older man thru hiker came storming into my camp in the evening expecting to camp at the spot and build a fire. I was already camped there with my tent set up in the only spot that had enough room which was near the fire ring.. He was welcome to camp there, but he was pissed and stormed off, cursing me. I found out later that he had acted in similar ways to others on the trail and even to the front desk person at a motel on the trail. But this is the exception. 

I have always felt safe on the trail. I carry a cell phone and check for reception regularly. If your parents are worried--get a SPOT satellite communications device. You can push a button and it will relay your location to pre-arranged people via the internet. It also has a button that you can summon help from friends and a button to summon help via 911. It is not very expensive. Many people use this. Your family and friends can also follow your progress on Google Maps from the SPOT tracking info. Also--many people do internet updates on their Peek devices, which used to be available at Costco.

Good luck--check out the journals of single women on the trail at Postholer.com and trailjournals.com. You can get a lot of tips from reading them. I kept a journal at www.postholer.com/fireweed.

Mary "Fireweed" Kwart