[pct-l] 8/9-week section hike

[Glen Winters]

Jean-Louis

No support is fine and shouldn't slow you down much if any. In fact you probably won't need to ship food and or supply's too more then 1 to 3 locations, like Kennedy Meadows and maybe VVR or Muir Trail Ranch. I have done the entire trail your contemplating resupplying out of towns with one mail drop to Kennedy Meadows, and a side trip into VVR where I bought dinner, breakfast, and a few odds and ends to get to Mammoth Lakes. There were 2 or 3 pieces of the trail that required 6 to 8 days of food carried but I'm not that fast. Don't forget to arrange for purchase/borrow/rent a bear canister in the Sierras.


940 miles in 8 - 9 weeks I probably can't do that, many others can. You'll have to decide for yourself, but why decide you have too make x miles why not choose 700 to 940 miles depending on weather, snow pack in the sierras, and how well you acclimatize to desert and mountains combined? I'm pretty sure there are buses from Tuolumne Meadows or a hitch is usually pretty easy there. You could also exit at any point from Mojave, to Mammoth Lakes and take Marta Bus service to Mojave. I would recommend going South to Mojave, if you exit before Tuolumne Meadows, then either Greyhound or in combination with Amtrak trains, or flights out of Los Angeles, Ontario, or Burbank would take you to San Francisco. Give yourself 2 too 4 extra days to travel. 

I think getting to San Francisco from Toulumne meadows would be very reasonable, I have traveled by Greyhound/Amtrak in the area numerous times but not from Toulumne Meadows, I'm sure someone else on the list can give you more exact travel information.

I love the desert, so I would recommend starting at the border although at that time of year it may be real hot and dry. There will probably be a few late starters and they usually do fine. Carry lots of water. Try to maintain fairly decent mileage, not sure I would want to be in crossing the Mojave in early late June or early July if you aren't able to keep up a 940 mile 2 month pace, its hot enough in late May, early June. But if you don't care about hitting the border, as an alternative you might consider jumping ahead if/as needed to reach Toulumne Meadows on your schedule. I would probably consider skipping Mojave area (lots of road walking) and/or from Tehachapi to Walker pass although the last day or two of each of those sections are quite nice even if you don't like deserts. Also their is no public transportation between these points.


Hope this helps,
Argentina