[pct-l] AT vs PCT 2

Date: Thu, 21 Dec 2000 02:07:26 EST From:
CitrusHicker@aol.com wrote:
>I'm looking for some wisdom on what the biggest differences are between an 
>AT Thru->hike and a PCT Thru-hike from some experienced hikers.

I’ll add some things to what Ginny said –

First – there is no single ‘biggest difference’ between the two trails.  
There are a lot of them.

The PCT trail (as in ‘the treadway’) is VERY different.  The AT is being 
slowly changed, but it’s generally rougher and steeper than the PCT.  Many 
of the former AT thruhikers that we met on the PCT thought the PCT was 
‘easy’.  You’ve gotta wonder why some people think the PCT is ‘hard’ when a 
5000’ climb barely slows you down.  But it is.  Not so much the elevation 
gain – but the distance to make that elevation gain (or loss).  For example 
– the descent off Fuller Ridge (north of Idyllwild) to San Gorgonio Pass 
drops you 7500’ – in 22 miles.  That’s roughly 340’ per mile (average).  Not 
exactly tough in terms of elevation gain or loss – but unbelievably 
frustrating.  Part of the frustration comes from the parts of that descent 
that either gain elevation – or lose no more than 100’ per mile.  I remember 
that descent well – that’s where I broke a toe.

For me the frustration was pretty much continuous until we got to 
Washington. Of the southern 1500 miles of trail the trail is ‘on the Crest’ 
less than 1% of the time.  For the most part, the trail is dug sidehill 
built to a 5% grade (sometimes more – more often less) which never actually 
reaches the ridge, but winds in and out of very gully along the way, never 
(well, rarely) getting to anyplace worth getting to.  Not that you won’t get 
some good views along the way – but they’d very often be much better views 
if the trail were built on the ridge rather than 50’ below it..

Didn’t mention the long green tunnel, did I?  The AT is supposed to be a 
long green tunnel – and some pct-lers have brought that up in the past 
(although, I’ve noticed - not lately).  Fact is that the PCT has its own 
version of the long green tunnel – chaparral that’s grown high enough (6’ to 
10’) to qualify.  In Oregon, except for the size of the trees, much of the 
trail is indistinguishable from Pennsylvania – except that the trail is 
mostly ‘wheelchair trail’.  By that, I mean you could literally run a 
wheelchair on much of it (but not ALL of it). And that’s true of most of the 
trail – although not so much in Washington.

Water – Ginny mentioned it, but didn’t elaborate.  There’s no place on the 
AT that requires the kind of water discipline that’s a constant on the PCT.  
Hiking the PCT without a guidebook is one of the things that I will bluntly 
tell anyone is dumb.  I wasn’t really enchanted by the guidebooks, but for 
the most part they DO tell you where the water is.  And you need to know 
that.  One young lad comes to mind – he tried to cross the Hat Creek Rim 
with only a couple quarts of water – and ran out of water less than halfway 
across.  And the Rim is 32 miles of basic desert.  Not real bright – but he 
thought he didn’t need a guidebook and so he didn’t know where the water 
sources were.

Weather – for the first 3 months I think we had rain for parts of  5 days.  
Then we had some rain in Oregon (a couple days).  And then we got to 
Washington – and the rain gods caught up with us.  I think we might have had 
3 clear days on the trail in Washington, but you’d have to ask Ginny or Sly 
about that cause I don’t really remember anything but rain/snow/sleet/hail.

Having been through the Whites, you’ll find the Sierras similar in some 
ways, but without the crowds, without the huts, and if you get there early, 
without trail because a lot of it will still be snow covered.  Learn to use 
a map and compass – a group of 8 or 10 people sat below Donohue Pass for 
almost an hour one day trying to figure out where the pass was – and 3 of 
those people had been over that pass before.  They resolved it in about 30 
seconds when someone who could use a map and compass got involved.

Enough – nothing I’ve said is untrue – but it doesn’t tell the whole story 
either.  The PCT is simply DIFFERENT from the AT.   Not only that – it’s 
different from the CDT as well.  Intellectually there’s no surprise there – 
but when it gets down to actual hiking – it can still be a real surprise.

There’s nothing on the AT that’ll prepare you for Goat Rocks.  It was my 
favorite part of the PCT – and was worth every bit of frustration and 
aggravation that other parts of the trail gave me.  There are those who say 
the trail is even better north of Goat Rocks – they’re welcome to their 
opinion.  And we crossed the ridge  in rain, snow, fog and high wind.

Overall – I’m glad we did it – I wouldn’t have missed it for anything.  I 
also understand – and you should too – that a lot of the frustration that I 
experienced on the PCT was my own attitude problem – not the trail.  I went 
out there with expectations that were not met – in part because those 
expectations had been met the previous year on the CDT  and the PCT is 
simply different.  My mistake – I tried to force the PCT into a CDT mold – 
and it doesn’t fit.  The best advice I can give you is to NOT try to fit the 
PCT into an AT mold.  It doesn’t fit.

Walk softly,

Jim

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==============================================================================
To:            John Mertes <jmertes@gte.net>, pct-l@backcountry.net