[pct-l] What hike is right for me?

[dude at fastmail.ca (dude)]

well, as crowded as it may be, the JMT is utterly spectacular.   ...and 
IMO its not as crowded as its cracked up to be.  I mean, you will see 
several people everyday, but I have done the JMT twice and have only 
camped next to other hikers at Cathedral Lakes (inside Yosemite between 
Yosemite Valley and Tuolumne Meadows).

If you just absolutely *have* to hike where you are guaranteed not to 
see anyone, then I would suggest not doing the PCT. You might try 
hiking some other trails in the Sierra.  Go grab a book on hiking the 
Sierra and you will be able to link a few sections of trail together to 
create a great hike where you probably won't see anyone.  There are 
also hikes outside the Sierra where you could do the same in Northern 
California, Oregon, and Washington.

If you want some fairly rugged terrain, you can try the Tahoe Yosemite 
trail, which is about 70% the same as the PCT between Lake Tahoe and 
Yosemite.  There is one 20-30 mile section of this trail that is nearly 
unmaintained and is so lightly traveled that its difficult to locate 
the trail in some places.  You will see people on this trail close to 
Tahoe and close to Yosemite Valley, but most of the places in between 
you will only see other people sproradically. Once you get close to 
Tuolumne Meadows, you will see LOTS of people and mules trains.

Other Non-PCT places you might look into: Trinity Alps in N. 
California, the Suislaws in Oregon, the Ruby Mountains in Nevada, the 
Strawberry Mountains in Oregon.  All of these places are much less 
crowded.  if you really want isolation, then I suggest the Gila 
Wilderness of New Mexico.  We hiked around in there for a week and 
never saw anyone.

Good luck.

peace,
dude


> Hi, I want to plan about a 3 week hike on a portion of the PCT. I was
> thinking of doing the John Muir Trail, but it seemed, from what I
> read, a little crowded. So I was wondering if anyone had any good
> suggestions of what part I could hike to get some great views, and not
> have to deal with a whole lot of people traffic. Thanks.
> _______________________________________________
> pct-l mailing list
> pct-l@mailman.backcountry.net
> unsubscribe or change options:
> http://mailman.hack.net/mailman/listinfo/pct-l
_________________________________________________________________
    http://fastmail.ca/ - Fast Secure Web Email for Canadians