A small monument created by a hiker at mile 665 reminded us today that we are one quarter of the way to Canada on the Pacific Crest Trail.
That’s one quarter by distance, but about one third of our expected time on the PCT has passed. The reason for the difference is we expect to hike faster the more days we hike.
We created a “schedule” before we started that was heavily influenced by this document.
We are currently about a day ahead of the schedule, but we don’t refer to it often as we are in no hurry to reach Canada. We only use the schedule to help figure out resupplies and to reassure ourselves that we are on track as we watch the younger faster hikers zip by.
The schedule has us finishing on September 12th for a total of 162 days hiking on the PCT. We have no idea if this will be accurate and there is nothing special about September 12th. If we finish earlier or later that’s OK, although Northern Washington can have bad weather in late September.
Meanwhile, this section G has surprised us with its unexpected bountiful panoramas and big mountains. We have been perched on the upper sides of mountains for miles and miles – we are at the mercy of the trail to spit us down the mountains to water occasionally, but pay for the water privileges with another climb right back up.
Photo: A monument at mile 665 marks the first quarter of the trail.
Trail Date: Friday, May 23rd
Mileage: 20.1 miles
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