PCT Section Hiking
Learnings
This section will grow over time.
Hiking poles
I have hiked a lot in my life in a variety of terrains, and other than in snow one time in Switzerland, I never used hiking poles. For the PCT I took one hiking pole (thanks, Microsoft) and I will never hike without a hiking pole again. It helps you pull yourself up on ascends, supports you on descents, you can rest on it when you are super tired, and it helps you fight bears. OK, not that. But it’s a must have.
Snakes and other disasters...
There are rattlesnakes on the PCT, and if you are as lucky as I am, you run into one on your first day. If you manage to avoid a bite - which I did courtesy of the rattlesnake warning me - you know from now on to watch the trail and listen on the time. Yeah, all the books tell you that. But there’s like hearing the rattle one meter away to teach you a lesson. Here went my dreams of listening to my mp3 player as I am walking.
The second most danger in this part of the PCT is poison oak. Unlike what thr name might suggest, it is a bush, and if you touch it you must be treated and possibly go to the hospital. I actually didn’t see one yet, but the local that came to try to sell us pot in the first night at Hauser creek, told me that my tent was between poison oak bushes, but that they were not blooming yet and thus not poisonous now.
Snacks
Unlike snakes, snacks are key to the success of your hike. Cold coffee (or hot in cold weather), and a sandwich after few miles in the morning, energy bar and trail mix later on, meant all the different in the world for. They tasted like humus at Abu Marion, knafe in Tira, or Gali’s Tsulnt.
Hiker Boxes
Every place along the PCT, be it The Manns' house, every lodge, store, campground has a hiker box. This is a box in which people put hiking stuff they don’t need, and take whatever they find there that they need. You can find everything in these hiker boxes: clothing, medical stuff, water filters, cups and utensils, food and more. Seriously, beyond the big basics of the PCT - tent, sleeping bag, shoes, you can find almost everything you need there
