Pacific Crest Trail

The Pacific Crest Trail is America's flagship western thru-hike — 4,285 km from the Mexican border at Campo, California, to the Canadian border at Manning Park, British Columbia, traversing the spine of the western United States. It crosses three states (California, Oregon, Washington), seven national parks, 25 national forests, and around 130,000 m of cumulative elevation change. Roughly 800 people complete the entire trail each year; the average thru-hike takes 5 to 6 months.

The standard direction is northbound (NOBO), starting at Campo in mid-March to mid-May to reach the Sierra Nevada snowmelt window and finish at the Canadian border before snow returns to the North Cascades in September. The trail's character changes dramatically with each section: the first 1,130 km cross the Southern California desert (Mojave, San Jacinto, Big Bear) with sparse water and 40 °C heat by day. Kennedy Meadows at km 1,130 marks the Sierra Nevada entrance — 800 km of high-altitude granite country including parts of the John Muir Trail. Northern California is forested and rolling. Oregon is the easy section: 720 km of mostly gentle ridge walking, often done in 3 weeks of "Oregon vortex" big-mile days. Washington's North Cascades is the dramatic finale, the wettest and most alpine section, ending at Manning Park's Monument 78.

The PCT requires a free long-distance permit from the Pacific Crest Trail Association, allocated by a January lottery. Demand far exceeds supply at the Southern Terminus — Campo starts are capped at 50 hikers per day during the March–May window. Resupply is the trail's defining logistical challenge: most hikers mail food boxes ahead to ~25 small post-office towns along the route, supplemented by store-stops in larger trail towns. Total cost typically runs $7,000–12,000 across the whole hike (gear, resupply, lodging in towns, transport). The trail has surged in popularity since Cheryl Strayed's 2012 memoir *Wild* — today, more people start than finish, and the "trail family" social culture is much of why people stay all the way.