This post was written in Danish in November 2017 and later translated into English. Only the language changed.
My PCT permit for 2018 is hopefully nearly ready!
We could just call it my “PCT authorisation”, but “PCT permit” sounds cooler 😉
On 1 November 2017 at 18:30, PCTA (Pacific Crest Trail Association) opened their registration page. Before I can get my PCT permit, PCTA need to know my planned start and finish dates and where I intend to walk from and to.
On the day I met up with Lars, a really nice guy who got in touch with me a while back because he is doing the same trip. We decided to put our heads together and swap a bit of info and stories and so on. Genuinely lovely to meet someone who has had the same crazy idea as yourself 🙂
Lars has done other long hikes, so he had a decent handle on all of it 😉 and is a GOOD deal more hardcore than me 🙂 which I discovered when I saw his gear list. So it is SUPER good to know there is someone who can definitely give me a qualified answer if I run into questions I cannot find answers to.
Lars is splitting the trip into chunks, since he has a wife and children who are going on a different hike this summer – so he nips home, takes a holiday with them, and then comes back. And I thought I was the crazy one 😉
Whether we end up hiking together, time will tell. If nothing else we can write funny messages to each other in the log books along the route.
So we sat there, all set to type in our details and get our PCT permits.
Let me just say the dates were in demand – because only 35 permits are issued per start date. Which means 35 people can start on 1 April, 35 on 2 April, and so on.
In January they open a further 15 permits per date, but we could hardly wait for that 😉
This is what it looked like when I finally got logged in (only about 10 minutes after it opened)
Entirely as expected there was a rush on the website, so everything moved at a snail’s pace – and when you are on tenterhooks about whether you get the date you want, it feels like it is going even slower!
My original plan was to fly to San Diego on 31 March, spend a couple of days there and start my hike on 4 April.
Apparently I am not alone in that 🙂 So it did not happen. Luckily I got a slot on 5 April instead.
Which just means I get one more day in San Diego before I stroll off towards Canada 🙂
When I land in San Diego I am staying with a married couple – Scout & Frodo (that is their trail name when they are out hiking) who every year open their house to all us hiking nutcases, so we have a couple of days to get the last things sorted before we set off.
I am short a bit of clothing and some odds and ends, which I plan to buy while I am staying with them, and at the same time say hello to the people I will be seeing out on the trail (maybe)
Now I am waiting eagerly for final confirmation that they approve my application (which apparently is never a problem). Once it is ready I get a link to my permit, which has to be printed so it can be shown at any time.
EXCITING!
Gear: the full setup I carried on the PCT is on the PCT 2018 gear list.