When to start the pacific crest trail
PCT Permit Process - Application procedure in preparation for the Pacific Crest Trail
are you thinking of hiking the Pacific
Crest Trail then here's my no nonsense
guide on how to get hold of a permit
from my own experience let's go
hello long-distance hikers and long-term
well travelers Russ here bringing you
the best tips and inspiration for hiking
around the world I did plan on through
hiking the entire Pacific Crest Trail
this year but due to some family issues
I'm not going to be able to but I did go
through the entire process of getting a
visa and a permit sorted for the dates
that I wanted getting hold of your PCT
permit for the first time can be a
daunting prospect but with this no
nonsense guide I hope to give you the
best steps from my own experience to
guide you through the entire process I
made sure I have my PCT long distance
permit in my hands ready to go for my US
visa application which you all need to
do a film from overseas I'm going to do
a video on how to apply for a US visa
and what I did and my own experience
with that I'll put a card here for when
that's done so you can watch that as
well without further ado let's get into
the steps on how to get your first PCT
permit okay so step one and that would
be to make sure you have a start date in
mind between mid March and mid May most
people who are going northbound on the
PCT start between these dates because
the earlier that you start the cooler it
is in the desert the more snow you're
having the Sierras but the less snow
you'll have in Washington the later that
you start the PCT the hotter it's going
to be in the desert the less snow you're
going to have in the High Sierras and
the more snow you're going to have in
Washington I chose to start my Trek on
May the 1st because I wanted to have
less snow in the Sierras so I could walk
a bit faster and I knew I'd be able to
walk quite far start aiming for about 25
to 35 miles a day when I was really
getting into it so I knew that I'd be
able to finish the trick in time for the
snow in in Washington I've calculated
for the entire trek that I'd need to
average about eighteen and a half miles
a day but that's including zero day so
days that I was going to take off from
the trail in towns and also days that I
was gonna be walking a lot slower in the
Sierras so I really wanted as little
snow in the Sierras as possible I mean
I'm not doing it now but a lot of people
have said this is another high record
snow year so
maybe I would have been caught out in
the High Sierras with plenty of snow
anyway and missed my finish point okay
so now you've got a rough date in mind
it's now time for step two which is find
out when the PCT opens for applications
for long distant permits and do your
research you must choose a right permit
before you enter your application and
the one that you want is the 500 mile
plus long distance permit long distance
permit applications usually open in
November and then the following year in
the January for the resale okay let's
get on to step number three and that is
applying for your permit on application
day you'll need to log onto the PCT a
website and on the permit section there
should be a link to a waiting room the
PCT a now has a new system for applying
for permits so that when people log into
their website they're then placed into a
queue to wait to start their application
the queue can turn out to be thousands
of people long and you could be waiting
there for hours so what a lot of people
do is they actually book the entire day
off work especially the guys out in the
US they make sure that they get the
place that they want they say not to get
into that waiting room too early but I
went in there for about twenty-five
minutes before and I was very very lucky
I got placed into just number 300 and
something in the queue and I was only
waiting 20 minutes to start my
application and you have some people
getting put into place number 7,000 and
having to wait about six or seven hours
to start theirs which is absolutely
mental where you iron the queue is very
important because if you get put to the
front of the queue when you first log in
you're gonna have more chances and more
time to pick the date that you want when
you get onto the calendar the further
back in the queue you are in that
waiting room means that when you
actually get into the calendar system
there'll be less chances for you to get
the the date that you really want there
would have been many more people in
front of you going onto the calendar and
picking the dates that they wanted so
making it less likely that you'll get
the date that you want the harsh reality
of it is is there's nothing you can do
about whether or not you're gonna be at
the front or the back of the queue it's
just pot luck so they say okay so how to
start a squirt the PCT a actually offers
35 places per day for North bounders on
the 500 mile plus long distance hiking
permit what that means is per day there
will only be 35 people actually starting
the hike on that day what this does is
it ensures that the trail is properly
maintained it's not gonna get trampled
by thousands of people or starting on
the FIR
serve April which is what a lot of
people want or the second week of April
which is what even more people want they
want to kind of spread it out so that
different sets of people in different
groups are going to start and there's no
more than 35 once the 35 places on that
date have been booked that entire date
will be locked and you'll have to go on
the calendar and look for either for the
next date along the next day or another
suitable date that you wish if all of
the dates that you want are completely
locked when you get into that calendar
system you'll have to wait for the next
round of applicants which is in January
where they open up another 10 to 15
places so you can go back on that date
and add your place in there top tip I
would like to give to you is that the
later that you start the PCT the more
likely you are to get the date that you
want the reason for this being is that
most people want to start in mid-march
to mid April those are the busiest times
to start because it's cooler in the
desert and most of the community is
starting around that date as well so
people really enjoy meeting up with
people before their hike and asking
questions a lot of people like to hike
in groups and go with their friends so
that's why it's really busy at that time
of year as well but of course I went for
the first of May as my start date I got
in and boom there it was my calendars 8
was completely free no one had even
picked era I think maybe one person had
already picked that day so yeah maybe I
was like one of two people starting on
the first of May once you've locked in
your date and you've gone through the
entire process they asked you a
questionnaire how long you're planning
on doing the hike what dates you're
planning on going and what that does is
it enables them to calculate whether
you're actually for real and whether
you've actually done your planning right
if you've put in the wrong date or the
wrong timeframe that you're planning on
doing the PCT they'll be able to be like
ok this guy doesn't really know what
he's doing and they could actually
decline you from getting your permit so
before you go do your research know
exactly when you're gonna go know how
long you're gonna be planning on
trekking for know what your average pace
is gonna be for each day like what your
mileage is are and if you do everything
right it's quite a simple questionnaire
the likelihood is you're gonna get
accepted to get your permit once you've
gone through all of that they will take
you to a window saying that you've been
accepted and what they do I think is in
mid-january the following year after
you've done your application they'll
actually issue you out all of the
permits in a PDF format so that you can
then
print it out I think also if you donate
a little bit of cash at the end of your
application I think it's $35 I donated
they actually sent me an information
pack subscribe me to the PCT magazine
which is a really good addition to going
through that whole process okay so that
is parameter sorted so once you've got
your permits sort it and you know when
it's going to be coming the best thing
to then do is apply for us tourism be to
type visa and get an interview set into
place for after when your PCT permit
arrives the reason for this being as I
mentioned before is if you go to your US
visa interview with the PCT permit and
all of the documentation in your hand
you'll be much more likely to be
accepted for the visa and it will make
the entire process a lot easier
overall I found the process of getting a
PCT permit although it was a little bit
tedious I really like that they put
everyone in a waiting room yes I was
very lucky that I got put 300 and
something in the in the queue to get my
application up and running but I think
in previous years it's been much more
complicated and this new system
apparently has helped a lot of people
sadly I will not be doing the PCT this
year and I do have a permit ready to go
so I will be giving that back to the PCT
a to open up the spot for someone who
really wants it also on the PCT a web
site there's plenty of information about
the trail everything that you need to
know and how to get started lots of
advice on wildlife and on camping and
all the rules and regulations so go and
check out PCT a org they have everything
you need to know there okay guys thank
you very much for watching this video if
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there's always guys I'll see you in the
next one
