Hi everyone,
Was hoping to get some advice or opinions on hiking the PCT. I've lived on the east coast my whole life and am almost done section hiking the AT. Feel like I have a good grasp on the conditions at various times of the year on the AT and enough experience hiking/trial running that I travel light and move generally fast, but the PCT is a whole new world. My career choice has limited my ability to take enough time off at once to thru hike. But, I'm coming up on a transition point in my work and I'm hoping to get a few months off to do the PCT as a thru hike. Problem is I don't have total control over when my current position ends as that is standardized for everyone in my field. I could, in the next year or more likely year after, finish work in June/early July and take till about Oct or so off. I gather the most common thru hike is nobo starting mid May-ish. So, clearly, I'd be behind the curve starting in July nobo and I don't fancy the desert in July anyways. I looked briefly into sobo which seems possible in July depending on the snow up north, but the idea of hiking in snow at elevation solo is not my idea of a good/safe time for a first attempt at hiking in such conditions. Flip flop seems like it might work as I could potentially avoid snow and extreme heat but I have no idea where to start and how that would really work out logistically. So, any advice or resources you could point me to would be much appreciated.
Thanks,
Corbie