Is it safe to hike the pacific crest trail alone? - My Personal Experience
Hello, dear reader! This is not a typical guide you read on Google about the Pacific Crest Trail. This is my story on the trail, and I write this to take you along with me on the trail virtually. So hop on my travel express and let's enter the forest!
Note: While I hiked the PCT, I did not plan to blog or vlog, so I took only a few pictures and videos for my own memory. Hence, I am going to use my handmade illustrations and also few real photos to make your experience extra joyful while you read this blog :) If you are interested, you can also visit my Art store Divya Natur Art Store
Before I start telling you my story on the trail, let me tell you what the Pacific Crest Trail is. The PCT is a 2650-mile-long trail that stretches from the Mexico Border to the Canadian Border. Hikers can start hiking from either side. The lowest elevation is at sea level, and the highest elevation is around 13,000 feet. However, every day, hikers have to climb up and down steep mountains. My plan was to hike a few sections of PCT until I felt satisfied being in the forest. This was a solo hike.
Back in February 2019, I had this strong urge to hike the PCT. I am only an intermediate hiker, but I am a person with strong willpower. When I got the calling, I read a lot about PCT but did not pursue it because I thought to myself that my work and visa status wouldn't allow me to take a few months off. So I let it go. But that urge came back to me again in June 2019. But this time, I changed my perspective. Instead of thinking "Oh no, I cannot do it because of so and so reasons," I started thinking like "I want to hike this trail now and what are the ways to make this happen." Immediately, I started taking steps to make this happen. I spoke to my manager and lawyers and got unpaid leave to go hike the PCT.
I shopped for gear in June and planned to start hiking the PCT on July 3rd. Before leaving, I made an extensive checklist of what needed to be carried and shipped some food supplies to towns that are located on the PCT so that I could collect them once I reached those towns.
These are all the items I carried in my bag. Food is not shown in this picture. The whole backpack weighed about 22 pounds/10 kg.
Finally, July 3rd arrived. I flew from Arizona to Seattle. With the help of a few volunteers and after 30 miles of hiking, I reached the trailhead of the PCT that sits on the USA-Canada border. Yes, I was hiking southbound. Believe it or not, this was my first big hike ever. I stood in the forest wearing that heavy backpack, feeling quite puzzled about what I had signed up for. The day was bright, but the weather was chilly, and the views were amazing. I was very careful and aware, keeping an eye out for wild animals.
The first day, I hiked about 7 miles, and by the end of it, it was already getting darker. This was my first-ever backpacking trip of my life, and it was solo. But thank God, I found a backcountry camp spot with a few humans camping. I pitched my tent next to them and went to sleep.
The next day, I woke up and freshened up. Oh yeah, freshening up meaning, brushing and washing my face and using the nature built restroom ;) It was totally weird for me the first few days, but later I adapted to it. I made my breakfast and started hiking again.
Alright, I don't want to tell you the story of what happened every single day as it is. So, I am going to pick a few interesting points to keep you interested :) Still with me on this journey? Stay buckled up!
Food on the Pacific Crest Trail
I carried Ramen noodles, some pasta, and Mountain House ready-made food packets on the first section. I am Indian, so my taste buds are used to craving spicy food after a long, hard-working day. I enjoyed ramen noodles to some extent, but I hated bland pasta and other ready-made food. So for my second section, I asked one of my friends to send me some spice items to make my meals interesting. I carried ready-made Indian food, and I loved it. So my advice would be to carry the food you like so that you would enjoy having that after burning hundreds of calories. Here's an illustration of me cooking while it was drizzling. An experience I could never forget in my life :) Oh, since you are here with me virtually, here, you can have my another rain jacket if you want to stay dry!
Water on the PCT:
I carried a filter which attaches to the water bottle. So I fetched water from streams and creeks using one bottle/water bag and filtered the water into another bottle. But you know what, I lost one of my water bottles while crossing a river (I will tell you this tragic story later in the post, keep following ;))
Also, mosquitoes are a real pain on the trail, so I wore a mosquito net most of the time while I hiked. Well, I lost that too when it accidentally fell into the river during a river crossing.
People ask me, "Were you not scared of camping alone in complete wilderness?"
I was scared; some campsites in the backcountry felt safe, and some felt kind of dark and scary. The first few nights of camping in the wilderness were challenging. I used to wake up to every sound I heard, just to make sure there were no animals around. Soon I realized that not all the sounds were made by animals.
Sometimes during windy nights, my tent flaps would make a weird noise, which felt almost like a baby bear sound.
One night, a funny thing happened. It was a full moon night, and I was camping alone. I came out at midnight to see the moon and then went back inside, making myself cozy by pulling my sleeping bag up until it covered my face. My sleeping bag was super light, so I would not feel the weight on my face; it was almost like a thin slice of paper touching my face (see below illustration). Immediately, I heard an animal walking closer to my tent. And then, I felt like it walked towards my food bag that was hung on a tree. Yet again, I felt it was quickly approaching my tent. I thought to myself that I had to get ready to handle this situation. I took the sleeping bag off my face and opened the tent zipper to see who was visiting me. To my surprise, there was no one. I went back into the sleeping bag, and here is the idiotic part: it was actually my eyelashes touching the sleeping bag that was making a noise which sounded exactly like some animal was walking 😂
After the first few nights, I got used to all the sounds, and I felt very comfortable sleeping among the trees and animals in the wilderness. 🥰
Friends on PCT
Sometimes we meet interesting people on the trail. I met one such person during my hike. He was a trail angel who had set up his camp at the entrance of Harts Pass. Most of the hikers visit his camp and chill for some time before they start hiking to the next section.
His trail name was "Broken Toe" and he was living in a van. There were a bunch of hikers at his place having tea and warming up around a campfire. He was a kind human being and it felt so peaceful to talk to him and ask him about his van life while we were making tea for other hikers.
Knee Pain or Fractures on the Trail:
Thanks to the universe, I never had any knee fractures, but I did have a knee sprain for one whole day. Unfortunately, that day was a downhill day, and my knee ached even more while going down. However, my hiking sticks were my best friends that day. I learned how to use them effectively and walked with one foot while putting very minimal strain on the sprained knee. I still remember, on that day, there were tons of hummingbirds around me. I heard somewhere that some people consider hummingbirds as ancestors and angels. So for me, I felt like they were around me to give me much-needed positivity. Hence, in my illustration below, I have a hummingbird trying to heal my knee. Haha! Now look at you, along with the bird, you are also with me virtually as I relive this moment again while I write this blog, remembering that day :)
Cell Network on the PCT:
Absolutely none! I had no cell signal for the entire 400 kilometers I hiked. And forget about the signal, my external power bank stopped working, and in one section, I could not use my phone much to conserve battery. So, hence, no listening to songs either. Instead, I started singing. Haha. Also, my singing on the trail was like a free radio for the bears and the birds ;)
How did I call home while I hiked?
Every 100 miles or so, I would reach a town where there would be cell signal to call my family and friends. Now the funny part is, I did not tell my family back in India that I was doing this hike. I lied to my mom, telling her that I was volunteering at a work location with poor phone signals. I used to call her whenever I reached a town, and we would have video calls. She slowly started getting suspicious because I was wearing the same dress every time I video called her (also, on PCT, there is no luxury of carrying a different set of clothes). Anyway, I still managed to keep it a secret. I only lied to my parents because they would freak out if they knew their daughter went hiking all alone. I told them about the PCT hike only 1 year after I finished it. In fact, I kept this a secret from many friends as well. I did this hike only for myself. I did carry a satellite phone and kept sending my location every night and "I am safe" messages to my sister in India and one other friend in the US.
River crossing on PCT: A thrilling story
First day of my third section, I hiked for about 9 miles and camped with a few mountaineers that night. The next morning, after a couple of miles of hiking, I saw a big river separating the trail. I had to cross the river. I felt energetic all of a sudden because I liked the challenge, and it was my first river crossing on the PCT. I changed my hiking shoes to water shoes and put my feet in the water. The water was freezing cold; I could not stay in the water for more than 5 seconds. So instead of taking the regular route, I tried to go off-trail to see if there was any other easier way to cross the river.
I saw a fallen tree stretched across half of the crossing. I thought it was going to be easy, but after getting on the log, I realized I had chosen a difficult path. The log was not stable, and I was afraid it would knock me off into the gushing river. I almost thought I was going to fall. I slowly managed to crawl on the log, but two of my water bottles fell into the river. I held onto the log with one hand, bent immediately, and saved one of the water bottles but lost the other. After reaching the end of the log, I got down and crossed the rest of the river as quickly as possible to get done with the freezing cold water.
I felt good that I crossed the river successfully. I continued to hike. After ten minutes, I realized I had lost my mosquito net as well 🙆🏻♀️.
Mental breakdowns on the PCT:
Not all the days on the trail are beautiful, happy, and joyful. On the second day in Section 3, 15 miles past Stehekin, I was mentally exhausted. The climb was steep, and the trail was extremely narrow. Both sides of the trail were covered with dense plants. My foot was getting tangled with a few plants quite often. But I knew the trail wasn't the only thing troubling me; it was my mind that was making the entire situation worse. I was demotivated that day. My mind was digging up all the past memories of my life. I was going through a heartbreak at that time. Emotions and feelings were piling up.
I kept hiking and suddenly I saw a giant tree, and for some reason, I felt like my ancestor was welcoming me with her hands wide open. I stopped hiking, took off my backpack, sat on her lap, and started crying. I vented out all the piled-up emotions and feelings that I had in my heart. I was experiencing indefinite nostalgia.
After a few minutes beside the tree, I felt lighthearted. I was feeling much calmer. I expressed my gratitude to the tree and to myself. I continued my hike calmly for the rest of the day. This was one of the difficult and one of the beautiful days on the PCT, and I would never forget it.
Physically Difficult day on the Pacific crest trail:
It was such a beautiful experience to camp beside Mica Lake located at the top of the mountain. It was extremely windy, and there were thunderstorms all night. When I woke up in the morning, the entire lake was covered with fog and had zero visibility. It started raining.
I wore my rain jacket and started hiking down the mountain. I got fully drenched. It was not a great experience to hike in the rain for the entire day. I reached the forest floor at around 6 PM. My hands were freezing, and I badly wanted to start a campfire. I did not have water to cook food, so I walked a bit and found a stream nearby and fetched the water. I came back to camp and tried to start the campfire, but since it was constantly drizzling and my fingers were numb and about to get frostbitten, I wasn't able to start the campfire.
I managed to turn on my stove and cook noodles to warm up my fingers. I went inside my tent. Since my tent was a single-wall tent, due to condensation, water droplets were dripping from the tent wall. It was wetting my sleeping bag. I was concerned because my sleeping bag was the only savior to protect me from this cold weather. I constantly woke up to wipe the tent wall. I checked the weather report and found that it was going to rain tomorrow as well.
I woke up and it felt terrible to wear wet socks and wet clothes. I somehow managed that and started hiking. At about 3 PM, the sun showed up and I felt extremely happy about it. I stopped for lunch. While I was cooking, I saw a beautiful deer looking at me. She was on her way to a stream nearby. The evening was pleasant, and I tried to sleep well that night.
Wild Animals on the PCT
The only animals I witnessed while hiking 400 km on the PCT were marmots, various birds, squirrels, and deer. I did not see any bears during my hike. In section 2, I did hear from other hikers that there was a black bear nearby, but by the time I arrived, a horse on the trail had scared the bear off, and unfortunately, I could not see the bear.
Hiking Pacific Crest Trail Alone: Empowering moments:
Even though there were tough days, some happy days, and some days felt totally empowering. And mostly, the empowering days were after a tough day. On the trail, I followed a mantra: "whatever it is - you just be."
Thanks so much for coming on this PCT Express with me.
Today, July 3rd, 2024, marks exactly 5 years since I completed the hike, and I still feel the memories are so fresh in my head as I write this blog. Hiking the Pacific crest trail alone was filled with a variety of experiences and emotions: happiness, sadness, toughness, joy, empowerment, breakdown - I felt everything in the matter of 30 days. Before I hiked the trail, I was concerned about the safety of a woman hiking solo for hundreds of kilometers. But after hiking the trail, I realized that the PCT was one of the safest places I have felt compared to other cities I have visited in the world.
I trusted Mother Nature and the universe throughout this journey. I did prepare well before going by reading blogs of people who have already been there. I learned a lot before going there. I learned how to deal with wild animals if I meet any. I love people who listen to their calling and adventure into the wild. Many such people have inspired me to take this journey that is unforgettable my whole life. If you have come this far into the blog, then I hope I have ignited a spark inside of you to step into the wilderness and have one adventurous time of your life.
Thank you again for being here. Remember, this world is beautiful because you are here :) Loads of love, see you on another travel express! Don't forget to sign up to get notified on my next blog.
Thanks for coming this far and if you enjoyed my story telling and illustrations, I invite you to explore my art store which has a variety of paintings that you would enjoy :)
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Divya, a versatile professional, previously worked as a thermal R&D engineer but decided to leave her job to follow her love for travel and art. After excelling in her engineering career, she now devotes her time entirely to producing art that draws inspiration from the wonders of nature and human experiences. Apart from being an author, she runs her own e-commerce sites to exhibit and sell her creations. Through her blogs and vlogs, she shares her experiences on travel, her books, and diverse facets of life.