Permitting Time

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Starting in 2015 the PCTA started limiting the number of long distance permits they gave out for people starting at or near the southern terminus. The 50 permits are released in two waves. The first date allows 35 potential hikers to apply for a permit. A few weeks later the last 15 permits are open to applications. Limiting the number of permits helps spread start dates, limit the number of hikers setting up camp in the same places and ultimately (and most importantly) protect the sensitive ecosystems that are found at the southern sections of the PCT.

Though there are thousands of total permits people can apply for, the restriction of 50 per day can bring a lot of uncertainty into planning. Especially if you miss the first day for applications (like I did). Most people like to start in the middle of April in order to make it through the desert before the hottest part of summer while also allowing enough time for the High Sierras to shed some snow. Due to similar thinking, April is usually blacked out after a few minutes of the applications opening. If you are hard set on a specific start date (specifically in April) due to vacation times, pre-purchased plane tickets or other restrictions you may have will make the application process that much more stressful for you. The best thing to remember with regards to the PCT is to be flexible.

I had to practice this first hand when I had signed up to volunteer with the Washington Trails Association on a day that turned out to be the first day of permit applications. Welp. As expected, by the time I got home at 5, all of the prime permits in April were taken (delegating the task of permit applying to someone else is not very effective). At that point I had two options: wait until the rest of the permits were available or apply for a date in March or May. Starting in March allows people to start off with hiking a smaller amount of miles and working their way up to the longer days. Starting in May will allow for a less crowded trail experience but will be accompanied with higher temperatures (This year [2017] presumably due to a high snow pack in the Sierra Nevada the first two weeks of May are also popular start dates). I ended up opting for waiting the second round of permits to become available. Anxiously sitting in front of my computer an hour before the release date, every negative thought of what could possibly go wrong with my computer or errors in my application filled my mind prior to hitting 'submit'.

In hindsight there was really no need to fret so much about it. Even if I did not get a permit around the time I wanted I could/would still hike the entire PCT just not in the way I originally planned. The PCTA is actually recommending flip-flop hikes (hiking one direction, jumping ahead on the trail hiking those sections, and then going back to finish what you haven't done yet) instead of the traditional one-way thru hikes.

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