I was responding to an AT hiker who was going to do the PCT and wanted to know the differences.
The following are points I made that are different than the usual lists you will see. I’m pretty sure he had seen all of those.
- Instead of social gatherings at shelters the social gatherings occur in towns.
- Resupply tends to be a little further apart once you leave the desert. You also often have to go a lot further off trail to get to resupply.
- There are a lot fewer privies. And the few shelters on the PCT are only suitable for emergency use.
- On a SOBO stretch we would pass 50-60 NOBOs a day and they were all sure they were pretty much alone. People tend to think they are a lot more isolated than they are.
- We only had a very few times outside of towns where we camped with a lot of other people.
- It is very hard to find a tree for a good bear hang.
- There are many more water crossings.
- On the AT I finally quit carrying sunglasses. On the 1600 miles we did on the PCT we used sunglasses regularly.
- On the AT a short sleeve t-shirt did me for most of the trail. On the PCT I live in a sun hoody.
- On the AT everyone is a purist. On the PCT it is more about “continuous footpath” and blue blazes are fine.
- The PCT also has a lot more altitude —much, much more trail above 4,500 feet.
- I thought the water carry in Pennsylvania was long. Then we got to the PCT. The PCT has a lot of long water carries.
- The most elevation we climbed in a day on the AT was around 4,800 feet. The most on the PCT was over six thousand feet—though we took twenty miles to do it so the AT was steeper, we just did shorter miles.
- The trail is better trail in a lot of ways (or why we could do twenties readily) but the surface is rougher (tore up my Hokas which I really liked on the AT).
I know that isn’t the usual list of differences between the trails, but it is the differences that stuck out to me and that I think of as useful to keep in mind.
Appalachian vs. Pacific Crest Trail
- The PCT is open to both hikers and horses (note the horse people do trail maintenance ++++).
- More gradually graded, easier tread
- Almost no shelters (and, as I note above, the shelters are really emergency only, not terribly useful).
- Goes through more extreme environments
- Longer days and miles between re-supplies
- Due to the easier tread way and more gradual grade, (hikers) tend to do more miles per day on the PCT than the AT
- Narrower window of hiking. Can’t start much earlier than mid-late April or you will hit (too) much snow in the High Sierras. Finish much past October 1st (or even around), and you will more than likely have a snowstorm in the Cascades. Reverse problems for south bounding (PCT SOBOs typically start in June)
- Fewer people attempting to thru-hike the PCT per year than the AT.
- Higher completion rate of the PCT due to more experienced hikers on the PCT overall (though, that is changing rapidly)
- Typically, if you did the AT in 6 mos, you will finish the PCT in 5 mos. If you did the AT in 5 mos, you will finish the PCT in 4 mos
- Or to put it another way, you tend to do five miles per day more on your hiking days on the PCT than the AT. A person who averaged 15-20 MPD hiking on the AT will typically average 20-25 MPD on the PCT.
- If you were already in good shape when you did the AT, used to longer hiking days and used light gear, probably won’t notice much difference. Most ATers typically spend more time both in camp and towns vs a PCT hike as well.
- Miles per day typically goes up after the High Sierra
- Fewer towns..but the town stops tend to be more expensive. Call it a wash vs the AT.
- An average thru-hike costs ~$1200 per month. (Food is just more expensive but there are fewer town stops and fewer hostels).
- Most aspiring thru-hikers of the PCT have a few key concerns. Typically they involve desert hiking (sun exposure, heat, water situation), travel through the High Sierras (ice axe use, bear canister regulations, snowfield travel), and re-supply.