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Travel log

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Planning a resupply strategy for the PCT

Trips:

On this blog I favour other more structured alternatives, but for making easily editable plans, Google Maps is great. I thought I’d share a few of the resources I put together for planning my resupply strategy.

PCT waypoints in gpx, kml and geojson.

First of all I wanted a low quality line of the entire trail. I couldn’t actually find this anywhere, I only found waypoint collection and way too detailed for the purpose of a simple overview. Finally after some searching and conversion efforts I managed to get an importable trail line in the KML format.

Next up I needed a list of resuppply points on the trail, and found this map already shared by someone else. I just copied it, exported it and re-imported it into my own map. The waypoint set also contain some basic information about mail drop addresses, opening hours etc but I wouldn’t trust it’s current.

Now I had everything I needed to get a good overview of my options. To get a better idea of how long it takes between each resupply point and how far away from the trail they are, I used Craig’s PCT Planner and started looking for resupply points which were close to the trail. I’d rather not pick a town which requires a long hitchhike unless I really have to. For additional comparison I also looked up reviews of every stop to see how feasible it would be to resupply there.

Resupply strategy

A couple of good pages I found for reading about indvidual towns

Basically my first step was to highlight the towns close or on the trail that had affordable resupply options. After that I started looking at the most popular mail box resupply stations on Halfway Anywhere and then comparing how far they were from the next/previous option. The goal was to stay within managable resupply distances while minimizing time off the trail.

Mail drop locations

I ended up picking 5 places where I would ship food instead of buying. I much prefer buying my supplies while on the trek because of the shipping hassle as a non-resident as well as the freedom of an open time schedule.

Stehekin

  • Resupply option: Impossible, a favorite on Halfway Anywhere.
  • Distance from previous: 209 km (Ross Lake trail; 130 miles)
  • Distance to next: 158km (Skykomish; 98 miles)

White Pass

  • Resupply option: Impossible, a favorite on Halfway Anywhere.
  • Distance from previous: 159 km (Snoqualmie Pass; 99 miles)
  • Distance to next: 238 km (Cascade Locks; 148 miles)

Big Lake Youth Camp

  • Resupply option: Impossible. Trying to avoid Sisters.
  • Distance from previous: 249 km (Cascade Locks; 155 miles)
  • Distance to next: 143 km (Shelter Cove Resort; 89 miles)

Callahan’s

  • Resupply option: Impossible. Trying to avoid Ashland but if I need to buy new shoes, which I might, I’ll skip this box and ship it somewhere further south when I might enjoy a change of food.
  • Distance from previous: 168 km (Crater Lake Mazama Village; 104 miles)
  • Distance to next: 103 km (Seiad Valley; 64 miles)

Seiad Valley

  • Resupply option: Expensive, a favorite on Halfway Anywhere.
  • Distance from previous: 103 km (Callahan’s; 64 miles)
  • Distance to next: 250 km (Castella; 155 miles)

Full list of all resupply stops

In addition to these I’ve also mapped all optional stops where I might go for either snacks or a larger resupply depending on how my pace advances during the hike.

  • Stehekin, 143 km (mail drop)
  • Skykomish, 301 km
  • Snoqualmie Pass, 421 km
  • White Pass, 580 km (mail drop)
  • Cascade Locks, 818 km
  • Big Lake Youth Camp, 1067 km (mail drop)
  • Shelter Cove Resort, 1209 km
  • Crater Lake Mazama Village, 1341 km
  • Callahan’s, 1509 km (mail drop)
  • Seiad Valley, 1612 km (mail drop)
  • Castella, 1862 km
  • Burney Falls State Park, 1996 km
  • Hat Creek / Old Station, 2070 km
  • Belden, 2213 km
  • Sierra City, 2360 km
  • South Lake Tahoe, 2529 km
  • Tuolumne Meadows, 2770 km
  • Reds Meadow, 2829 km
  • Vermillion Valley Resort (depending on my pace I might need to)
  • Kennedy Meadows, 3157 km
  • Tehachapi, 3389 km
  • Hiker Town Hostel, 3454 km
  • The Saufleys, 3557 km
  • Cajon Pass / Wrightwood, 3703 km
  • Big Bear City, 3847 km
  • Idyllwind, 4001 km
  • Warner Springs, 4112 km
  • Mt Laguna, 4220 km

Finally I’ve incorporated all of this in a Google Map. The resupply stations I’ve also imported into the BackCountry Navigator App on my phone. For offline maps I found a great downloadable atlas which contains only the necessary topographical tiles (637mb).