kadyg

The original dilemma was that returning to the trail in the same place as I left would involve passes and river crossings that I would prefer to tackle in the company of fellow thru-hikers -- but, by the time I was able to return, they would have all moved on further north. This, broadly, remains true ... but doesn't address the underlying question, which is: So where should I go in order to keep up the momentum of my PCT hike?

Technically, I could restart virtually anywhere along the route, but there are six options that seem most logical from here if I still want to chase the dream of finishing the whole trail ... or at least as much of it as possible:

1. Return to the High Sierra to continue my straight-line hike.
Advantages:

• Slight reduction in bookkeeping complexity: Miles hiked = mile marker reached (plus ~40 for the next few days).
• Even if I drop out from the hike early, this lets me finish the John Muir Trail, as well as being able to say that I conquered the two toughest trail sections (the desert and High Sierra) in their entirety.
• My two-week delay may have melted enough snow to make this less dangerous than expected. Also, JMT hikers and weekenders might make up for the loss of thru-hiker company.

• If the snowmelt is still swelling rivers, this section may be potentially very dangerous; if I return to it in August or September this is far less a factor.
• OMG mosquito hell >_<;
• I would have to return to the trail's highest elevations and largest climbs from a two-week break.
• I'd be far behind the thru-hiker pack and with no trail company (weekenders would make for nice chance encounters, but I can't rely on them to carry my pace).
• Sticking to a straight-line hike severely decreases my chance of finishing the whole PCT; I doubt I could make Washington before winter sets in. However, I might be able to avoid this by bookending (see #6) once I reach home.

• As above, plus:
• The walk down to Yosemite gives me an extra week or two for the snow in the high Sierra to melt off -- an extra margin of safety for those river fords.
• More likely to find long-term company -- JMT hikers are traditionally southbound.
• I get to go down Kearsarge Pass twice instead of having its climb be my first steps back.

• As above, plus:
• Due to geography, southbound walking = uphill slogs through snow, downhill slogs on bare rock. Also, the sun in my face all the time.
• Sobo navigation is tougher than nobo navigation because backwards guidebook the follow to have you.
• Over the course of the route, I get to climb from 7,000 feet to 11,000 feet instead of the other way around.

• Being at Sierra City in mid-July does mean I'll rejoin the folks I left behind in Independence. I could conceivably have company all the way to the Canadian border this way, and this is one of the only options that lets me have a social hike for the remainder of the trip.
• Rejoining the hiker pack makes it financially easier -- better opportunities for roomshares, etc. My reserves are going a bit faster than expected.

• OMG ARRRGGGH HOT >_<; Northern California in mid-summer isn't quite the Mojave, but it's as close as it'll get. (The Sierra is cooler -- higher elevation -- and OR/WA are cooler -- further north.)
• If I have pretensions of finishing the whole trail, this is the single worst option -- the Sierra and WA are the two sections most likely to be shut down by bad weather in the fall, and I'd leave them both for last.
• NorCal is the section that is easiest for me to "make up" in some later year, being closest to home, so making it a point to do it now seems ... like a waste of Adventure Time.

• I might get thru-hiker company -- the fast hikers are approaching the end of CA by now.
• Finishing these and the Sierra then lets me wrap up the hike with an OR>home stroll -- the section least likely to be blocked by early snows.
• OR is pretty, logistically non-demanding, and (relatively) non-strenuous country; a good return to the hike.

• OMG mosquito hell >_<; July is the absolute worst of it for OR, and I'd be travelling north with the snowmelt, so they'd stay bad all the way to Canada.
• If I can't speed up, I'd better hope for a delayed winter if I want to turn around and hit the Sierra after this leg. OR/WA will take me until at least early September.

• No heat, fewer bugs, and I get to do Washington at a time of relatively less rain. Woot!
• Then I get to head south to the Sierra at an optimal time (mid-August) to finish it up. Woot!
• Possibly the best option if I don't plan on finishing my thru-hike; I get to hike the worst sections at the best times.

• More delays and costs. I'd have to do a lot of tiring and time-wasting leapfrogging to finish the whole trail: drive from home to WA, drive from Canada to the Sierra, drive from home to WA and hike south from there.
• I'd be a little too far ahead of the thru-hiker pack to have much company.
• I'd miss the backwoods Washington fall, which is widely regarded as quite beautiful.
• WA is rather logistically difficult and often isolated -- an easier confidence-builder first, after everything that's happened, might be nice.

• As above in #4/5, plus:
• A little bit less leapfrogging; a little easier bookkeeping.
• I can halt my sobo trip at any convenient point to return to the Sierra at an optimal time; if I finish WA and have more time, I can do OR, or if I want to hurry back to the Sierra, I can stop at one state. Whereas if I start hiking north in OR, it makes more sense to go all the way to the Canadian border at a single pass no matter what.
• I'd be passing a lot of thru-hikers rather than hiking along with them. We could trade reports of upcoming trail conditions.
• If I don't finish the PCT this year, then I know I've gotten the furthest-from-my-house parts done.

• As above in #4/5, plus:
• Sobo navigation is tougher than nobo navigation because backwards guidebook the follow to have you.
• I'd be passing a lot of thru-hikers rather than hiking along with them. No trail company.
• I don't know if there would be issues recrossing the border from Canada to the U.S. -- I have a permit to cross northward but would have to wing it in the opposite direction.

With all that having been said, I'd appreciate some feedback -- especially if you've got other factors that I haven't considered to point out. I'm offering the poll as a shortcut, but what I'd really like is comments with more detailed suggestions (or even questions; the point is to help me sharpen my decision, and that can help too). If you don't have a Livejournal account and it doesn't offer you the option to vote, please just let me know your suggestions in comments. (I'll obviously be off hiking for the next day or two, but will finish resolving this when Kady and I get home -- I'm not taking off again until I know where I'm taking off to!)