Amelia Bikes

I have been occupying my time with educating myself as much as possible about the PCT, which has also included watching YouTube videos and reading about all the people who have died or disappeared on the PCT. While thru hiking is an amazing experience, it’s not without risks and dangers, and I want to how to avoid the same fate. Many of the stories are really sad and unfortunately had some things in common – these hikers made some very poor decisions and ended up in some really bad situations. These poor decisions usually involved not being prepared, not telling someone where they were going, trying to cross a dangerous section alone, not having navigation aids or SOS tools with them, not knowing safety protocols, ignoring weather advisories or forgoing the 10 essentials, or they panicked and did things that made their situation even worse.

I am not delusional that backpacking the PCT by myself is without any dangers. Of course it is, and even experienced backpackers can find themselves in bad situations, but I am planning on minimizing risks as much as possible and being as safe as I can. These are few ways:

• Filing a float plan. My brother is going to be my main point person who has access to my location at all times through my Garmin, and Google Maps in addition to knowing when and where I am expected in town. If I don’t check in at an expected point, he will know something is wrong.
• I DO NOT LEAVE THE TRAIL. If I go on a side hike or take a different trail than expected, I tell my brother. If I leave the trail to go into town, I tell my brother. If I alter my planned route in any fashion whatsoever, I tell my brother. There is no reason I would not be on the trail without having sent him a message, unless something’s wrong.
• Checking the weather & map every single day. I want to know what’s ahead of me for the day and where I’m going. Weather and wind can change, sometimes rapidly, so I want to figure out my expected miles, and have a general idea of where I want to camp. Even if there’s no phone service, I can check the weather on my InReach and look at a paper map at what’s coming up. My general rules for myself is no crossing any mountain passes unless I know I can for sure complete it before dark. No camping in a river bed or near cliffs, and especially not when it’s super windy out etc. What is my plan if there’s lightning? A mudslide? Flash flood? Wind so strong I might fall off a cliff? River I can’t cross?
• No night hiking alone. I won’t hike alone at night unless I’m in a group. I won’t hike at night along ravines or places where there’s potential for a really bad fall, or if it requires a dangerous river crossing. Wait until dawn.
• PCT Hiker log books and permits. I plan on always signing the PCT hiker books and filling out the optional permits with a ranger office so they have a record of my last known location and time.
• My general hike plan is listed on PCT Planner, where I will be updating my plan as I go on: http://pctplanner.com/v.php?g=pJrfZVgc6hfm
• Knowing where help is. I’ve created my own map that has ranger stations, known dangerous river crossings, post offices, grocery stores, etc https://www.google.com/maps/d/…
• Pictures of my gear is listed here, in the event that people need to find me and look for something specific: https://www.trailjournals.com/…
• Full gear list. My lighter Pack full list of gear with links is here https://lighterpack.com/r/aw4s…
• There are certain sections of the trail that I won’t hike alone – this includes the San Jacinto mountains and the Sierra. This is where most of the deaths on the trail have occurred due to falls, river crossings that went wrong, or altitude illness. If I’m feeling like something is too sketchy, I stop. Or turn back. Or wait for someone else to come.
• Altitude. I don’t do well with sudden altitude and barometric pressure changes. By the time I get to the High Sierra, I will have had weeks of altitude acclimation, but I know I need to take the whole High Sierra section very cautiously, never be alone, stay hydrated, and make my hiking partners aware and to keep an eye on me so I don’t put them in a bad situation either. I don’t intend to summit Mt Whitney, unless I feel extremely good about it when I get to that point. I plan on carrying a medical card with all relevant information and keeping altitude medication with me just in case.
• Emergency gear. Of course I want my bag to be as light as possible, but I’m not willing to give up basic safety gear for ounces. I will be carrying paper maps and a compass in addition to having tons of navigation tools on my phone, InReach and watch, and a battery pack to keep my devices charged even in the backcountry.
• Swapping out my gear along the trail – to keep my bag light but have the right gear with me, I will be swapping out gear along the way depending on what I need. This involves sending myself an ice axe and micro spikes before San Jacinto, carrying an emergency cooling pack in the desert etc and mailing stuff home or leaving things in hiker boxes along the way when I’m done with them.
• Wilderness First Aid and Self Arrest Training. I am planning on taking classes and practicing self arrest and using micro spikes before I ever need them. I don’t want to figure out how to use them in the moment that I need them. Practice makes.. prepared.
• Not pushing myself, and staying humble. I’m not as powerful as mother nature and I have to listen to my body. If I’m tired, I’ll rest. If I’m DONE and need to stop, I’ll stop. If there’s a storm, or a fire, I’ll skip a section, or wait. My life is more important than my ego, or having walked every single step of the trail.
• No hitch hiking alone. I won’t hitch hike alone or stay at someone’s house, unless it’s a pre-arranged thing with a legit trail angel, or if I’m with other hikers I trust.  
• LEAVE A TRACE. I’ve been in situations with creepy people before where I felt afraid and powerless. Fuck that. If someone is creeping me out, following me, or if my instincts are at all telling me something is wrong, I will make sure someone knows, that there is a record of exactly who this person is or what they look like, and get out of that situation ASAP. This is the one time in hiking when you should leave a trace. Even if you’re wrong, who cares? Better to offend, than to lose your life, or worse.

So far these are the things I am thinking about a lot, especially learning about what went wrong for other hikers. If you have more tips, please feel free to write on my journal guest book with more. Stay safe out there my friends!

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