Hot take: the PCT is overrated and too crowded now

Last summer I was camped near a creek outside Kennedy Meadows and this thru-hiker named Dave came over to my fire. He told me he was doing his third PCT hike and hated how it felt like a highway now with 50 people a day passing through. Said he was switching to the Continental Divide Trail next year because you can actually go a week without seeing anyone. Anyone else feel like the popular routes are getting ruined by social media hype?

2 comments

2 Comments

park.riley1d ago

Man that Dave guy nailed it with the "highway" comparison... I was on the JMT last August and counted 47 people between sunrise and lunch near Rae Lakes. Social media blew up the PCT around 2017 with all those "trail names" and gear reviews and now everyone wants their instagram moment. My fix is to start later in the season or hike during the week, or pick the less hyped alternate routes like the Sierra High Route or something similar. Better yet, the CDT is still raw and wild but you gotta be ready for way less trail maintenance and way more route finding.

kai6571d ago

oh man, 47 people by lunch at Rae Lakes? i once did that same stretch and i swear i spent half the day saying "excuse me" and stepping off trail for people coming the other way. i was the guy with the oversized pack and the trekking poles that kept getting tangled up in everyone else's gear, totally that guy. social media really did mess things up, i remember watching those 2017 PCT instagram stories and thinking "well there goes the peace." my secret weird fix is to hike in the pouring rain for two days, you get the whole trail to yourself because everyone else is scared of getting wet. but honestly, even with the crowds, i still keep going back because there's something about those mountains that makes me forget i'm basically a clumsy tourist with a map app open the whole time.