My plan to boost the PCT

Most people think you have to quit your job to hike the Pacific Crest Trail.

I’m testing if that assumption is true.

I will not take five months of uninterrupted rest. I won’t disappear from work. Instead, I will build a path to my current life as a vehicle-dwelling nomad.

On March 5, I will start in Campo, California, on the US-Mexico border, and head north toward Canada. This is the traditional northbound direction, or NOBO. The PCT runs approximately 2,650 miles through California, Oregon, and Washington, crossing deserts, forests, and high alpine terrain, including the Sierra Nevada and Cascade Range.

I will continue to work full time Monday through Thursday. Each week, I will do trail running a few afternoons Monday through Friday and walk Thursday afternoon through Sunday night. At the end of each walking block, I will exit at the nearest road junction so I can return to camp and work remotely from there for the week. Then, I will return to the exact point where I left off and continue north. This will require you to run around 10 miles per day on weekdays and walk around 20 miles per day on weekends.

My Jeep Wrangler travel trailer and Braxton Creek Bushwhacker will serve as my mobile base camp. During the week, I’ll park at campgrounds near wherever I am on the trail, sleep in the trailer, recharge batteries and gear, and prepare for the next leg. When road access becomes scarce for long sections, especially in the High Sierra where there are hundreds of miles between access points, I plan to take advantage of vacation time and hike continuously.

I obtained a long-distance PCT permit that covers the entire hike from Campo to Canada. That permit significantly simplifies the process, allowing me to travel through the multiple wilderness areas along the trail with a single authorization rather than managing separate permits for each section. Having full permission gives me flexibility. Although I walk in segments, I have legal authorization for the entire northbound route.

This approach has advantages and disadvantages, but also advantages.

Replenishment, for example, becomes easier. Traditional hikers must carefully mail food boxes or rely on small trail towns with limited grocery options. I’ll still carry four days’ worth of food at a time while hiking, but Monday through Thursday I can restock at regular grocery stores, store extra supplies in my vehicle, and eat real meals in my trailer. I don’t need to live exclusively on ramen and dehydrated foods for six months straight. My recovery and nutrition should benefit from that.

My team setup reflects this hybrid model. I wear a lightweight system designed for long-term durability and comfort rather than chasing the lowest base weight. The short version is that I seek a practical balance between efficiency and sustainability.

After each section of the PCT, I will upload a blog post to The Trek. You’ll see what works, what fails, and what needs to be redesigned. This will not be a polished influence narrative. It will be a real-time experiment to combine career, nature and mobility into an integrated life.

I don’t know if I’ll finish the entire trail before the October 15th deadline. Weather, injuries, wildfires, work demands and logistics could change the plan.

Field to Canada. One section at a time. Let’s see what happens.

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