RECAP: PCT PERMIT APPLICATION DAY

Holy Shit. That could be an appropriate (albeit PG-13) recap enough but I will expand on that.

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Let’s back up first.

I need a Long Distance Permit to Thru-Hike the Pacific Crest Trail. They are granted by the Pacific Crest Trail Association. I need this in addition to two other (way easier to obtain) permits. One is to enter Canada without a passport (since the Northern Terminus is at the border), and a California Campfire Permit.

The PCTA issues permits on two dates, approximately five months prior to the start of hiking season. On the first application day, they provide 35 permits per day for Northbound trips starting at the Mexican border between March 1st and May 31st. That’s a total of 3,220 permits for around 10,000 hopeful Thru-Hikers.

Stat: I had a 32.2% chance of obtaining a permit.

On the second permit application day, usually 6 weeks after the first day, they grant an additional 15 permits for each day of the same date range, to total 50 permits per day. The problem here is that the competition is high, so the date you want to start on is very hard to get.

Stat: I had around 10-20% chance of getting a start date within five days of my desired start date.

For some, the permit obtained (and more so, not obtained) determines if your plans for Thru-Hiking this year will come to fruition. April is the most sought after start time for several reasons. The desert in March is much colder than April and May (obviously). Although WAY more appealing to me, that puts the hiker in the Sierras during April/May where the snow may be too difficult to hike through, causing a flip-flop hike, or weeks of waiting for the snow to melt down. Starting in May comes with a very hot southern California desert (that’s a no for me), and a race to hit the Northern Terminus before the snow closes Manning Park in October.

Stat: Around 59.3% of hikes are flip-flopped due to snow.

Although the PCTA grants 3,220 permits on Permit Day I, most are after the 1,050 permits allotted for April. (Reminder: 10,000 people want this thing). Competition = HIGH.

Unfortunately, those needing a March start date may need to cancel their Thru-Hike if they were only able to snag a May date, and vice versa. The 7000 that didn’t receive a permit on Permit Day I have a small chance of getting one in January, on Permit Day II. Others may try to obtain the 33 Local Permits instead of the PCTA Long Distance Permit to hike legally (huge pain in the ass).

So, how does one secure a permit? Sheer luck. The queue begins at 10:30 AM PST (1:30 EST). Whether you sign online 24 hours in advance or 5 minutes in advance, all hopefuls are put into a random queue to reach the application page.

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Whether the probability of winning the permit lottery is high or low, I was anxious. I had been anticipating this day for two years (and gave 6 weeks’ notice of a day off needed as soon as the PCTA announced the date). It *could* have been daylight savings time getting me, but I woke up at 5 AM ready to make my hike official.

After a two and a half hour drive to Long Island from the city, I arrived with three hours to spare before the Queue opened. I tried to keep myself calm by working from home with Haley sitting right beside me to offer emotional support (she wanted pets, I know, but I honestly believe I benefitted more).Working lasted until 12 PM.

To increase my chances of obtaining a permit, I logged onto the site on 4 devices.

1. My laptop – tends to lose internet connection

2. My father’s desktop – wireless mouse which tends to lose connection

3. My brothers laptop – which I’ve never used before so I considered it a wildcard

4. My cell phone.

You can only apply once, or all your applications will be denied, but this gave me four different spots on the queue. Obviously I’d use the device that was closest to the front of the line.

From 12 PM to 1:30 PM, I waited in anticipation for the Queue to open. I divided my time between praying, scrolling through the PCT Class of 2022 Facebook page, and explaining to Haley that I couldn’t leave the room to play outside. I wouldn’t dare divert my eyes away from my four screens.

At 1:30 PM, the queue began. All four of my screens showed a loading bar, which depicted a stick figure hiker walking along the slow progressing bar. For the first 50 minutes, all four screens said I had over an hour wait. During that time, I constantly refreshed the Facebook page where lucky hikers shared screenshots of the application calendar to show which days still had permits available.

So far, so good.

At 2:20 PM, my phone updated to a 50 minute wait. The relief of a reliable device to use being in lead was miracle number 1 of the day. Fifty minutes became 45, 43, 36, 32, 25, 18, 6, and 2 within twenty minutes. At the two minute mark, there were still a decent amount of dates available in April, including my desired date of April 26th 2022.

After a total of 70 minutes waiting, it was my turn. Once it’s your turn, you technically have 10 minutes to open the application and 20 minutes to complete it, but due to the high demand, and speed of all applicants, dates fill up extremely quickly.

Once I was in, there were only 5 permits left for April. All on April 30th. I didn’t bother checking March or May, since I understood that time was of the essence and it didn’t matter anyway. I wouldn’t begin my hike prior to Passover, and April is my goal. April 26th was full, so April 30th it was. (I will begin my hike April 26th, however, due to Shabbat – there won’t be any consequences).

Miracle # 2-

Getting a permit at all – part of the fortunate 32%.

Getting a permit within 5 days of my intended start date – part of the fortunate 15%

I filled out the application probably within 30 seconds. I had watched videos prior to Permit Day to see exactly what the process was and what I’d need so I would be prepared. Once complete, I saw on the since refreshed Facebook page that ALL the permits were taken. I never got to see March or May, but from the screenshots I saw prior to logging in and those quickly posted after I completed, it was very clear that I snagged one of the last permits available.

My mind was overwhelmed – with disbelief and panic. These are the thoughts that competed for attention in my mind:

1. Holy shit. While completing the application on my phone, my fathers’ mouse disconnected. How many tears I’d shed had that been the device first in line and I couldn’t use it.

2. Holy shit, I just got a permit

3. Holy shit, I got a permit within days of my desired date.

4. Holy shit, I got one of the last permits available.

5. Holy shit, I did that so fast, I hope I did it correctly. Did I spell my name right? Did I choose the right date? Did I choose the right start and end location? Did I spell my email correctly? Did I donate $35 or $350 at the end?

6. Holy shit, this makes the hike really real

7. Holy shit, the Facebook page is crashing from an overload of posts from devastated hikers kicked out of the queue because it’s full.

8. Holy shit, I need to buy more gear.

9. Holy shit, I need to walk A LOT more and plan logistics.

10. Holy shit, I rejected about 10 work calls.

11. Holy shit, Haley needs to pee.

12. Holy shit, I need to pee.

Remember in my last post I said my mind can be a real bitch? Exhibit A.

Once calm, I opened my emails. A receipt for my $35 donation to the PCTA was at the top. My name was right, my email was right, my donation was right. Phew.

The Application review takes between 1-3 weeks. Unless there are glaring errors or duplicates, we are pretty much guaranteed approval. At 5:30 PM, I received another e-mail from the PCTA. It was the Application Confirmation E-mail containing all my chosen dates and locations for my hike, along with my Permit ID. Everything was correct. Phew.

The rest of the day was spent in la-la land. I walked Haley over to my new house, tried to console distraught hikers on Facebook, celebrated and compared start dates with lucky hikers, and thanked God for seeing this through for me.

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In 1-3 weeks, once the permit is officially approved, I will book my one-way ticket to San Diego! I will hold a permit that will allow me (so graciously) to hike 2,652 miles from Mexico to Canada.

Holy shit, right?