Pacific Crest Trail

Scott Williamson & Adam Bradley hold the PCT record at 65d9h58m, June 8 - August 12, 2009

Along with the Continental Divide Trail and the Appalachian Trail, the Pacific Crest Trail is one of the "Big 3" National Scenic Trails. It runs 2655 miles from Mexico to Canada, through the Sonoran & Mojave deserts, and then over the Sierra Nevada and Cascade mountain ranges. The PCT crosses California, Oregon and Washington, and passes through 24 national forests, 7 national parks and 33 wilderness areas.

David Horton was the first and only person to "run" the entire PCT in fully-supported ultrarunner style, which he did in 66d7h16m, from June 4 to August 9, 2005. Horton's massive effort is beautifully documented in a high-quality film called "The Runner". Some excerpts are available on YouTube. Here is what Sports Illustrated on-line wrote about Horton's trip:

On Aug. 9 -- 66 days, 7 hours and 16 minutes after he started at the U.S.- Mexico border--Horton, 55, crossed into Canada, smashing the 2003 PCT record by 17 days. Averaging 40 miles a day, the kinesiology professor from Virginia suffered just two blisters, both on his left foot. His strangest encounter? "I was buzzed and hit by a goshawk," he says. Toughest stretch? "Going out of Yosemite. We ran out of food for 26 1/2 hours. Our crew couldn't find us. I felt like quitting." Most surreal moment? Finishing the trail in the Cascades: "It was a blur. It doesn't seem like it was that long or that hard or that I even did it."

The PCT is usually done in typical thru-hiker style, which we would classify as "self-supported" -- rather than having a dedicated support crew, the hiker may use mail drops, facillities in towns along the way, and the kindness of strangers. Technically, any pre-arranged support such as friends meeting you along the trail with supplies would be considered "supported". Scott Williamson and Joe Kisner previously held the record for the fastest thru-hiker-style (which they call "unassisted") trip on the PCT at 71d2h41m, set June 8 - August 18, 2008. Here is a brief write-up on their trip. They beat Kisner's record of 79d21h42m, set in 2007.

In perhaps the greatest feat of speed backpacking to date, Scott Williamson & Adam Bradley surpassed not only the thru-hiker PCT record, but also Horton's fully supported record, by hiking the trail in 65d9h58m from June 8 to August 12, 2009. The pair did not use a vehicle at any time during the trip (backpackers typically hitch hike from the trail to some of the resupply points), adding about 20 miles to the trip. Williamson, who has now hiked the PCT a staggering 12 times, posted a brief summary on the Team Inov8 website, which reads as follows:

On 8/12 at 9:58 PM Adam Bradley and I arrived at the northern terminus of the Pacific Crest Trail, 65 days, 9 hours, and 58 minutes after leaving the Mexican border having averaged 40.5 miles a day. We have broken David Horton's record by about 21 hours, the old record being 66 days, 7 hours, 16 minutes. This was the culmination of a dream that we started on June 8Th at 12 PM. We broke this record as backpackers without any outside assistance, doing the trail as backpackers picking up prepacked boxes of food in towns along the tail. In addition we did not use any vehicles at all during our journey, but instead chose to walk into and out of all of our resupply towns which added over 20 miles of walking to the already difficult 2655.4 mile distance we were trying to cover. In the course of going after and breaking David's record I have gained even more respect for him as an athlete setting the record he did in 2005 which was a much higher snow year and thus more difficult year for a speed record than what we had. My feet held up well and the flyrocks performed well. I ended up losing about 25 pounds during the course of the trip and although I do feel somewhat run down overall feel happy to have made it to the finish after battling the flu and non stop 45 degree rain during the last six days of the hike. I will post more once settled back into the off trail life. For now I am happy to report that we met our goal and now hold the all out overall Pacific Crest Trail speed record. -- Scott Williamson, 15 August 2009.

In 2004, Williamson became the first person to complete the PCT "yo-yo", hiking from Mexico to Canada and back in a single season. He repeated the feat in 2006, for a record time of 191d1h20m.

Steven's Pass to Snoqualmie Pass (WA) Section:
Will Thomas provided information on a short section of the PCT that looks like an excellent route worthy of its own FKT. This is a 75 mile segment from in Washington, from Steven's Pass to Snoqualmie Pass. "Next to the Wonderland Trail around Rainier, it is probably the 2nd most popular week-long backpacking excursion in Washington", says Thomas. "These two passes ... are the two main (and closest) passes for driving over the Cascade mountains from the Seattle area. The only access to the PCT between these points would require a good 8-10 mile hike from the end of a Forest Service road." Thomas did the hike on September 12-13, 2008, in a time of 37h17m. His blog gives a detailed report with many stunning photos and some video clips as well.