My first hike in The USA – PCT SoBo

Who am I and where will you be hiking?

I am Miia and I am going to hike the Pacific Crest Trail from north to south starting at the end of June this summer and fall. I plan to walk the trail for approximately five months.

When did I decide to do the hike?

I learned about the Pacific Crest Trail in 2017 from – just like about everybody else – the book and film Wild. I started googling the trail and found the Youtube channel of a famous Youtube influencer, Dixie. I was fascinated by the trail and the fact that although it is 2650 miles or 4300 km long many of the people hiking whole of it are not super athletes. I decided I would do the trail before I turn 40 (I was 34 at the time).

I started learning about the trail obsessively and got into ultralight hiking. I did my first overnight hike near my home in Stockholm and slowly started doing longer and longer hikes and getting gear for the hike, many of which I have already replaced since that time.

Why do I go SoBo and not NoBo?

I decided to hike the trail 2020. Since I got a late NoBo date I decided to switch to SoBo (south bound hike starting from the Canadian border) in stead and found out this way would suite me better, as I can’t stand hiking in heat as a person coming from Northern Finland.

It’s just walking.

I had only done day hikes before but in 2018 I started doing longer days back home in Sweden, as well as hiking The Lycian Way in Turkey in two sections. 2020 happened and my big dream was postponed. I kept on hiking almost every weekend and ended up section hiking the 500 miles Sörmlandsleden trail – twice. I did even a miserable 300+ miles hike with mosquitoes and 22 days of constant rain on the Kings Trail in the north of Sweden with my ex that after the hike decided he hates hiking as well as being with me. As he broke up with me he said: “Hiking is just walking. It requires absolutely nothing.”

That mantra I am also keeping in my mind for every 2650 mile since during those long months my mind might start to think it actually requires something.