How hot can you handle? Conditioning for the heat on a PCT thru-hike

From January 2022 to December 2024, my partner Chris and I were based in Norway. As South African immigrants to Norway, the frigid, long winters were a baptism of ice. We arrived knowing pretty much nothing about hiking, skiing and adventuring in the serious cold. There are so many things we learnt through failure and frostbite. I’d like to think I now have a much more nuanced understanding of wool, down and snow. Nevertheless, in order to make our PCT thru-hike for 2025 a reality, we have packed up our lives, put our stuff in storage, and left Norway. We are basing ourselves in our ‘home’ country until April 2025 to train and prepare, before flying to San Diego and starting the PCT journey in May.

Our decision to start training in the African summer is both practical and strategic: Practical – We’re here because our lives are in flux so we can make the space for and finance a thru-hike (meaning, affording 140 – 150 days on trail, and around 2 weeks each end with no income!).

Strategic – training through an African summer seemed the right kind of ‘heat’ we needed to be ready for our relatively late start date. Many of the ‘class of 2025’ will be starting their thru-hike in March and April to avoid the extreme heat of the California and Oregon in summer.

Chris looking out over Walker Bay, Western Cape. All images are the author’s own.

What we expect of a ‘late start’ on the PCT

There are 3 months that you are allowed apply for permits to start the northbound PCT thru-hike: March, April and May. When you apply for your permit, you have to select a date to start and estimate how long you will take to complete the 4260km. The longer you think you will take to complete the journey, the earlier you should start because you don’t really want to be finishing your hike on the Canadian border after the Autumn snow fall in late October.

You also have to consider the fact that the water sources in the arid sections of California dry up over the summer. The earlier you start, the more water from winter snow melt. Lastly, the heat: If you start late, you hit high summer in California and you can experience 100+ Fahrenheit/ 38+ celsius, that make it dangerous to be out in the middle of the day.

Then, there are the wildfires, that burn most ferociously in high and late summer. It is very common, come August, that sections of the PCT are closed and/or diverted due to fires, so starting late can mean you have to be open to shift plans to skip or hike around wildfires.

Hiking Skeleton Gorge, Cape Town in the summer heat with friends!

An early start also has its challenges

So you might deduce from this that it is preferable to start early even if you are a fast hiker. Well, this does not take into account what you may encounter by starting too early – if there has been heavy snow fall over winter, and you start early, you can hit sections even in Southern California with snowpack that is thick and slows you down. Heavy snowpack can also obscure the trail, making it more risky that you loose your way.

Further, snow in spring can become icy and dangerous to pass. The snowmelt in spring results in an abundance of water on trail in sections where you struggle to find water in high summer. This seems like a plus, however, this abundance of water can mean dangerously high creek and river crossings.

I also have to be honest here, I don’t like hiking in the cold as much as I like hiking in the heat. So this is a personal thing, but I thrive with the sun on my back and sweat on my brow. I do not thrive with damp, cold conditions. Our experience of hiking in heat also far outweighs our experience of hiking in the cold. The other multi-day trails we have done have all been in summery, hot conditions in Africa, Europe and Asia.

Early morning runs overlooking Hermanus, our training and prep home!

The early Vs late start debate (and why we chose 13 May)

We read several Reddit forum posts from people planning to start in March and strongly arguing that it is better to hike through snow than be diverted by wildfires. We have also noticed that in the permit application process the most popular dates seem to be from mid-March to end of April.

We chose 13 May, which is really towards the ‘back of the pack’. We chose this primarily because we don’t want to have to skip the magnificent alpine terrain of the High Sierras due to heavy snowpack (this, it seems, it quite a common drawback for early starters who may arrive there in May/ early June). My brother and sister in law hiked the JMT in late summer 2018 and left a strong impression in our minds that this section is pure magic, and not to be skipped at all costs. We also back ourselves to complete the thru-hike in 140 days or so, feeling cautiously optimistic that we will reach Washington state’s cooler climate in time.

Did I mention that Mozambique in late January is HOT!? Scorching!

Training through the African summer heat highlights so far

Hermanus

We are fortunate enough to be staying with my parents, who live right next to a mountainous nature reserve (literally across the road). So we have embarked on several trail runs, mostly around 15km/ 10miles with up to 500m ascent. We went on one recently in the middle of the day on a 36 degree Celsius day – it was scorching. This is was a test for us to see how we’d handle things. I must say, the hardest part was keeping my head cool, as there was no shade en route, but we felt ok.

We have also done a 32km hike over a hot day, heading out at 7am and getting in by 2:30pm. 32km / 20 miles is the average distance we will aim for on the PCT. Admittedly, we stopped for a swim in the ocean halfway because our trail took us on a scenic rocky ‘cliff path’ along Walker Bay, and this provided a great deal of relief and fun.

Chris on the Walker Bay cliff path.

Cape Town National Park

We embarked on a steep and spectacular hike in Cape Town recently on a cracker of a day. We started at 7am in Kirstenbosch botanical gardens and hiked up through the gardens to Skeleton Gorge, over Table Mountain to Maclear’s Beacon, stopping for lunch looking out over the Atlantic Ocean, and then hiked down the quad-quaking Platterklip Gorge (instead of taking the cable car, of course!) This is a short hike – around 10km / 6.5miles, but includes 1000m / 3280 feet ascent and the same again in descent.

Table Mountain on a peach of a day!

Mozambique training and dune running

I travelled up the east coast of Southern Africa to Mozambique in late January. I was there for work over a long weekend. Mozambique is extremely hot and humid. It is closer to the equator and its stunning coastline meets the Indian Ocean, which has year-round warm currents. I visited Vilanculos wildlife sanctuary and was checking out a private lodge as a potential new partner for my wellness travel company.

On two consecutive mornings I embarked on a beach run just after sunrise at 5:30am. I ended the beach trot with scaling up and down a 100m / 326feet sand dune four times. This was an absolute beast of a workout! I sweated so much I might as well have just gone swimming in the ocean. I also used some drift wood to do some impromptu weightlifting for a lark.

Training at the lodge in Vilanculos wildlife sanctuary – 07:30am and already sweltering.

The ‘heat’ I’m taking with me to the PCT

Starting early

Call my hybrid workouts in Mozambique what you will, but I felt that by 8:30am it was impossible to be outside and properly active. I could only be active again after about 5pm. This made me contemplate the rhythm of dawn and dusk, and even night hiking, some who have done the PCT thru-hike advocate for.

Enough water

I noticed that the 2 litres of water I took on the 32km hike we did around Walker Bay was not enough for me, and need to be provisioning at least 3 litres for drinking over any 32km. I also noticed cramping whilst in Mozambique and after particularly sweaty trail runs, so I think I will experiment with some Celtic Sea salt (comments welcome!).

The mental game

I found myself obsessing about the heat on my head through my cap when doing the mid-day trail run without shade in Fernkloof reserve. Without a doubt, getting flustered and angry/frustrated/anxious is only going to make things ‘hotter’ and the trail feel harder. This experience has also made us start researching lightweight hiking umbrellas for a barrier of shade between sun exposure and head.

Stink? deo or not?

Even with a fresh application of deodorant before starting, by the end of a trail on a super hot and/or humid day, we stink! This is in spite of following best practice and wearing merino. There is no doubt, we both know we stink. So, what is the point of deodorant? Perhaps some experienced PCT thru-hikers can weigh in here in the comments section, but we’ve sided with is not taking deo!

Dusk in Mozambique – early bird, and sunset bird catches the worm!

Well, the preparation conditions here in the south are only getting hotter as we transition into February, and plan our longer runs and hikes! We are already feeling super positive about our 13 May start date! Bring on the heat!