northern half of oregon pct advice?

[barryjones335]

Hi there guys. i am going to do the norther 240 mi of oregons pct this summer. hwy 58-cascade locks. i dont usually mind running into a lot of other hikers but on this hike im hoping to find as much solitude as possible. so my question is if im reserving august 1-20 2017 for this (including travel days/emergency leeway), should i hike nobo or sobo to avoid traveling with the larger crowd? any other advice regarding this plan would be great also. Thanks!!!

also, ive hiked from cascade locks up to benson plateau so dont bother warning me about that part of a sobo hike!! haha

-barry jones

[Miner]

Most hikers go northbound. Though there will be some faster hikers coming through earlier, the main part of the herd will be entering southern Oregon during your first 2 weeks on the trail. So if you go south, you'll likely see very few people the first several days and then start running into the herd hiking the other direction, passing you by in ever growing groups. If you go northbound, you'll see hikers from the very beginning passing you behind as you hike north, with the amounts growing every day, though you may stay ahead of the largest group. It really depends on the snow situation in the Sierra Nevada as that defines how early most hikers reach Oregon. A PCT thru-hiker will likely hike the entire state of Oregon in the time you are just doing the northern half, so you'll likely never see the same person twice unless they are a section hiker like yourself.

[barryjones335]

Thanks for the info. I plan on 15 mi/day but am capable of 20 comfortably. I don't intend to rush but I doubt it will take me more than 15 hiking days. Sounds like maybe if I start nobo from hwy 58 August 2nd, ill be "cutting in front of" the main crowd and eventually be passed up if I take it easy. Which is probably good. Either way I'm stoked. Thru hike in 2019 is the plan.

[jack5455]

By all means go north to see fewer people. When I hike south, I see as many as 60 people per day. Going north, people have to catch me (which is not that hard to do ) but I see only a fraction of that number.