We will likely host in 2024, but we will not make a final decision until December. Check back then and we may even have our sign-up form ready to go. Assume that, if we host, our dates will be April 1 to May 19.
Read on…..
We expected 2022 to be our last season, but we had such a great time that spring that we decided we weren’t ready to stop. Last year was even easier, due to some changes we made….
We no longer provide rides to the Southern Terminus. We offer a place to stay, a couple of home-cooked meals, an opportunity to get to know your fellow hikers, and volunteers who are happy to answer questions and calm nerves. We help with logistics–arranging for a sim card, purchasing and mailing food, accepting packages for you, providing fuel canisters at cost. We take hikers to REI daily. Scout will teach line dancing (an essential trail skill) many afternoons. Our goal is to relieve your stress at the start of your PCT hike. We provide these services at no charge and we do not accept donations.
Why the big change? We know we cannot host hikers forever (we’re getting older, stress isn’t good for Frodo’s Parkinson’s, we now have three grandchildren on the East Coast, etc.). We hoped to “pass the baton” when we were ready to retire from hosting. Of course, no one else is crazy enough to do exactly what we do, but now a service helps hikers get to the Southern Terminus. Paul and Dee run the “PCT Southern Terminus Shuttle;” it will be thier third year and they’re doing everything right. They have new vans for the shuttle ($75/person), with all the proper licenses and insurance. They run two shuttles each day, 9:30 am and 2:00 pm. They stop briefly at REI, the Campo Green Store, the Campo Post Office and CLEEF. They are the hosts at the CLEEF campground a half mile from the border monument ($10/person). We are very pleased that Dee and Paul are so invested in helping PCT hikers get a good start and we want them to be successful.
So, how do we both host hikers AND help Paul and Dee be successful? Hmmm…
To get to the trail from our house, hikers can either use Dee and Paul’s service (they will pick up hikers from our house), use public transit (available Mon to Fri), or make their own arrangements.
U.S. hikers may stay with us one night and international hikers for up to two nights. We are willing to host 22 hikers each night.
By the way, you should check out Scout’s book Journeys North. It’s the story of several hikers from the PCT class of ’07.
Please take care, stay safe, and MAKE WISE DECISIONS.