[pct-l] Planning from overseas

[Jared Bowie]

Hi, I'm an American currently residing in Korea.  I plan to return either
this coming March or the following and want to hike the PCT.  This will give
me about a month in the U.S. for planning once i get back.  I think this
will be plenty of time, because i can do most things from here, but I would
like to hear what others think.

Also I've read about people planning for their hike for 6 months.  I
understand that this will be a long and tough journey, but doing a little
research so far I haven't figured out why it would take so long.

I know i need to know how much I'll have to hike each day in order to finish
before the snow comes.  I need to know about what food is available where
and if I need to have things shipped to me and when i'll pick up those
packages.  I need to be aware of water situations on certain parts of the
trail.   I need to get a permit.  Proper gear.

Now I'm not a perfectionist when it comes to these things, I also don't
really wing things either, I'm somewhere in the middle.  But it seems to me
that most of this information is easily available and that I can do a
standard amount of mileage.  So my question is really how this comes out to
6 months of planning?