[pct-l] Late permit application.

[Brenna Ford]

Hello everyone,

I am considering doing a solo long-distance pct northbound hike from Campo
to the half-way point
 near Chester this year, but due to recent circumstances have only just
been able to solidify plans to
 actually take 3 months out of life to go and do it, but have yet to apply
for the 500 mile-plus pct permit from the PCTA.
Ideally I would like to start around the same time as most other northbound
thru-hikers, which would
 be within the next month or so.
I've searched around on the internet for a lot of information, but I seem
to be stuck still.

So..
1) My question is: would there be a way that I could obtain a permit in
person when I arrive in
S.California for a large chunk of the PCT, so that I could perhaps apply to
get a long-distance
permit sent somewhere along the route? (I have found that it's possible to
get a 'wilderness permit',
 but there seems to be very little information on how to go about getting
one in person, and the
 areas it covers etc.)
2) OR would I be better off applying for the permit from the PCTA and
waiting until it arrives before
 booking flights to the US? (If so, does anybody know how long it would
take for someone living in
the UK to receive the permit?)

Obviously, if I did the second option, I would set off a lot later than
most other hikers.
My main other question would then be, would it be unreasonable to start a
northbound hike
 around mid June (no other hikers on the trail, no water caches, little
water in S. California etc?), or
 would that simply be too late in the year?

Thank you very much for reading my big list of worries, and if anyone has
any information I would be
really grateful!

Thanks,
Brenna