PCT Speed Records!

The full moon rising near Wrightwood Ski area.

There is no governing body that times people on these types of record attempts. When it's all said and done, new records are taken at face value from the individual, believing that the honor system will prevail. Because of this, I kept a GPS tracking my position for the entire length of my trip, an extra step to "keeping me honest". The website Fastest Known Time is the best resource for finding out about specific records on a very wide range of trails, mainly in the US. These records are not necessarily verified by outside observers, and again, are mostly believed on the persons word. Trust in the honor system!

There are wide variety of records for the Pacific Crest Trail because one can hike from south to north (NOBO - north bound) or north to south (SOBO - south bound) and either hike supported or unsupported. There are even varying definitions of supported and unsupported, however in general , supported mean that you carry a minimum of gear/supplies and other people aid you on trail by giving you what you need, negating the need for resupply in towns. Unsupported mean that no outside aid is given to the hiker and they must carry all their needed supplies and resupply themselves. It is sometimes called self-supported. Furthermore, there is the overall speed record - simply the fastest time the trail has been completed in any way shape or form, regardless of direction or support.

Overall Speed Record (supported): 53 Days 6 Hours 37 Minutes - Joe McConaughy (NOBO - 2014)

The following are the current accepted PCT "unsupported or self-supported" records as found on the FTK website (Link):

Unsupported Speed Record: 60 Days 17 Hours 12 Minutes - Heather Anderson (Anish) (NOBO- 2013)

Previous to me setting new unsupported 2012 records, the only known recorded times for completing half the trail (midpoint) and all of California were recorded on Williamson and Bradley's 2009 NOBO record hike. My 2012 records were beaten in 2015 by Joey Campanelli (Flash) who was also on trail ahead of me going for a speed record. His new record times are:

Unspported Mexico to Midpoint Record: 28 Days 5 Hours 35 Minutes - Joey Campanelli (NOBO - 2015)

Unsupported Mexico to CA/OR Border Record:  36 Days 17 Hours 36 Minutes - Joey Campanelli (NOBO - 2015)

My Speed

*Both spreadsheet table files can be found under the 'MY PCT Download' section on the right side.*

Hiking late was a necessity sometimes to make the miles!

Day to day mileage and therefore speed varied constantly, so a better judge of speed is the overall average of miles per day. This number also fluctuates, but not nearly as much. When I got off trail, I had  managed over 930 miles in 21.5 days averaging out to be around 46 miles a day. The following table is a summary of my 100 mile split times and corresponding miles per day average. The mileage split locations are  the star markers viewed on the 'My Nightly Campsite Map' below.

Place	Date	Time	Elapsed Time	Mile/day  Average	Coordinates UTM E/N
Mexico Border	5/25/15	5:50:02 AM	0d 0h 0m	0	550008 3605930
100 MILES	5/27/15	7:40:26 AM	2d 1h 50m	48.15	539089 3674688
200 MILES	5/29/15	10:23:14 AM	4d 4h 33m	47.74	528165 3747402
300 MILES	5/31/15	12:48:13 PM	6d 6h 58m	47.69	488132 3794244
400 MILES	6/2/15	4:02:34 PM	8d 10h 12m	47.48	412647 3801181
500 MILES	6/4/15	3:07:13 PM	10d 9h 17m	48.14	354135 3841958
600 MILES	6/6/15	3:54:38 PM	12d 10h 4m	48.31	382585 3914683
700 MILES	6/8/15	3:14:31 PM	14d 9h 24m	48.64	397131 3984788
800 MILES	6/11/15	7:52:19 AM	17d 2h 2m	46.82	371869 4081996
900 MILES	6/13/15	1:12:16 PM	19d 7h 22m	46.61	320823 4157973

I was only able to accomplish these large miles per day by maximizing my 'moving' time, which entailed limiting my stop-to-chat time, short 2-3 hour resupplies and usually 17 hour days which normally required hiking until 9-10 pm. I averaged about 7 hours of sleep per night. The following map and table are my detailed daily mileage log and the location of where I camped every night, including my 100 mile split locations.

Day	Miles	Position	Date/Time Point Recorded
1	50.25	11 S 550383 3642568	5/25/2015 21:45
2	46	11 S 540698 3672917	5/26/2015 21:50
3	47.75	11 S 539290 3707431	5/27/2015 22:40
4	42.5	11 S 527809 3741267	5/28/2015 21:57
5	44.5	11 S 530233 3771747	5/29/2015 22:30
6	47	11 S 508210 3793656	5/30/2015 22:37
7	50.5	11 S 467981 3794128	5/31/2015 22:43
8	44.25	11 S 431079 3804754	6/1/2015 22:47
9	47	11 S 400102 3807102	6/2/2015 22:48
10	51.5	11 S 375170 3830525	6/3/2015 22:25
11	46.25	11 S 353019 3849449	6/4/2015 23:01
12	53.25	11 S 384792 3886925	6/5/2015 22:54
13	49.5	11 S 393816 3924594	6/6/2015 22:57
14	50	11 S 407265 3959627	6/7/2015 22:54
15	42.25	11 S 397393 4000032	6/8/2015 23:04
16	43.5	11 S 384692 4038028	6/9/2015 22:28
17	41	11 S 374055 4079086	6/10/2015 22:30
18	38	11 S 354311 4109008	6/11/2015 21:48
19	45	11 S 330914 4143234	6/12/2015 22:15
20	36	11 S 315893 4173098	6/13/2015 21:41
21	26	11 S 292785 4194587	6/14/2015 17:46