Fast, secure, risk-free booking guaranteed.
June through August
Your tour starts in Portland, OR
4 days
Picture this: a premier wilderness trek, summertime dips in the lake, and sleeping under the stars—all in the company of fierce women who love wilderness. This is a 4-day Backpacking 101 through Oregon’s share of the Pacific Crest Trail, a footpath along West Coast’s backbone: Sierra Nevada and Cascade mountains. The complete trail stretches from Mexico to Canada, amounting to 2,650 miles, but you’ll be doing a 30-mile portion of it. After hiking through lush temperate rainforest with views of the Cascades and scents of wildflowers, you’ll set up your own camp and take a relaxing swim in crystal clear waters. Once you’ve felt the thrill of being off-the-grid, you’ll be planning your next backpacking trip before you know it!
Learn backpacking basics with a great team of outdoorsy women
Experience a portion of West Coast’s greatest footpath
Explore verdant rainforest, colorful meadows and mighty peaks
Backpacking is one of the best ways to unwind and get in sync with nature, but there’s a bit of a learning curve if you want to go out on your own. Join an expert guide and like-minded women on this 4-day tour of the Pacific Crest Trail—or rather, just one spectacular part of it—and learn all there is to know about backpacking. Find out about the preparation process, wilderness survival, Leave No Trace principles, camp setup, nutrition on the trail, and so much more.
Your backpacking adventure begins at your guide’s office, where you’ll meet the rest of your team at 8:00 am. You’ll get dropped off at the trailhead, after which it’s just you, your guide and your group in the woods of the Pacific Northwest!
Meals: Lunch and dinner
During the course of your 4-day backpacking trip, you’ll traverse 25-30 trail miles (40-48 km) through lush temperate rainforest of the Pacific Crest Trail. Enjoy the views of Mt. Hood, stop and smell the wildflowers, and soak in the lake after a long day of hiking. Let your guides teach you the basics of backpacking: preparation and planning, wilderness survival essentials, Leave No Trace principles, campsite selection and setup, backcountry nutrition, bear-safe food storage methods, and more! This being a summer tour only means one thing: mellowing out at the lake under the stars!
Meals: Breakfast, lunch, and dinner
Tread the last few miles of the trail. After a challenging, but infinitely rewarding few days, say goodbye to your team and your guide around 4:00 pm.
Meals: Breakfast and lunch
Few weeks back went on a women’s backpacking trip on the PCT. It was a great learning experience with our guides, Brett and Emily, who were so amazing. Both are such fun and enthusiastic women and they gave us a great overview of back-country backpacking. REA did an awesome job at organizing this whole trip. Julie was very helpful with providing the training plans and answering all the queries that I had. I would highly recommend REA for any hiking or backpacking trips. They are awesome!!
This was a wonderful way to feel more confident backpacking. It was a lot of work and very rewarding. I had Alexis as my guide. She was helpful and full of information. Always watchful if you needed help, there to answer any questions (and we had a lot), connected with each of us. I was a single traveler. I felt very comfortable and included in all aspects of the trip. The portion of the PCT we did was spectacular.
I just completed an all girls trip w/ Misha as my guide , and I can’t say in enough words how fabulous this experience was for me. Misha was experienced w/ a novice group of women, she offered training in areas of navigation, water purification, setting up tents, making our food, and she even helped us learn how to do a proper bear hang.
I feel like this trip offered me an opportunity to learn new skills ,and because of the comfort of the group members as a whole, we were able to form a strong bond w/ one another.
I would highly recommend this trip to women looking for a unique, fulfilling and memorable experience !
Just went on an awesome 4-day backpacking trip on the PCT with REA. REA was so helpful in the planning and preparing for the trip – everything from training hike suggestions to a packing list (and they had some gear to borrow if you didn’t have everything!). The guides on the trail were amazing, fun, and knowledgeable – especially Misha! I highly recommend REA for any short or long hiking, backpacking, or climbing trip you might be considering in their area!
I would backpack the PCT or anywhere else with this company again in a heartbeat. Our guide, Lindsey, was completely on top of everything. I never worried about a thing because she had it handled. There were a few hick-ups with the gear the first night and she calmly took care of it. It was a great learning experience. She taught me some new tricks and I am confident to backpack on my own from now on. The trip was amazing!!! This kind of trip attracts a special kind of woman and we all just clicked. I knew I would make new friends on this trip as I went solo, but this was beyond my expectations!! I would totally do this again and again.
Lindsey was a fantastic guide for our PCT Oregon hike. knowledgeable, patient and informative with the basic skills needed to start hiking. Fantastic trip.
Our guides Serena and Morgan were AWESOME! They had so much experience and skills to teach us. They were very accommodating of any special needs medically, dietary, and skill levels. Super time! Recommend for all beginner hikers wanting to challenge themselves and experience true life and freedom.
Guides were amazing. I would recommend hiking with these two women anywhere! Loved the area and the trails. Camp spots were beautiful. Only wish mileage was a little longer.
What you get on this adventure:
What’s not included:
This trip is ideal for those who are regularly physically active and generally fit. You need to be in good shape as you’ll be hiking up to 12 miles/ 19.5 km a day up moderate inclines while carrying a 40 lb/ 18 kg (or an even heavier) backpack. Make sure you’re physically fit enough to keep up this tempo for four days.
However, no previous experience is necessary—this is a backpacking trip through a selected part of the Pacific Crest Trail that shouldn’t be too strenuous! Your guides will teach you everything you need to know about backpacking.
Here’s a list of things you need to bring:
Backpacking gear:
Clothing:
Hydration and items for the camp kitchen:
Personal items:
Optional items:
Your guides will provide:
Your guide recommends that you exclusively bring synthetic or wool clothing. You may be asked to help carry some of the group equipment. Dress comfortably and for the weather in clothes you can move in. We suggest bringing clothing appropriate for the season. Layers are best and don’t wear jeans.
Of course! You’ll need to bring your own sleeping bag and pad, and if you don’t have your own, there are plenty of rental companies in Portland—the starting point of your tour. You can rent from LowerGear Rentals, Mountain Shop, Portland Paddle, or any other rental company in Portland. Make sure you make arrangements in time. Contact us if you need any help!
You will spend your nights in tents.
Your guides use 1- and 2-person tents. For the 2-person tents, the internal dimensions are just big enough for 2 standard sleeping pads to fit side by side. You are welcome to use your own tent as well.
Whether or not you’ll have to share a tent depends on a variety of factors—the number of people signed up for a trip, how many people are sharing a tent already, and who is bringing their own tent. Your guides would never suggest strangers share a tent, so participants traveling solo get priority for single tents.
Two of their most common models include MSR Elixir 2 and MSR Hubba Hubba 2.
Your guides will provide a combination of meals cooked from scratch and pre-packaged trail meals and snacks. Upon booking, you will be provided with a waiver where you can notify them of your allergies and dietary restrictions. You are welcome to bring as much of your own food for the trip, as well as any other personal gear related to food preparation.
Group sizes and prices:
Hiking the Pacific Crest Trail can be arranged for larger groups. Contact us to make arrangements.
Min. age requirements:
If your group has hikers under the age of 18, contact us prior to booking to make arrangements.
For fixed dates, a 30% deposit to secure your place is due upon booking. The remaining amount is paid 3 months (90 days) prior to departure. Once the trip is confirmed by the guide, the cancellation policy stated below applies. We highly recommend purchasing travel insurance to protect your trip cost. If the Client cancels the booking…
Upon booking, your guides will send you an online waiver for yourself and all other members of your party, with a special waiver for participants under the age of 18. Please fill in the waiver at least 1 week in advance of your trip.
To get to Portland, Oregon, most people fly into Portland International Airport (PDX). From there, you have a 15-minute drive to your guide’s office in Troutdale.
You’ll meet your guide and your fellow backpackers at the guide’s office, 121 E Historic Columbia River Hwy, Troutdale, OR 97060 at 8:00 am on day 1 of the tour. Their office entrance is located below and behind the storefronts in downtown Troutdale. Turn left off the main street immediately after the “Gateway to the Gorge” arch to access the lower parking lot.
57hours is committed to providing safe outdoor adventure experiences. We require all guides using our platform to have a COVID-19 safety plan and to make the details of that plan accessible to travelers. In most cases, group sizes will be reduced, guides will avoid overcrowded locations, and other safety measures will be met depending on the location and activity.
We also expect clients to respect local regulations and take measures to protect themselves, their guides, and the communities they’re traveling to. For more information on COVID-19 measures in Oregon, please refer to Oregon’s COVID-19 resources and updates.
If you have a fever, sore throat, cough, or any other COVID-19 symptoms (or exposure to a person who has tested positive for COVID-19), your guides ask you to alert them immediately and stay home.
Please contact us if you have any questions or require further information. We are happy to provide you with the most up-to-date information!