Hey All, when's the latest it's safe to be hiking the PCT in Oregon? I'm thinking of section-hiking it later on in the fall as I don't want to miss any of Alaska's glorious summer, so I'm loosely looking at starting in late September. I've read that PCTers want to hit Canada no later than October, but since the Oregon trail is both more southerly and generally less mountainous, I'm wondering if I could safely (and comfortably, weather wise) hike it as late as October.

Is my reasoning here sound? could I push it even later if need be?

Thanks!

I've hiked the PCT a lot, especially the Northern half of Oregon

September is the best time - snow melted off, few bugs, nice weather - but you can have a week of heavy rain that makes streams dangerous to cross

October starts getting colder, wetter, but still good - you can easily get down to 20F at higher places

November gets iffy - depending on the year you migth get enough snow to make some places difficult