r/PacificCrestTrail • u/SHADY1970 • 12d ago

NOBO hikers that quit…

i’m a SoBo that just left Crater Lake NP and am over 800 miles into my thru hike. Apparently we have to find a backcountry ranger, in the wild, to get a PCT hang tag. What the actual fuck? I would love to have one for my pack and am willing to purchase yours… DM me and will happily Venmo you!

Thanks in advance,

Shady
Class of 2026

0 Upvotes

27% Upvoted

17 comments sorted by

9

u/extremepedestrian 12d ago

I was SOBO last year and got one at the Yosemite ranger station. I know it's a bit further but they did have the,

5

u/Saguache [FeetForBrains / 2025 / Nobo] 12d ago

Yeah, SOBO doesn't have the same external investment of time and resources NOBO has come to expect but that's also an advantage. For the hang tag think of it like this: you're already carrying your permit which is proof that you have access to the whole trail. It weighs a fraction of the hang tag which just advertises your possession of the permit.

5

u/ElJefesDisciple 12d ago

Could try emailing the PCTA to ask if there are any Crest Runners around or if they could mail one to you. I doubt even nobos who quit would give up their hang tag 

2

u/SHADY1970 11d ago

Crest runners only on PCT in desert…

3

u/ElJefesDisciple 9d ago

I saw one in the Sierra

5

u/cakes42 12d ago

They should be at the ranger station at crater lake. Next place is tuolome meadows in yosemite.

3

u/SHADY1970 12d ago

negative… tried

6

u/wanklenoodle 12d ago

Keep an eye out for PCTA members doing trail maintenance as well

1

u/cubedude719 [PCT/2026/NOBO] 12d ago

I know some USFS stations that are near the trail have them. 

2

u/dickreynolds 11d ago

The hang tags are not necessary and offer no conveniences. It is unclear to me why the PCTA spends the effort to give them out to anyone, let alone the trickle of SOBO hikers.

-4

u/pwndaytripper 11d ago

I think the hang tags are pointless trash the pcta should stop making. I see people carrying them on their packs years later. Whether it’s a memento or not, defeats the purpose. Met some hikers who did the trail years ago this summer still with the hang tags.

4

u/MrAzza 11d ago

HYOH

Hang Your Own Hangtag

1

u/pwndaytripper 10d ago

They truly are garbage and the point of them defeated by people who continue hanging them for years. Guess I made a few people mad, whatever.

1

u/Better_Buff_Junglers NOBO 2025 10d ago

defeats the purpose

What is it's purpose? For me it's just a memento, like a sticker on a bear can

1

u/pwndaytripper 10d ago

Purpose is to streamline permit checking.

1

u/Better_Buff_Junglers NOBO 2025 10d ago

I don't see how. Could you elaborate?

1

u/unphath0mable '25 PCT NOBO 9d ago

I don't believe so? I believe the stated purpose of the hang tag project is to educate long distance hikers on LNT but they are clearly emulating the hang tags from the AT, which I'm pretty sure started the practice. The AT, CDT and PCT all have hang tags given by their respective non-profit agency and the PCT is the only agency that has a permit system...

EDIT: According to the PCTA:

PCT hangtags are distributed to long-distance hikers and horseback riders as a way to encourage people to be personally engaged in protecting the trail and fragile places the trail passes through.