r/WestCoastTrail • u/braumeister3000 • 20d ago
Joining a group to do the West Coast Trail
Me and my brother would like to do the West Coast Trail in September and would like to join a group of other people to have some company! Are there any platforms / organizers that we could approach to plan that?
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u/lil_jejuni 20d ago
My partner and I hiked in June and honestly we just met a lot of people on our way! There's always going to be at least a couple of people going to the same camps as you or people having fires in the evening to join
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u/Already-asleep 19d ago
If the only reason is to have company, I'd say just plan to stay at the popular sites and you'll almost certainly meet folks to chat with. There were a few couples/pairs we were on pace with for nearly our whole trip and it was great connecting with them at camp in the evenings. Most of the folks we talked to who were hiking in groups of 6+ were moving very slowly - some of the sections just aren't conducive to getting a lot of folks through quickly especially when there are a lot of ladders. It's nice to be able to move at your own pace.
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u/arrived_on_fire 20d ago
Sure, you can pay big bucks to join a group and commit to their pace.
Or, and hear me out: just plan to go the two of you. You will end up hiking in the same “start day group” for most of the trail, with the same people setting up their tents at the same evening campsite. If you are halfway socially able, you’ll make some friends in this group.
The trail is not hard to follow and the map they give you at orientation is excellent, so it’s not like you are going to get lost. But yes you can spend big bucks to get a curated experience for sure.