I've wanted to hike the PCT since I was a kid and did many multi-day hikes with my dad on the Cascade Crest trail. Life happened, work happened, kids happened, and suddenly, I'm 58, and haven't done it yet. I think I have a lot of hiking years left in me, but beginning to think that I better do it soon.

I hike quite a bit - a few hundred total miles per summer. I did WA section I last summer, and also did the Wonderland Trail in 7 days, so I think I'm dialed into what I need to do on trail, as long as I don't sit on the couch too much.

Here's the worrying part - I'm not ready to retire, but I'm probably going to need to quit my job. But I worry if I quit my job and break my ankle in the first 300 miles, that I'll be heartbroken, in a cast, and unemployed. But assuming I finish, I'll just be unemployed. I work in tech, and in a better market, I'd feel confident about finding a job quickly when I get back, but I worry if I quit that I may never find another job. I can easily cover COBRA and housing costs for my family while I'm on trail, but can't cover that indefinitely if I don't find a job.

I'm hoping I can talk my employer into rehiring me - or possibly even putting me on some sort of leave, but I just joined this company 10 months ago (which will be ~2 years by the time hiking starts), but don't think that's going to be enough tenure.

I wrote way too much - TL;DR - Worried about quitting my job to hike the PCT, looking to see if anyone else has done the same and survived re-entry into adulting.

Update: Love this community. Especially the comment from /u/juliozz59 "if I can walk to canada, I can easily land a job" reminded me that I'll be able to find work - if I want when the trail is over.

Not sure yet if it's going to be a 2024 or 2025 hike for me, but I'm committed now to going for it.