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0 of 3 Premium Clicks used this month SUBSCRIBE Print + Online Subscriber Activation | Register x Forgot Password | Need an Account? e-edition | subscribe | newsletter | deals Classifieds Jobs Autos Real Estate FEATURED » NEWS NOW Standing guard ... City gears up for hearings on future growth ... Medford School District on the hunt for teachers ... Standing guard ... City gears up for hearings on future growth ... Medford School District on the hunt for teachers ... RECREATION PCT to limit thru-hiker starts Just 50 permits a day will be issued for people entering the trail from the south Comment By Mark Freeman Mail Tribune MailTribune.com By Mark Freeman Mail Tribune Posted Feb. 5, 2015 at 6:07 PM By Mark Freeman Mail Tribune Posted Feb. 5, 2015 at 6:07 PM » Social News Increased traffic on the Pacific Crest Trail, in part because of the movie "Wild," will trigger a daily cap on the number of people beginning their hike north on the iconic trail to Canada. The U.S. Forest Service will cap at 50 the number of permits it issues daily to long-distance hikers beginning the 2,650-mile trek from the Mexican border north to Canada, according to the Sacramento-based Pacific Crest Trail Association. The free permits have been in place since 1992 and are available online at a site that shows hikers what days are full and what others have few assigned hikers, according to the PCTA. The goal isn't to limit the number of people hiking the trail but to spread their start dates out for a better experience, says Jack Haskel, the PCTA's trail specialist. "It's because of quirks in human behavior that a lot of people want to start the same day," Haskel says. In 2014, 113 people asked to begin PCT trips at the southern terminus in the Cleveland National Forest at the California-Mexico border on April 1. But the day before that, only eight people wanted to leave from the border, and on the day after, just 13 wanted to start. "Nobody wants to start a hike with 100 other people, especially had they known it would be just a handful of people on a different date," Haskel says. The change affects only those "thru-hikers" intent upon traversing the entire PCT beginning at the Mexican border, as well as others starting there under the free permit for hiking or horseback riding 500 or more contiguous miles of the trail. It does not affect trail use in Oregon or Washington, short-term hikers or those traveling the entire route from Canada to Mexico, Haskel says. The information, as well as available launch days in 2015, can be found at www.pcta.org . In 2013, 1,879 people gained permits to hike the trail, with 1,042 of them thru-hikers beginning at the Mexican border, according to the PCTA. Just 258 of them completed it. Last year saw the issuing of 2,655 permits, of which 1,468 of them were thru-hikers. Of those, 425 completed the journey. Most thru-hikers begin in the spring at the southern terminus and hike northward through the arid Southern California area while waiting for snow to melt off the trail farther north. There was no plan to limit the number of hikers starting in Canada and heading south. The trail has garnered increased interest and attention since the release of "Wild," a movie starring Reese Witherspoon about a woman's journey on the trail, which crosses Interstate 5 at the Siskiyou Summit and travels through the Greensprings and eastern Jackson County. Part of that movie was filmed in Ashland. Reach reporter Mark Freeman at 541-776-4470 or [email protected] . Follow him at www.twitter.com/MTwriterFreeman .     By Mark Freeman Mail Tribune MailTribune.com By Mark Freeman Mail Tribune Posted Feb. 5, 2015 at 6:07 PM » Comment or view comments Reader Reaction » STAY INFORMED Email NewsLetter Sign Up Today Sign up for our newsletter and have the top headlines from your community delivered right to your inbox. Southern Oregon Directory Featured Businesses Loading... 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