[pct-l] Planning...

[Chris Willett]

Hi Scott, 

Keep your eyes on Washington snow pack, as you may want to delay your start
or take different gear depending on how our winter turns out. We're getting
a bunch of snow in the mountains now, with ski resorts in the Cascades
beginning to open.  You're going to get a lot of advice from people, so I'll
try to be brief.

1) Elevation: Don't worry about it until the Sierra.  Washington and Oregon
and NorCal are not that high.

2) Ice Axe: Sort of.  You're going to be on snow for most of WA and it will
be hard pack. So, you'll need to know how to self belay and self arrest.
You can read up on this extensively before hand, which might be sufficient.
But, you could also easily get in far over your head.

3) Sun:  The light coming off the snow in WA is going to be very intense,
and you'll be in it for multiple hours during the day.  You'll want full
coverage clothes and sun screen for your face and hands, and lip balm.  Air
temps won't be that high, with probably highs in the 50s, maybe up to 60 in
spots, and a few daytime highs in the 40s.

4) Navigation:  You're going to have to get pretty good at it right at the
start, as a lot of the trail may be buried in snow.  When the trail is snow
free, navigation is a snap: Just follow the trail.  You don't have a ton of
blazes, but it is hard to get lost (except when snow is on the ground).

5) Alcohol stove: yup, it will work just fine.

6) Canister: The only place to worry is in the Sierra from Tuolumne south to
Kennedy Meadows.  You'll get a lot of different answers to this, both on the
legal and ethical ends.  I'm not going to fire the first shot, though.

7) Insects: You're going to be mobbed my bugs in WA for a couple of weeks,
then you'll just face some flies.

8) Bag: Yes, a 20 is fine.

9) You won't see any other PCT hikers until the middle of August, probably.
These will be NOBO hikers. You will run in to section hikers and weekenders
as well, but not for a while.  So, be prepared to be alone most of the time.
Of course, you might run into a long distance SOBO hiker, and there are
plenty of people who do long sections on the PCT. You might meet them.  I
crossed Washington from August 5 to August 23.  I saw 1 other thruhiker.
There were two in front of me and there were at least 5 in the state when I
finished.  So, not too many.

Incidentally, from Crater Lake north to Cascade Locks, I saw zero
thruhikers.

Suge


On 11/13/06 12:21 AM, "Scott Polewach" <spolewach at hotmail.com> wrote:

> I am planning a SOBO PCT thru-hike in 2007.  I plan on beginning at the end
> of June/Beginning of July.  I thru-hiked the AT NOBO in 2006, and had a
> great time.  I'm trying to get a knowledge base about the skills that I
> didn't learn on the AT.
> 
> High Elevation:  Is it possible/likely to have problems with elevation
> sickness on the AT?
> 
> Ice Axe:  Is it possible to learn how to use an ice axe well on my own if I
> can get in a few training hikes this coming winter?
> 
> Sun:  What are the best methods to avoid the sun?  I found, on the AT, that
> even a silkweight shirt was uncomfortably warm, and that I sweated sunblock
> off very quickly--simply put, I never really solved the 'sun problem' on the
> AT, and I'm sure that the PCT is much worse.
> 
> Navigation: How much navigational skill is really required on the PCT?
> 
> Will an alcohol stove work well at the elevations the PCT has?
> 
> will I be ok with no bear canister?
> 
> when/where are insects a problem?
> 
> will a 20 deg. bag cut it?
> 
> 
> I'm a little worried about being almost totally alone for the majority of my
> trip.  Is the PCT really THAT remote?
> 
> Thanks,
> 
> Scott Polewach
> 
> Hermes, the Sandstorm of IWIC
> 
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