[pct-l] Southbound Hiker

[Steel-Eye]

Good afternoon, Austin,

Currently the Northwest PCT is under 5 to 15 feet of snow so it's really too early to know what the blow-down conditions will be in June-July.  There haven't been the high winds and/or ice storms that so typically dump trees on the trail but heavy snowfall can do much the same thing, and we've certainly had that.  In the Mt. Hood area those of us on PCTA trail maintenance crews usually help on the low-altitude Columbia Gorge trails till the high country opens, and so far this year most of the lower trails have had to be logged-out twice.  We won't know about washout damage until most of the snowmelt is over.     

Steel-Eye
  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Austin Williams 
  To: pct-l at backcountry.net 
  Sent: Friday, February 15, 2008 1:50 PM
  Subject: [pct-l] Southbound Hiker


  Hello, my name is Austin.  I'm from the Oregon Coast and I'll be doing my first thru this year!  I'm sooooo stoked!  Because of "real life" constraints, I can't start my trip until very late June!  Yikes!  So, that obviously rules out hiking North!  Even though I'm an ultralighter (8-8.5lbs base pack weight), and am convinced I can thru hike this trail in about 3 1/2 months, if I hiked north that would still put me in northern Washington in the middle of October.... not going to happen!

  So... I've been having to read all the guidebooks backwards.  :)

  I'm hiking solo, and have three questions for the forum:

  1.) How is the water situation in Southern California in late September, early October?  Is it scarce?  Should my Aqua Mira suffice?  Or should bring a real water filter down there?

  2.) I imagine that the recent severe storms in the north have caused a massive amount of blown-down all over the trail along sections in Oregon and Washington.  Does anyone know the current trail conditions there?

  3.) And last but not least:  I will be leaving my mate behind for this hike.  She'll be sending my resupply's and is being very supportive.  Naturally, I want to remain in communication as often as possible.  How (in)frequent is the cellphone coverage along the trail?  Will it be worth bringing along my cellphone (and my nifty home-made lithium battery cellphone recharger)?  Or is the cellphone coverage so limited that I'd be better off leaving it at home?  I'll only be using 22 resupply box's.... so if even if they were all evenly spaced out, that comes out to only being able to call home to mi amor once every 5 days (if I don't bring a cell).  Any opinions?

  Thanks for your feedback!  And I look forward to seeing you all on the trail this summer!

  -Austin



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