[pct-l] Cottonwood to Kearsarge Pass

[Denis Stanton]

On 9/07/2008, at 1:07 PM, Trainman-1 wrote:

> Cottonwood to Kearsarge Pass
>
> My buddy Hart and I will be going next week. Just a couple of quick
> Questions: any snow that could cause us problems? How about  
> mosquitoes? Is
> There water available through this part of the trail? Any info is most
> Helpful and of course appreciated.
> Trainman,
> Glen

Hi Trainman

I can give you some outdated information.  I hiked approximately this  
route at the beginning on June.  There was enough snow to slow me down  
and cause me to lose the trail at a couple of points.  There were  
almost no mosquitos.  I saw a few flying critters when I rested at  
Rock Creek so I camped 100 yards away from the meadow and that solved  
it.

I would expect that a month later the snow will be significantly less  
of an issue.  You will probably see some on Forester Pass.  I didn't  
have an ice-axe or crampons and this resulted in a couple of slips  
that could have ended badly.  I doubt if you will have such problems  
now.

I found plenty of water along the way.  I had to keep reminding myself  
NOT to fill all three bottles at every opportunity as I found I was  
arriving at the next nice stream with a lter and half to spare.  A  
month later the snow melt will probably have reduced so you may be  
safer to carry 2 liters.  I don't have the guide book so I had no  
directions to off-trail water.

Below is a mail I sent to someone else.  It includes links to my  
journal and a lot of photos of this route.  If you use Google Earth  
you can use the file below to see the photos geo-located on the terrain.

Denis
Walks With Son
-------------------------------------

On 22/06/2008, at 5:25 AM, Phil Newhouse wrote:

> L-Rod,
>
> Will you be carrying crampons/ice axe for your departure north  
> starting next
> friday?  What do you anticipate regarding snow on the trail?

Phil

I hiked Trail Pass to Kearsarge Pass starting 30 May, ending 4 June.   
There was some snow on the trail, particularly on north-facing  
descents into streams.  I didn't carry crampons or an axe.  Not needed  
from Trail Pass to Crabtree Meadows.  Others I met intended going up  
to Mt Whitney but abandoned the attempt above Guitar Lake because the  
switchbacks to Trail Crest were lost in snow.  They had ice axes but  
it still looked too hard.  Three weeks of snow melt may have changed  
this.

North of Crabtree it was still easy going, with the snow patches being  
annoying but not enough to justify extra gear.  I found Forester Pass  
(June 3) to be a challenge without ice equipment.  I got through  
mainly thanks to the footsteps left by others.  It would have been  
wiser to have an ice axe.  I broke my hiking pole in an unsuccessful  
attempt at self-arrest that could have ended badly.

For a visual report on trail condition check photos here
	http://web.mac.com/denisstanton/denis/2008_May_Chicken_Spring_Lake.html
and here
	http://web.mac.com/denisstanton/denis/2008_May_Rock_Creek.html
	http://web.mac.com/denisstanton/denis/2008_June_Crabtree_Meadows.html
	http://web.mac.com/denisstanton/denis/2008_June_Tyndall_Creek.html
	http://web.mac.com/denisstanton/denis/2008_June_Forester_Pass.html
	http://web.mac.com/denisstanton/denis/2008_June_Kearsarge_Pass.html

There are a number of photos of me grinning at the camera, but I think  
the rest of the scenery makes up for that

Google Maps fans will find all 260 photos geo-located if they go here:
	http://maps.google.com/
and search for:
	http://stanton.net.nz/USA2008/USA2008.kml

For Google Earth, save the following lines as "USA2008.kml" (or  
similar) and open with Google Earth.

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<kml xmlns="http://earth.google.com/kml/2.1">
<NetworkLink>
	<name>USA2008</name>
	<open>1</open>
	<refreshVisibility>1</refreshVisibility>
	<flyToView>1</flyToView>
	<Url>
		<href>http://stanton.net.nz/USA2008/USA2008.kml</href>
		<refreshMode>onInterval</refreshMode>
		<refreshInterval>86400</refreshInterval>
	</Url>
</NetworkLink>
</kml>





Denis Stanton
denisstanton at mac.com