[pct-l] Winter vs. Spring-start Thru-hike

[Ned Tibbits]

Gracie, you certainly opened a can of worms with this one!

The idea is not a new one. Even the most experienced, well-equipped, 
professional teams can flounder trying this.

So much depends on the season, the preparation, the resourcefulness (plan B, 
plan C?), the drive, etc. to get through it. Even your ability to assess the 
day's risks before you start in the morning is critical.

Like Eric just said, spring snow conditions are dreamy and fun compared to 
what winter can dump on you. Most all of our "winter" trips through Mountain 
Education are conducted on the safer, harder, compacted snow of spring. The 
avalanche risk is still present in the spring, just not every day.

Our ski trips of the outrageous John Muir Trail are spring only and are the 
most awesome things we do. The trail under snow, though daunting and 
forbidden to the summer hiker seeking warm, dry trail, is the most beautiful 
imaginable, even when the weather is nasty (good for dramatic photos!). If 
you want to see these conditions, just start your thru hike early, say in 
March as I did. Look at the photos of those who have gone through early this 
season to see what the conditions looked like and you will see it looks like 
"winter."

Mtnned
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

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----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Gracie Sorbello" <onewheelforlife at gmail.com>
To: "PCT Forum Post" <pct-l at backcountry.net>
Sent: Friday, June 06, 2008 8:02 AM
Subject: [pct-l] Winter Thru-hike


> Hi,
> I have been thinking about doing a thru-hike for several years, and in all
> my pondering began to wonder what it would be like to thru-hike the PCT in
> the winter.  I'm sure someone out there has at some point, but does anyone
> have info on such a trip?  This is something I'm very interested in doing,
> and an informative resource would be really helpful.
>
> Further questions I would have include:
> - will any sections become simply impassable during the winter?
> - do any trail guidebooks include GPS coordinates for the entire PCT?
> - are there many sections of the trail that are particularly prone to
> avalanches?
> - would MSR Denali Ascent snowshoes (with flotation tails) be enough for
> both flotation on snow and traction on ice?  or would I need crampons as
> well?
>
> Thanks!
> Gracie
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