[pct-l] Mt. McLoughlin

[Steel-Eye]

Good morning, Daniel,

McLoughlin is indeed a beautiful Northwest stratovolcanio.  It's one of the
most symmetrical of the bunch, not having blown-out or become badly eroded.
It may be a 10-mile roundtrip measured from the nearby trailheads, but from
where the PCT crosses it's eastern flank the summit is only half that
distance, with an approximate 3000 ft. gain in elevation.  The climb is
usually a non-technical walk-up on a trail, but it averages about 25% grade,
with the upper portion closer 35%.

As to why it isn't climbed more by PCT thru-hikers, I speculate that after
having had Shasta in view for nearly a month, and facing several more months
with volcanoes close at hand, they just don't find it necessary to climb one
of them.  McLoughlin isn't as huge and impressive as Shasta, it isn't as
stark and challenging as Mt. Thielsen, and it isn't one of the heavily
glaciated northern peaks.  Besides, at that point the thru-hikers are
booking good miles in fine summer weather and probably don't want to be
delayed getting to Crater Lake.

Climbing any of the Pacific NW peaks this year will be particularly
interesting.  We have had very heavy snow accumulations as far south as N.
California, and likely there will be residual snowpack on the PCT well into
August.  For snow conditions look at the ski area reporting from Mt. Ashland
to the south and Mt. Bachelor to the north.  The PCT crosses McLoughlin's
flank about 6,400 ft. elevation.  Further north, Mt. Hood currently has over
200" of snowpack at 6,000 ft., consolidated from a total seasonal snowfall
of over 650".  That's around 150% of normal.

Enjoy your hike,

Steel-Eye

^^^^^^^^^^  Serious hikers gather at:  http://www.aldhawest.org/  ^^^^^^^^^^


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "schlaepfer" <daniel.schlaepfer at env.ethz.ch>
To: <pct-l at backcountry.net>
Sent: Friday, March 21, 2008 3:01 AM
Subject: [pct-l] Mt. McLoughlin


> Hi all,
> I'm new here and plan a thru-hike this year.
> On the map and on the pictures, Mt. McLoughlin (OR, map C1) looks
> beautiful and the guidebook's comment is also rather favourable.
> However, searching journals of past PCT hikers, I noticed that barely
> anyone adds it to their route.
> According to
> http://www.fs.fed.us/r6/rogue/trails_mcloughlin.html
> or the same tiny: http://tinyurl.com/2vm6vj
> it is only a 10 mile, moderate-difficulty round-trip, though 4000
> feet elevation gain.
>
> Can anyone give me some advice on why not to climb Mt. McLoughlin or
> on what to pay attention to if I still want to try to climb it?
>
> Many thanks,
> Daniel
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