[pct-l] Snow in May

[Sean Nordeen]

It seems to me every year that we have a good snow storm in May, there are always a couple of people hiking across the San Gabriels (and I'm sure elsewhere) who are not prepared for the weather.  I can remember, in previous years, reading several Trail Journals and hearing several tales of people stumbling into the Mill Creek Summit Station or some other similar place, or finding a ride on one of the road crossings while on the verge of suffering from hypothermia.  I always wondered why, if they were so cold, didn't they stop and pitch their tent and wait it out in the warmth of their sleeping bag for a day or two.  Afterall, what's a few days of short rations to dying from exposure.  Well, I also always wondered about their lack of gear or experience in getting more out of what they were carrying, but that is too obvious to really comment further on.  

But the idea that all of SoCal is all desert and it never rains/snows seems to be a common misconception to most of the nation.  I've seen that attitude stated in a few of the Yahoo PCT groups over the past few years that I joined when I started to think about thru-hiking.  There is always someone who talks about leaving their raingear or their tent/tarp out until the Sierras to save weight.  And many of the gearlists are really light on clothing layers.  For some reason, when some look at the maps showing the trail climbing to 9000ft or the mention of a couple of ski resorts along the way doesn't seem to register.  It's like their preconceptions are blinding them to what they are reading in the guidebooks and other places.

-Sean