[pct-l] Snow in May, and Preparation

[Sean Nordeen]

Sigh.  In my previous and only post on this matter, I talked about how many years many hikers have reported being in a situation that they described as being near hypothermia due to not being prepared for the conditions in the SoCal mountains.  I also talked about how many are under the mistaken impression that SoCal is all desert and warm and they don't need to worry about cold or rain/snow.

I was not speaking up to those hikers who went through the snow this past weekend.  The weather spoke in a more convincing/authoritative manner to them then I ever could hope to do so and they either learned somehing or not.

My point in speaking up was to inspire discussion about how to combat the mistaken impresion most of the nation has of sunny Southern California.  I've heard too many thru-hikers in their planning talking about it.  If a person does know better and deliberately chooses to take a risk on the weather, then I'm not going to worry about them as they know better then I how much risk they are comfortable with and what they can handle.  However, I do believe that many are unwittingly taking a chance on the weather because they don't appreciate/know how our legendary sunny weather can change to what we recieved this past Memorial Weekend.  It is those people that I wish to find someway of warning/educating for the upcoming years.  It isn't a matter of being right, it is a matter of prevention for the future.  I don't see why some want to kill any discussion and pretend there isn't a problem that needs to be addressed for future years.  I figure, if nothing else, the more discussion there is, the greater likelihood of the word getting out to those planning now.

-Sean