[pct-l] dry conditions

[Gary Wright]

> Whitney had only 5% of normal Precip. that year.  The 
> Sierra is hurting for water

That 5% figure seemed quite extreme to me so I did some googling and was mildly surprised. From the precip data at <http://www.cnrfc.noaa.gov/monthly_precip_2007.php> I didn't find any large zones of 5% of normal precip but there are several in the 10-20% range. The Independence station reported 31% of normal and the Inyokern-Kern station reported 11%. The lowest I found in a quick scan of the data was Palm Springs at 2% of normal that year!

In any case I'd recommend that next year's PCT class strongly consider hiking without a stove in the driest areas.  If you do have a stove, try to cook on rock slabs and dirt and far away from any grasses or vegetation.  I hiked from Agua Dulce to KM without using a stove in 2007 without much trouble.  I used a stove from KM to Yosemite where it is much easier to cook safely. I was section hiking that year so I don't have any direct experience with the drought conditions north of Yosemite during that year.

Some stove-less meal suggestions:

tortillas work for snacks, lunch, dinner:
  -- cheese, summer sausage/pepperoni, onion
  -- tuna with mayo (use small condiment pkgs)
  -- peanut butter + gorp (any variety)
  -- carry out sandwich/pizza for first dinner out
     of town

Gary Wright (Radar)