[pct-l] Alternate Routes

[Jim and_or Ginny Owen]

In the old guidebooks, there were a lot of alternate routes that were highly recommended by the authors.  (In some cases, they said outright that the PCT was terrible so take the alternative instead.)  When we hiked in 2000, we took a few good ones, like Stuart Falls and Eagle Creek.  We would like to do others when we hike the trail again.  However, I noticed that in the current book the alternates are reduced in number, as well as the enthusiasm for them.  In the next edition, according to the notes on the Wilderness Press website, most of the recommended alternates are being eliminated entirely.  In some cases, that is a good thing (i.e. the Mojave alternate that goes past the reservoir that is now completely closed to hikers).  But I was wondering whether the other alternate routes are being removed because they are no longer passable or simply because PCTA was putting pressure on the authors to only describe the official trail?  The why isn't important, the question is whether the alternates are still hikeable and if so, which ones are worth trying?  

 

Ginny