[pct-l] Hazardous Weather Advisory for Southern Sierra

[Bob Bankhead]

Annie:

Unless his plan included a regular phone call to you on a given frequency that has not happened (and remember your comment about the spotty availability of cell service), I wouldn't be worried at this point. It sounds like he has everything he needs. Besides, he's only 3-1/2 days into a 6 day trip, and he has two good bailout opportunities if he were to need them (Trail Pass to Horseshoe Meadows to Lone Pine and the Mt Whitney Trail down to Whitney Portal to Lone Pine). He's a day and a half past the first and is approaching the second.

Since he's a decent navigator and assuming he has the waypoints in his GPS, finding the trail shouldn't be an issue. 

Call his cell phone and leave him a "call me" message. Then you just have to wait for him to check his messages.

If you still want to worry about something, try the economy, the situation in North Korea, or the tight schedule on my kitchen remodeling project.

Wandering Bob.
  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: annieguion at comcast.net 
  Cc: pct-l at backcountry.net ; pct2009 at yahoogroups.com 
  Sent: Saturday, June 06, 2009 7:25 AM
  Subject: Re: [pct-l] Hazardous Weather Advisory for Southern Sierra




  Okay folks, I need your advice. My partner (Chuck/Rover) is thru-hiking. He left Kennedy Meadows in the middle of the day on Tuesday, June 2. His plan was to hike the trail, including the side hike up Mt. Whitney (most likley today, Saturday), and come out to Independence over Kearsarge pass sometime on Monday. I think he is hiking alone, though he left KM a few hours after Buckwheat (Rick), a hiker we met who seems strong and well prepared. 



  I am at home in VT. These weather reports and Censored's situation are causing sleepless nights for me. He does not have a spot. He does have a cell phone - scant reassurance since it probably won't work when he might need it to. He has Eric the Black's atlas and a GPS. He is a strong hiker, with good commonsense and sense of caution, a decent navigator, has 6 days of food in a bear cannister, a 15 degree bag, contrail tent, raingear, boots (though not waterproof) down jacket, balaclava - going middle of the UL spectrum I would say, but it sounds pretty cold and wet up there and hypothermia puts an end to commonsense and makes gear useless. 



  I checked postholer.com and didn't see any new journal posts from people up there right now. 



  I just read some of the wilderness press, about how hard it is to find the trail over Forester pass - with new snow that seems impossible. I was hoping he would come out at Lone Pine, or at least by pass Mt. Whitney, in which case I would have hoped to hear from him by now, or at least by tomorrow. Should I be worried? If yes, any advice? 



  Annie/Sherpa Girl