[pct-l] Snowpack

Mon Oct 5 00:46:29 CDT 2009

Georgi is absolutely correct. We need some heavy winters for a lot of 
reasons.

But what this translates to for the thru hiker is that the bigger snowpack 
will be around later into the hiking season and thrus will need to know how 
to deal with it safely. Hiking on spring snow (different than winter snow) 
is not dangerous nor difficult if you know what to prepare for and how to do 
it.

That is where our free 3-day snow training weekends come into play. Lady J 
and I conduct free weekend Snow Courses for anyone interested in learning 
how to hike and camp in the snow. We teach how to:
- select warm and sunny-morning campsites,
- find and get your water safely,
- navigate along the trail without worry of losing it,
- decide if a slope is avalanche prone or not and how to get around it if it 
is,
- build a snow cave and sleep in it as a safe alternative to your tent/tarp,
- use your ice axe or self-arrest pole to stop a down-hill fall on snow or 
ice before you hit the rocks below,
- cross snow-covered creeks and lakes, and much more.

Whether you're just concerned with the possibility of snow in the Laguna's, 
Saddle Junction, around Wrightwood, or from Kennedy Meadows on through the 
Sierra, take a course from someone near you that will teach you the needed 
skills for safe passage over snow.

If you have any questions, please feel free to post them here and we'll all 
get prepared!

Mtnned and Lady J

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Georgi Heitman" <bobbnweav at gmail.com>
To: <pct-l at backcountry.net>
Sent: Friday, October 02, 2009 11:39 AM
Subject: [pct-l] Snowpack

> I'm gonna get flack...I can feel it coming, but I gotta say it.
> Please, next seasons hikers..... don't be shortsighted when it comes to 
> snow
> pack in Kennedy Meadows or anywhere else in California for that matter.
> Unless you and future trekkers want to walk thru forest and prairie after
> forest and prairie  burned to a crisp from Mexico to the OR/CA border, ya
> better be praying for a damned good snowpack not only this coming winter,
> but for several more to follow.  We're talking about from the Lagunas to 
> the
> middle Cascades at the very least.  Snow pack in the Sierra and the other
> mountain ranges translates to reservoirs fuller, snow melt runoff that 
> lasts
> longer, forests and plains that stay greener longer.  And that just might
> translate to hikers who don't have to skip miles and miles of trail 
> because
> it's closed due to wildfires. Several really good El Nino years in a row
> wouldn't a bad thing.....
> Now I'm just a 70+ year-old Trail Angel who's never hiked but short 
> patches
> of the PCT and never a long trail or broken trail thru deep snow for more
> than a day (shady, east-facing slope, no postholing) and it was tough, so
> you can say, 'what does she know'.  But I know this: I've been saying for 
> a
> long time we'd better hope for some really good, wet snow years.  And this
> past August the reason for that hope hit not only me, but the 19 to 21
> hikers here at the Hideaway at the time, smack in the face!  After a
> horrific thunder storm that seemed to last for hours, 39 separate fires
> burned in the Hat Creek Valley and the Hat Creek Rim east almost to Fall
> River Mills  Two that were lit on Sugar Loaf, a cinder cone directly 
> behind
> the Hideaway grew together with astonishing speed, threatening us, our
> hikers and the entire community of Old Station.  It wasn't huge...not by
> SoCal's unfortunate standards....but big enough for us.  It closed the PCT
> in two places (due to another fire further north at the Fall
> River/Cassel//PCT cross), diverted approximately two dozen NOBO hikers at
> either Drakesbad or Hwy 36 and required us to find a way out for the folks
> who were here when all this fun started.
> The simple reality that faces all of CA is that we've just gotta have some
> seriously wet years!  In a row....with storms coming one on top of 
> another,
> not six weeks or so apart with warm weather in between.  And if FireWalker
> and I have to plow and shovel deeper snow more ofter and longer for a few
> winters, Hallelujah!  We won't mind...in the larger scheme of things it
> beats more and larger wildfire as our state gets drier and drier. So,
> please...practice your compass reading/map skills, get lightweight
> snowshoes, learn to use them and your ice axe as well.  Don't hike alone 
> in
> the Sierra and other heavy snow/rushing stream areas and maybe follow Eric
> D, Scott or Adam closely.  They seem to find their way thru, over and 
> around
> most anything.  Most of all, for the well being of all of CA, please pray
> for a wet winter!
> I would like to thank Big John, Happy Plate, Speak Easy and all the other
> hikers who were stuck here, some for four or five days for their help, 
> their
> patience and cooperation thru the trail and road closures, the lack of 
> phone
> and power and other inconveniences during the fire.  And I thank Rock Star
> for taking three of our hikers out, my daughter, Nikki for helping evac 
> the
> last four and Tammy aka Quad S (the Goddess) for hanging in and continuing
> to provide us wonderful assistance here at the Hideaway. Also, the eight
> hikers I took to Redding for their endurance...eight hikers AND their 
> packs
> was a bit much for a minivan, even an extra long one...but we made it with
> just a few jabs from all the hiking poles.
> Some of these folk may still be on the trail or may not be on this list, 
> but
> please pass the word that FireWalker and I really appreciate their
> willingness to not only be of assistance but to also keep smiling and just
> deal with the situation. Other hikers who were stuck here after some hiked
> out the morning following the storm ( they were evaced from the trail
> somewhere after getting off the Rim because of the fire further 
> north...has
> anyone heard from Giggles?, he was behind the rest), included Happy Feet,
> Hatman, Bert, BooBoo, DWreck, The O.S.G., Miner and at least two more.
> Thanks,
> FireFly and FireWalker from The Hideaway at Old Station
> PS...if we can be of assistance to anyone needing to hike north from Old
> Station or even further south to complete their thru-hikes, we're glad to 
> do
> what we can.  Drakesbad closes on 10.15.09, tho there are still people 
> there
> til all the winter preparations are complete, and they'll feed hikers as
> they can.  We'd love to know in advance if possible of arrival dates as
> we're no longer cooking for masses of folks.  In fact, we're enjoying a 
> few
> frozen dinners for a while, so unless that sounds good......
> FF and FW
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