[pct-l] Trip Report - Pines to Palms Highway to Saddle Junction

[Paul Bodnar]

I met the first thru-hiker at Deep Creek Hot Springs on Wednesday 4/7.  He used an ice-axe, real boots with 12-point crampons to make it through.

 

I would guess the trail conditions will be a lot better in the next month or so when most of the hikers will be passing through the Big Bear area.  I would guess that the snow at 7100 feet (about Mile Marker 281) was 6-8 inches deep, and maybe a little deeper in some spots.  However, the snow was melting really fast.  When I turned around and started back tracking I couldn't believe how my earlier prints were already melting away.  With the high daily temperatures I recorded I don't think the snow can last unless there is a lot more snow falling and a unusual cooling trend.  

 

Paul
 
> Date: Sun, 11 Apr 2010 16:49:32 -0700
> From: irjake at gmail.com
> To: pct-l at backcountry.net
> Subject: [pct-l] Trip Report - Pines to Palms Highway to Saddle Junction
> 
> Wing It and I just hiked the Section from Pines to Palms Hwy 74 to Saddle
> Junction. We had microspike "crampons" and ice axes (real ones, not the
> "potty trowels"). It was a very high snow year in Southern California and
> sections of the trail still have a lot of snow: 3-4 feet on the North side
> of Apache Peak, and even more by Saddle Junction.
> 
> We met the first 3 thruhikers to make it through this section at Tahquitz
> Meadow. They had made it through to Saddle Junction and if they stay on
> schedule they should make it through Fuller Ridge today. They chose to hike
> over the top of Apache Peak, rather than around it on the PCT grade and from
> their description it sounded like their route was significantly less exposed
> than ours.
> 
> There are some VERY steep and icy traverses that will probably not melt very
> soon. We were forced to chop up to a quarter mile of steps in the ice to get
> around some of the more difficult sections. If you plan on hiking this
> section soon I highly recommend carrying an ice axe as well as some sort of
> extra traction for your shoes.
> 
> Patchy Snow starting after Cedar Spring Trail - nothing difficult to
> navigate or traverse until Apache Peak but after that all North facing
> slopes were covered in snow. The slope on the North side of South Peak had
> a particularly dangerous traverse - I would have much preferred to have real
> crampons, and would not have attempted to go around without some sort of
> extra traction on my shoes.
> 
> >From Red Tahquitz to Saddle Junction the PCT is entirely snow bound.
> 
> Don't Panic - PCT '08
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