[pct-l] Irony

[gwschenk at socal.rr.com]

---- "Cristine F. Jennings" <cjennings at shive-hattery.com> wrote: 
> Indeed!  The 60 MPH winds,freezing rain, wind chill would make decisions to leave full raingear behind a dangerous decision.  My most foolish move was not allowing an extra day to catch a flight.  We found out later we were trying to hitch on a road that had been closed by the road dept. You would think one of the workers would have stopped and let us know.   Hope all who hiked on made it OK. 
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I didn't even want to "utilize" that restroom. The thought of spending the night there sends shudders down my spine.

California has been under drought conditions for, what, almost 20 years? This has coincided with the propagation of the ultra-light philosophy. I was amazed last year to see people mailing their foul weather gear ahead up the trail. In Southern California you are hiking in ranges that top out at 11,000'. Being an idiot, I've learned the hard way that you need to be prepared for bad weather at any time. I'm lucky. An experienced mountaineer died from exposure on the Desert Divide not so long ago, and not in winter either.

As California moves back into more normal weather patterns (hopefully), folks will have to adjust their thinking somewhat. Thruhikers are traversing major mountain ranges in early spring. They need to be prepared for snow storms at anytime. Light summer gear ain't gonna cut it. Adding some appropriate rain gear and clothing isn't going to add that much weight to your pack.  Maybe boots won't seem so bad when people realize they can actually kick steps in snow slopes.

There's my rant for the day. I hope everyone out on the trail is doing OK.

Gary