[pct-l] Trail tread conditions

[Diane at Santa Barbara Hikes dot com]

The vast majority of the time the trail is a smooth surface covered  
in footprints with little trekking pole marks along the margins.

Sometimes you are asked to climb over/under trees.
Sometimes you will walk through clear-cuts that have grown back with  
lots of brush obscuring the trail.
Sometimes the trail bed is very narrow and you have to walk one foot  
directly in front of the other.
Sometimes the trail bed slopes to one side, often the same side for  
10 miles in a row.
Sometimes there are tall, granite steps you must somehow step up.
Sometimes I swear the trail has been abandoned.
Sometimes there are swollen creeks to swim and ford, snow that  
obscures the tread, road crossings you might get run over trying to  
cross, burned forest where the trail is hard to see, forest that is  
currently on fire, rocks, roots, re-routes, road-walks, dogs, bears,  
lions, bobcats, people with firearms, people with axes...

I could go on but I think you get the idea. It's a trail. If a very  
small section of gully is enough to make you reconsider, you're  
probably not going to like it.


On Jan 25, 2010, at 10:00 AM, pct-l-request at backcountry.net wrote:

> Subject: [pct-l]  Trail tread conditions
> To: <pct-l at backcountry.net>
> Message-ID: <BAY124-W322C14AA663B09930B6B68B15F0 at phx.gbl>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"
>
>
> What's the trail tread normally like?  This weekend the trail  
> between Campo and Lake Moreno was like a gully in many parts.  It  
> was especially bad right next to the border where the border patrol  
> roads drain into the trail and created foot deep gullies.  It  
> wasn't as bad elsewhere, but I spent most of my time straddling the  
> trail.  My ankles are going to hate me if the trail is going to be  
> like that throughout.