[pct-l] I am having trouble posting to the PCT web site.

[Georgi Heitman]

Sparrow and Steel-Eye, etc.
We had two hikers here at The Hideaway who are SOBO'ing from Castella to
Whitney...The got over, around and under the many blown-down and uprooted
trees plus very deep snow on steep slopes by using their GPS.  Said they
wouldn't have made their way thru w/o it.  They left here last Monday,
headed south.  I haven't checked with Drakesbad, the guest ranch w/in Lassen
Nat'l Pk. to see if they made it over the trail's summit in the Pk., but if
they did, they're probably on their way to Belden as I post this.
Unfortunately, I have no way to check, except maybe with the Belden P.O.
lady, who may or may not give me that info...(I'm not even sure they had a
box waiting for them there).  I don't believe the T.A.'s who reside for
about six weeks in Belden each summer will have arrived yet from their home
back east.
My personal advise is that no one should try navigating the trail north out
of Belden, over the summit w/in Lassen Nat'l Pk.  or north of Red Mountain
in Section O w/o being well acquainted with GPS or should be traveling
alone, as streams that are often trickles or dry by this time of year will
surely be running swift and deep right now and probably for the next two to
three weeks at least.  Here, at 4550 feet, it's just barely what I'd call
warm in the sun.  In the shade, when there's a breeze and/or as the sun
starts down in the evening, it gets plumb darn cold very quickly...and the
two highest points on the trail between Belden and here are at 7100 feet and
6800 (roughly) feet.  It'll take a while for that to all melt if things
don't heat up a lot more.  After last summer's wild fires here, a slow melt
isn't bothering me in the least...it's frustrating to hikers tho and I'm
sorry about that.
I will say this...after the two young men mentioned above showed up
here....I realize how much more since 2006, the hiking community has
embraced GPS.  I'm cautiously revising my possible dates for getting to Old
Station from north or south based on that.  It's a rather scary revision, as
only the holder of a GPS device knows how skilled they are in it's use...
and I don't want to feel responsible for injury or worse if anyone w/o it
decides they're skilled or strong or lucky enough to attempt to go where
no-one has gone before...w/o proper navigation equipment.  Even with a Spock
or a Data in tow.......
By the way...is there anyone out there who might have a suggestion as to why
I'm not getting any of the several-times-a-day list of posts from the pct-l,
and how I might fix the problem?  I assumed at first that I'd somehow gotten
unregistered, but when I tried to re-do it, I was informed I was already in
the list's system and I really couldn't be registered twice.  As a result, I
have no idea, unless someone's posted me privately, what questions re the
trail have been on the list's posts but I haven't seen.  I've been too busy
to check the archives......and I'm sorry about that too.
Thanks for any help.....
FireFly, from The Hideaway at Old Station.


On Thu, Jun 17, 2010 at 9:02 PM, <lcgrconrad at aol.com> wrote:

>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: CHUCK CHELIN <steeleye at wildblue.net>
> To: lcgrconrad at aol.com
> Sent: Thu, Jun 17, 2010 8:57 pm
> Subject: Re: I am having trouble posting to the PCT web site.
>
> Good evening, Sparrow, PCT-L has beenup and running.  If you are
> enrolledthere shouldn’t be a problem.  Probablythe best information about
> Belden to Old Station would come from the trailangel at Old Station,
> Firefly, whose recent post on PCT-L is copied below.  After reading that it
> would be good tocontact her directly and get the latest. According to herand
>
> http://www.wcc.nrcs.usda.gov/ftpref/support/water/westwide/snowpack/wy2010/snow1005.gif this
> is a pretty big snow year in N. California. Enjoy your hike, Steel-EyeHiking
> the Pctsince before it was the PCT – 1965
> http://www.trailjournals.com/steel-eyehttp://www.trailjournals.com/St
> eelEye09 ====================================================
> To:  PCT-L from Georgi “Firefly” Heitman, bobbnweav at gmail.comMon Jun 7
> 13:12:11 CDT 2010Anupdate for those of you who are wondering what new in Old
> Station as farasnow goes....the last we saw coming down here at 4500+ feet
> was two weeksago  It's snowed at higher elevations tho.  So, if you're
> entertainingthoughtsof coming here anytime real soon, basically, my
> suggestion is thatinstead,you entertain thoughts of starting here
> later   That being aroundtheend of June/first of July, unless you really,
> really like snow, rushingstreamsthat are deep, and in places that at this
> time of year theyshouldn'tstill be, blown-down and up-rooted trees laying
> like pick-upsticksacross where the trail normally is, and you're pretty
> darnedproficientwith map, GPS (and compasses that are somewhat unreliable in
> ouriron-cladvolcanic mountains).  If you don't fitany/all of
> thatdescription,you might find something else to do for a while.  If you're
> notallthat local, and have unchangeable plane tickets or
> something,come...renta car, drive some of the CA. coast line, Big Sur and/or
> theRedwoodscome to mind, great numbers of hiking trails both places...the
> LostCoastis beautiful, challenging and provides opportunities to hug
> aRedwood,....or-r-r.....visitthe Napa Valley, view it from a
> balloonprovidedby Napa Valley Balloons, Inc., who kindly fulfilled # 28 on
> myBucketList early last month.  There's lots todo around here, that's why
> weloveit so.......Basically,my message this year is an echo of the one I
> repeated andrepeated(mostly to no avail) in 2006.  'You can'tget more than a
> day ortwoeither direction out of Old Station!' That year, our first hikers
> thrubetweenBelden and Old Station from the south and the first one thru
> fromCastleCrags SP up north, arrived between July 1 and 3.  You can get
> fromBFSPto Old Station...that's about 2 to 2 1/2 days...a long drive up
> hereforvery little hiking. The trail thru Lassen rarely opens before the
> roaddoes...bothhave a big mountain to the west/southwest of them....and
> thefolksin the Park who are in-the-know, say an early July road opening
> isexpected,all things being equal.  But please be intouch with
> usoccasionally.  You're very welcome here at TheHideaway,...tho early in
> theseason,advanced notice is happily received....if nothing's open to
> thesouth,just expect to be given a job while you're
> here........Becausethat's something that's possible if you do have
> unchangeable travelarrangementsand also a slim pocketbook that factors out
> rental cars,balloonrides and such-like....  Come on up...I'mrunning light on
> set-uphelpthat's especially needed this year due to FW's mending
> brokenshoulder.  In spite of P.T. and really good progress, hestill can't
> lifthisarm too high, or pull too hard with it. IF the rain ever quits,
> thegroundever* *dries out, etc...we'll need to move fast to have things
> readywhenhikers do begin to get thru.  Theout-back's been raked once, but
> thatwasover a month ago, it needs branches and pine cones removed again,
> thetallgrass mowed, tents erected, I'll need help and very possibly
> somecreativethinking on getting my cook-shack tent back up and then set up
> tobeuseable.  Decks, railings and picnictables, benches, park benches
> tosandand recoat...and in a case or two, repair. There are overhead
> (big)waterpipes to be mended, a washing machine for hikers that may or may
> nothavesurvived the winter, and a hot tub that (again) may or may not
> befixable.  Also, always yard work, mowing, weeding,gopher
> wars,brush-clearing,creek clearing, chainsaw work...on 5 acres coming out
> fromundera 6 month (and counting) winter, the fun never ends around here.
> Idon'texpect everything on my to-do list to happen....but so much of
> itbenefitshikers, like repaired and replaced railings and balustrades
> aroundthetree house deck, duff raked around buildings and fire circles and
> woodcutfor the fire circles. back-stops built for the horse shoe pit,
> etc.,etc.......  Again...we need to know in advance!So,there are the
> suggestions from FireFly...not much thru-hiking to be hadonthe PCT in
> mid-to-northern CA, but there are other trails build forwalking,it's a state
> filled with wonders to be seen and The Hideaway at OldStation,equally filled
> with things to do.What'sYOUR plan?FireFly...from The Hideaway at Old Station
>
> On Thu, Jun 17, 2010 at 8:19 PM,  &lt;lcgrconrad at aol.com<lt%3Blcgrconrad at aol.com>&gt;
> wrote:
> My messages are not getting on the PCT web site.  What am I doing wrong?
>
> I am tryin to find out if the trail between Belden and Old station is open.
>
> Sparrow  AKa Linda Conrad
>
> We are planning on hiking it starting next weekend.
>
>