[pct-l] Oregon on June?

[CHUCK CHELIN]

Good afternoon, JJ,



In an average year July is a good time to start, but this is a low snow year
in the Pacific NW so June should be mostly OK,  There will be some residual
snowpack in many areas but not likely anything serious.
http://www.wcc.nrcs.usda.gov/cgibin/westsnow.pl



For example, look at the above link for the April ’99 report.  That year I
started a section SoBo from Cascade Locks mid-June but I bailed at Lolo Pass
because the snow was pain-in-the-butt deep at 4,000 ft., and I hadn’t even
yet climbed the skirts of Mt. Hood.  I had to wait till mid-July to restart.
Then, 31 Aug. I hiked through a zero-visibility snowstorm between Mt.
Jefferson and Santiam Pass.



Another heavy snow-year in Oregon was ’08.  Look at that at the above link,
and then read the Journals of early NoBo hikers beginning mid to late-July.
At the end of May of that year I took a photograph at the Santiam Pass
trailhead which can be seen at:
http://www.trailjournals.com/photos.cfm?id=335261



When comparing the various years on that NRCS site note that very seldom is
there heavy snow generalized on the entire length of the PCT.  If California
gets clobbered the Pacific NW is light, and vice versa.  It’s just the
result of how the major weather patterns hit the left-coast.



Steel-Eye

Hiking the Pct since before it was the PCT – 1965

http://www.trailjournals.com/steel-eye

http://www.trailjournals.com/SteelEye09


On Wed, Mar 31, 2010 at 2:50 PM, Jim Keener ( J J ) <
pct2010 at ridgetrailhiker.com> wrote:

> This June, for example.
>
> Jim Keener ( J J )
> http://postholer.com/jj
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