[pct-l] Modifying hike, seriously?

[ned at mountaineducation.org]

>From the point of view of one who teaches Wilderness Skills, how to have a 
successful thru hike, and who is outside in the Sierra every day between 
6,000 and 10,000 feet (ski patrol--Heavenly and skills 
instructor--Desolation Wilderness), here are our thoughts:

There's no need to be afraid of snow. Just learn how to be safe in it, start 
earlier so you can slow down and enjoy it, cross the creeks and take lots of 
pictures! So, if you're desire is to hike "thru," from Border to Border, it 
can certainly be done quite easily and safely. Fear of the unknown and an 
abundant desire for dry, idealistic trail, we believe, is what motivates 
hikers to endure the logistical mess of flip-flopping in order to try to 
find the best trail conditions that will allow the speed they need to attain 
to make it to Canada before the powder snow starts flying.

If you don't mind flopping from here to there in that quest, Timothy Nye is 
absolutely right. It's all about elevation. Skip the high ones where the 
snow is and advance to where the trail returns to the low ones. Blow-downs 
are always a pain in the rear until the trail crew shows up and that might 
not be until mid-August like when I thru hiked the PCT.

However, we know that our opinions regarding how to thru hike a long trail 
are not in vogue right now, but they are based on maximizing your personal 
safety during and rewards from the hike.

Let's talk strategy and timing. Your only real deadline on the trail is when 
the snow starts flying up north. Walking through powder snow is 
forget-it-difficult and snow shoes simply don't make it much easier. Walking 
on consolidated, Spring snow when firm in the mornings is easy (the caveat 
is that you need to know what you're doing, safety-wise). The Sierra snow 
pack starts becoming consolidated when the days grow longer, say around 
March or better yet, April. What this means is the avalanche danger subsides 
and the snow surface becomes firmer to walk normally on. So, if the Rangers 
in Manning tell you that the snow may start flying as early as mid-September 
and are backed-up by the Dinsmore's observations and recommendations, plan 
your trip start date from Mexico with that in mind. After you've hiked and 
dreamed for four or six months to see and enter beautiful Canada, who wants 
to risk being stopped by snow only days or weeks from the crossing? Just 
leave the Mexican border earlier.

Otherwise, you leave per someone's "optimal" time frame and have to hike too 
fast at first, risking injury, disappointment, and disillusion, to make the 
required pace. Doesn't anyone ask why about 70% of hikers drop off the 
trail? How many of them leave their "dream-of-a-lifetime" hike because going 
the speed that's required has unforeseen consequences (physical as well as 
emotional) because they didn't test themselves in it and with it during 
their planning stage?

So, here it is from Mountain Education:
- start between mid-March and mid-April,
- give yourself plenty of time to go slow and enjoy (doesn't mean that some 
people can't go fast and find enjoyment, just know why you're out there and 
know what that speed will do for you),
- hike straight through and slow down the schedule when the going gets 
tough, like in the Sierra,
- find out in advance, during your planning and training stage, what the 
realities of the trail experience will really be and practice in them, train 
for them, and equip yourself for them, so that when they actually happen you 
will be safe, not sorry or painfully in jeopardy, and able to comfortably 
continue on, whether they be nasty creek crossings, miserable weather, lots 
of blow-downs, dangerous terrain, insufficient food, or just that you don't 
have the right gear when you need it.
- minimize time spent off-trail. If your goal is to absorb all the mountain 
experience has to offer and see everything between Mexico and Canada, don't 
loose sight of it by blowing your schedule in town. Here's a novel 
idea--work out your menu such that you actually like it from the start, 
meaning that you won't have to go to towns frequently to make changes and 
can receive resupply boxes at road crossings and stay on the trail and able 
to go slower. What this will mean, also, is that you will have to test your 
menu on long test hikes, like on the 3-week John Muir Trail. [Yes, we're 
aware that any diet can become disgusting over time, but consider your 
pre-trip planning/preparation to be critical and take those hikes to test 
your "systems" of food, gear, and clothing under the conditions 
realistically expected!] (If a big part of your reason for hiking along a 
high, mountainous trail are the social benefits of going off-trail into 
towns, then at least plan more time for these.) (This includes 
flip-flopping--how much time and money are consumed doing this? Wouldn't it 
just be easier in the long run to learn the skills to deal with the 
obstacles anticipated and just continue moving forward?)

There's no need for modifying your hike if you knew what you were getting 
into in the first place. If you find out in advance and train your "systems" 
for it, you'll be better off. However, it will take more commitment and 
effort, foresight and determination, focus and time, and a willingness to 
consider thru-hiking strategies that have fallen out of vogue at the moment.


"Just remember, Be Careful out there!"

Ned Tibbits, Director
Mountain Education
1106A Ski Run Blvd
South Lake Tahoe, Ca. 96150
    P: 888-996-8333
    F: 530-541-1456
    C: 530-721-1551
    http://www.mountaineducation.org
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Timothy Nye" <timpnye at gmail.com>
To: "Scott Williams" <baidarker at gmail.com>
Cc: "pct-l" <pct-l at backcountry.net>; <pct-l-bounces at backcountry.net>
Sent: Thursday, April 07, 2011 12:10 PM
Subject: Re: [pct-l] Modifying hike


> My thought, for what it's worth, as far as flipping is concerned is that 
> an
> option if you reach Kennedy Meadows and decide that that's the best
> course, is to to get on the trail at either Soda Springs / Donner or 
> Beldon
> and hike north from there.  I think that you may well make the most time
> that way.  Transportation would be easiest to Soda Springs/Donner on I-80,
> but the lower elevation and attendent snow levels would likely be found at
> Beldon on CA 70.  Blow downs are going to be a concern regardless of where
> you get back on the trail as we've had some severe storms and the snow 
> level
> will not be amenable to trail crews until later in the summer.
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