[pct-l] CURRENT trail conditioins Mammoth to S.City

[Diane Soini of Santa Barbara Hikes]

I think many of us have absolutely no idea what a horse can or cannot  
do. Sometimes I look at the trail and can't imagine a horse with its  
spindly little legs could ever manage at all, but then some horse  
person will say no problemo. Can they walk on talus/scree slopes? Can  
they walk on potato-roller rocks? Can they walk on the snow? Can they  
do the high altitude stuff? How big a log is too big for them to step  
over? How steep a side-slope is impossible for them if a log is in  
the way? How low does a branch have to be before it blocks their  
path? I honestly have no idea.

Diane

On Aug 4, 2011, at 10:00 AM, pct-l-request at backcountry.net wrote:

> With Ned's recent post on the subject of "trail report words" in  
> mind, I can say that I have had confusion in interpreting trail  
> information coming from hikers. Of course, they are describing what  
> they recall and from the perspective as hikers with various levels  
> of capability.? Since I will be riding a horse, simple descriptive  
> words like "doable" or "piece of cake", etc. don't tell me much. I  
> have been monitoring the snow melt and stream crossing descriptions  
> for the past two months. I have talked to hikers at Carson Pass,  
> Pooh Corner and Sierra City, asking what they remember about what  
> they saw and experienced between Mammoth and Sierra City. I did get  
> one very detailed description from one hiker named "leave it Be".?  
> He described deep snow on some steep north-facing slopes and under  
> the canopy of trees that he thought would be very difficult or  
> impossible for an equestrian. Describing one spot, he wondered if  
> the snow would melt enough THIS YEAR.
>  If there is no safe way around, some of these places could be  
> trail-stoppers for me. That is why I have postponed my start date  
> to ride south from Sierra City until August 23.
>
> What I am hoping for is that some of the hikers who have RECENTLY  
> passed through parts of the PCT between Mammoth and Sierra City  
> will post reports with an equestrian in mind.
>
> I would like to thank my hiker-friends in advance for posting this  
> information
>
> MendoRider