[pct-l] trail conditions reported from hikers in Belden

[Stephen Clark]

I just spoke with the Wilderness Office in Yosemite and they are not aware
of any trail closures within the Park.  They said they typically do not
close trails for snow or high water, however  they do acknowledge extremely
treacherous high water conditions currently exist in the back country,
especially north of Tuolumne.

The ranger said that most PCTers are skipping that north section and a hitch
to Lee Vining is pretty easy right now.

Reports are that Tuolumne gas station opened today but not the store, grill,
or Post Office. Tuolumne Meadows HSC is also still closed. .

Being a veteran backpacker I would concur with Cisco and Roadrunner's
comment  about being unable to see how anyone could do a thru hike this year
unless they are not willing to be flexible and work in some flip flops.

It's not worth your life. There will be another opportunity for you.

Quackers


"In every walk with Nature one receives far more than he seeks."
— John Muir <http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5297.John_Muir>






On Mon, Jun 27, 2011 at 3:43 PM, Halfmile <list at lon.net> wrote:

> Yogi,
> This is consistent with what the NOAA/National Weather Service
> Analyses is showing for snow in that area. It appears Old Station to
> Castel Crags or maybe soon Fish Lake to Etna probably have the less
> snow and might be a better choice for hikers wanting to flip.
>
> http://www.pctnews.com/2011/updated-pct-snow-information-for-627-233/
>
> -Halfmile
>
> On Mon, Jun 27, 2011 at 3:20 PM, Jackie McDonnell <yogihikes at gmail.com>
> wrote:
> > Check out this information I received from Laurie Braaten (trail angel in
> > Belden):
> >
> > "Brenda spoke with someone who reports that the trail is closed near
> > Yosemite (Tuolumne?) due to treacherous river crossings.
> >
> > I just spoke with Cisco and Roadrunner, two section hikers who started at
> > Sierra City over a week ago. They encountered lots of snow, a lot of
> > technical slow walking, and the markers are sometimes only visible three
> > hours apart; a GPS is a must. There are also lots of blowdowns, sometimes
> > close together. They were only able to make 10 miles max a day until the
> > last day. Fortunately there was not a lot of postholing, but their shoes
> got
> > drenched.  It took a week for them to get to Belden, it would have taken
> 8
> > days but they were out of food and the last 22 miles were relatively
> easy,
> > so they pushed through and got to Belden at 8:35 pm Friday evening. They
> > said they are in daily contact via cell phone with someone who is posting
> > updates on trail conditions for them, it might be worth a google.
> >
> > Cisco and Roadrunner's comment was that they didn't see how anyone could
> do
> > a thru hike this year.   Soooo.... once again, it sounds like there may
> be
> > some serious injuries (or worse) if hikers are not willing to be flexible
> > and work in some flip flops.
> >
> > Brenda just shuttled two more PCT hikers. One was a seasoned PCT veteran
> > whose comment was "I fear for the life of the PCT hikers, we have been on
> > the edge nearly the whole way." They just shuttled from Tuolumne to here,
> > and are going to skip ahead a do this section in Sept."
> >
> > yogi
> > www.pcthandbook.com
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