[pct-l] Crossing river suggestions

[Diane Soini of Santa Barbara Hikes]

In high snow years, many people find the Kathoola KTS crampons to be  
great. They strap on over your shoes. Kathoola microspikes are  
another option. I'd go with the KTS if possible. Microspikes would be  
fine in a low/ordinary snow year.

I didn't bring an ice axe because I didn't know how to use one. I  
hiked in 2008, an ordinary snow year, and didn't feel an ice axe was  
necessary.

For river crossings what you end up doing is just walking through in  
your shoes. You can't keep your feet dry through the Sierras because  
the whole trail is underwater in places. It just becomes impossible  
and even if you could make the effort, the return on your investment  
in time and effort just isn't worth it. If you wear breathable mesh  
running shoes, water will just rush right out and your feet will feel  
dry enough in a few minutes. Wet feet turn out to be no trouble at  
all once you've already put 700 miles of hiking on them. In fact,  
it's great to finally have clean feet for a while.


On Nov 17, 2011, at 10:00 AM, pct-l-request at backcountry.net wrote:

> Did most people find a pick axe and snow shoe picks necessary,  
> understanding of course that every season is different. And the  
> river crossing to avoid soggy foot any suggestions