[pct-l] Weather talk

[Diane Soini of Santa Barbara Hikes]

Are you saying we don't obsess about the weather enough? I think we  
obsess about it too much. First there's Ned selling his courses every  
chance he can making sure everyone is frightened to death about the  
snow. Then there's Reinhold giving us updates all winter about  
"trouble's back in town" scaring everybody about snow. (Not that  
there's anything wrong with either, but there's an example of a lot  
of obsessing about the weather.) Then there are always questions  
about ice-axes, crampons and microspikes and arguments about whether  
you need them, should take courses to learn to use them, and whether  
ultralighters are under-prepared by carrying the wrong (or no) ice- 
axes and microspikes. Then there are always arguments about rain gear  
and shelter and whether ultralighters bring it or are under-prepared.  
Then there are questions about desert heat and dehydration and  
whether ultralighters depend on water caches too much, not to mention  
the vicious diatribes against the existence of water caches.

If you think we aren't obsessing enough about start dates and  
weather, perhaps it is because start dates usually have more to do  
with scheduling around daily life than the weather.

If you think we aren't obsessing enough about bugs and weather,  
perhaps it is because on a long distance hike you're going to get  
bugs no matter what the weather does and bug protection technology  
hasn't really made a lot of changes over the years.

If you think there are too many discussions about GPS and other  
gadgets, I agree with you, but I think it has nothing to do with the  
weather or lack of concern for it. Besides, a lot of GPS enthusiasts  
want one to help with snow, which is a weather-related trail condition.

It's still too early to know how this year's weather is going to  
affect the trail. People have hiked this trail in La Ninas, El Ninos,  
years of drought, years of flood, years of snow, years of bare rock,  
years of epic wildfires and epic wildflowers and yet they somehow  
still seem to make it to Canada.

In fact, one really nice thing about hiking a long trail is how you  
get to be at one with the weather. It's not always pleasant to be out  
in the weather, but you learn a lot, you adapt, you find you are  
stronger than you think and weather is just weather, or you go wait  
it out somewhere comfortable.


On Jan 13, 2012, at 6:18 AM, pct-l-request at backcountry.net wrote:

> Each year, when the issue of what the weather is doing, I'm always  
> astonished by the responding posts.
>
> It is hard to imagine what changable feature exists that will  
> dramatically effect a person's hike other than the snowpack....I  
> guess the weather DURING the hike?
>
>> From the stanpoint of the two variables that would still be in  
>> question: what do I take, and when do I start? The snowpack is  
>> undoubtedly the big kahuna.
>
> A winter weather system does not consist of a simple process of a  
> series of storms, but a regional climate zone that takes on a  
> characteristic, depending upon the year.  For example, a "El Nino"  
> year is that, it does not morph into a "La Nina"  
> spontaneously.....the effects are set up over a lengthy period of  
> time.
>
> Does this mean that one knows what is going to happen in a  
> particular spot at a particular time?  Of course not.  I've been  
> caught in mountain downpours, when a mile away, a buddy was totally  
> dry.  YMMV!
>
> But the consequences of a differing snowpack are so great for most  
> people, that it seems to me that thinking about the possibilities,  
> and considering the consequences of those, is a high priority.
>
> For example, as someone mentioned about a low snow year, bugs might  
> be awful.  So a person might want to consider what mitigation to  
> undertake...headnets, other body covering, really understanding the  
> new chemicals and how they dramatically change the situation.  I  
> have been astonished by the number of hikers at Lake Morena, who  
> have not given such things serious thought until then.   
> Way......too......late, in my opinion.  A hiker has a lot more  
> topical things to worry about at that point, to be concentrating on  
> things they could have worked though months earlier.
>
> It just seems to me a sort of bizarre dis-ordering of priorities,  
> when the snowpack is ignored, and *endless* conversations go on  
> about which GPS to take.  Ask Greg, Carl, or Eric which one they used.
>
> I suppose we're all caught up in cabin fever.  :)
>
> Ken