[pct-l] Sierras in early to mid-October

[Scott Williams]

If you're starting that late in the year, forget about your conditioning
and consider the weather.  You can also become conditioned while hiking the
JMT, it isn't that bad a trail, especially if you have trail to follow.  In
deep snow it's another beast altogether.

I started a late season blast up the JMT some years ago, leaving from
Cottonwood in the first week of Oct.  The weather was beautiful and I had
made it to the base of Forester by day two.  Went to bed with a gorgeous
clear sunset and thought all was well until midnight when the first crack
of thunder burst over me in that bare granite bowl.  Not the place to camp
at 12,500 feet or so by the way.  It snowed heavy sierra cement type snow
for 12 hours, completely burying my tent and me.  By noon of the next day I
was backtracking to Tyndall Creek where I met a whole bunch of Outward
Bound type kids who were finishing a summer in the Sierra by a summit of
Whitney the next day.  That never happened of course and we all spent 4
days retracing my steps to Cottonwood in deep snow.   Winter had closed in
for that year.

Don't worry about your conditioning that late in the year.  By the time you
make it from Castella to the JMT it could be 3 weeks to a month later when
you just begin the High Sierra and winter could easily have closed in.
That's OK with the skills of Mountain Ned, but for mere mortals, not a fun
place to be.   Starting in the high mountains first will put you into the
Tahoe area or further north and you may have a chance of finishing.
Anyway, if you don't finish the whole thing, you'll have done the most
beautiful part of it at a lovely time of the year with few people and
usually warm days.

Have a great time, but I would rather miss the trail south of Castella than
the High Sierra, some of the most gorgeous mountains on the continent.

Shroomer

On Mon, Mar 19, 2012 at 3:01 AM, Reinhold Metzger
<reinholdmetzger at cox.net>wrote:

> Jackrabbit,
> Anything is feasible, especially if the weather is agreeable.
> However, late September to mid October puts the Sierra at risk of snow
> and once it starts snowing in the Sierra, unless you are equipped for snow,
> you are at risk and your journey is most likely over.
> My suggestion would be to get through the Sierra as early as possible
> to reduce the risk of snow while in the Sierra.
> Scott Williamson, who has hiked the PCT eleven times, including two yo-yos
> had to abandon two prior yo-yo attempts due to snow because he got back to
> the Sierra to late on his return leg.
>
> JMT Reinhold
> -------------------------------------------
> Jackrabbit wrote:
>
> I would love some local knowledge and wisdom of a proposed section hike by
> Photo and I from Castella to (south) Kennedy Meadows.
> Due to jobs, we aren't able to start until the 2nd week of September.
> That puts us in the Sierras early to mid-October.
> We're doing it in this direction to optimize our conditioning and building
> up to the Sierra elevations.
> We will likely run into closed resorts for resupplies.
> Will snow make this a non-starter?
> Comments/Input? Would this be feasible North-bound starting at Kennedy
> Meadows
> Sept 9th?
> (We both did about 1000 miles of PCT in 2011,  20-25 miles/day).
>
> Thanks
>
> Jackrabbit
>
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