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

[ned at mountaineducation.org]

The basic thing to glue into your planning mind is to avoid powder snow at 
all costs! Spring, consolidated snow is an entirely different beast because 
it can be walked on when hard. Powder must be wallowed through without snow 
shoes and with great fatigue, exertion, and exhaustion struggled through 
with snow shoes.

The wetter the powder, the worst because much of what each step plunges into 
falls onto the snowshoe on the way up and out of its foot-hole making for 
one heavy lifting job! Dry, non-maritime powder, like what we find along the 
CDT, isn't so bad, but a wallow, nevertheless.

Don't let yourself get caught by an early-season snow storm! On the one 
hand, it may melt off in the day or two thereafter while on the other, it 
may remain cold (in the 20s during the day and single digits during the 
nights) once the skies clear and the snow will stay around for the rest of 
the winter.

What Scott went through could have turned into another SAR evacuation. 
Always know how to get out of the backcountry, where your exits are, should 
something like this occur to you.

And don't forget, it can (and has!) snow during any given month in the 
Sierra! Don't be naive or in denial for any reason about what can happen in 
the mountains, safety-wise. Go prepared.



"Just remember, Be Careful out there!"

Ned Tibbits, Director
Mountain Education
South Lake Tahoe, Ca. 96150
    P: 888-996-8333
    F: 530-541-1456
    C: 530-721-1551
    http://www.mountaineducation.org
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Scott Williams" <baidarker at gmail.com>
To: "Reinhold Metzger" <reinholdmetzger at cox.net>
Cc: <pct-l at backcountry.net>
Sent: Monday, March 19, 2012 9:42 PM
Subject: Re: [pct-l] Sierras in early to mid-October


> 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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