[pct-l] Early Start for Through Hike

[Scott Williams]

I began at Campo on 4-12-10.  It was a very cold spring and we ended up
living and hiking through a lot of snow in the Sierra, many weeks worth.
 But the most dangerous ice and snow was on Fuller Ridge in the San Jacinto
mountains, the first really high mountains you come to.  Early is a great
time to hike the lower elevations in SoCal, but you climb to 9 and 10,000
feet right above Palm Springs and Los Angeles and the snow can be
formidable.  To have road walked the San Jacinto mountains would have been
a real shame as the views and Alpine country up top is simply stunning and
such a dramatic contrast to the beauty of the desert below.  I'd start a
bit later and enjoy the spring, you'll probably still get plenty of snow
before the end of he hike, but that is always the call of the late season
weather Gods.

Good luck and have a wonderful summer,

Shroomer

On Wed, Nov 14, 2012 at 9:54 AM, Eric Lee <saintgimp at hotmail.com> wrote:

> Amy wrote:
> >
> I am planning on hiking my first time through the PCT this year, and I
> would
> like to get an early start.  I am able to start by the end of
> February/beginning of March.  I was wondering if anyone knows the earliest
> time to start a through hike that would still be safe all around.
> >
>
> Starting at that time of year is certainly going to give you serious snow
> on
> the southern California mountains.  I haven't done much hiking down that
> way
> yet but my understanding is that they tend to get a frequent freeze-thaw
> cycle which creates a lot of dangerous ice.  Sticking to the trail in those
> conditions is probably won't meet a normal person's definition of "safe".
>  A
> lot of the most hazardous sections can be detoured around with
> road-walking.
> And of course you'll run into the Sierra very early as well.
>
> Unless you're experienced in winter mountaineering or like road walking,
> you
> might want to delay your start until at least mid-April.  Late April would
> be better, depending on your definition of "safe".
>
> Another alternative, if you can arrange transportation, is to skip around
> hiking all of the southern sections that are lower in elevation and
> snow-free in March then pick up the mountains later in the year.  You'll
> still have the problem of everything from the Sierra northward not being
> mostly snow-free until July.
>
> Eric
>
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