[pct-l] When to Ask For Help
Ned Tibbits
ned at mountaineducation.org
Thu Oct 18 15:26:26 CDT 2012
You know, Chuck, that was a great and thorough response! I would only add a
couple non-UL options,
- Resupply stops through the snow-covered sierra need not be 5 days apart,
making for a lot of time spent going up and down the eastside of the sierra
with its huge elevation gains and losses. If this is what you want to do, no
sweat, but there are other choices. I used four locations when I did the
trail through the sierra, Kennedy Meadows area, Cedar Grove-Kings Canyon
area, Yosemite, then Tahoe. Worked for me, but then I wanted to enjoy
staying on-trail, did not mind the added weight and slowed progress of snow
issues, and couldn't bear the thought of going off-trail for days just to
get resupplied (most all my resupplies were right next to the trail).
- Carrying more food, clothing, and safety gear when on snow and dealing
with nasty creek crossings can only help and may make the trip more
comfortable and fun rather than challenging and risky. More fuel does offset
the symptoms of hypothermia, but you have to be aware enough of yourself in
your surroundings to notice its onset and begin eating and getting out of
that particular environment.
- Regarding Snow and Creek Crossings: Slippery snow can be fairly
predictable, you just need to learn how to identify it and take the trained
precautions to get across it without falling. High-flow creek crossings are
unpredictable and the most dangerous to thru hikers during the "normal"
hiking season. They can be avoided or at least minimized by entering the
sierra (where its long drainages may for nasty crossings) either early or
late. Entering during the usual time (leaving Kennedy Meadows around June
1st) forces you to hike during the thaw when daytime temps on up to 6 feet
of snow are hot, nighttime temps are above freezing, the snow is only hard
(supportive enough) to walk on for a few hours in the mornings, you start
postholing after noon (think exhausting and the need for lots of food), the
run-off is getting huge (big creeks), and water is everywhere below snow
level (think lots of mud and wet shoes). Realistically and during the normal
hiking season, thru hikers are pretty close together in the sierra, so
waiting for companionship to deal with a nasty snow slope or creek crossing
isn't really a concern (depending how far apart the groups are) regarding
time and progress loss. Keep in mind, if the sierra gets more than the
average amount of snow during the winter, the thru hiker may have snow
underfoot from KM all the way to Rainier like I did!
Ned Tibbits, Director
Mountain Education
www.mountaineducation.org
-----Original Message-----
From: CHUCK CHELIN
Sent: Wednesday, October 17, 2012 1:23 PM
To: PCT listserve
Subject: Re: [pct-l] When to Ask For Help
Good afternoon, Joan,
On the PCT the average the time between common resupply stops is about 5
days. Without a cell phone I only called home from resupply stops, and I
call when I arrive because I always knew when I would depart. Some hikers
get sucked into the tempting vortex of trail-town activities, and maybe
will extend their stay an extra day or so. Any such extra days are
additive to the anticipated time till the next phone call.
Given a high-probability arrival date the home support person must remember
that estimates can be poor or delays can happen. On some of the more
moderate sections of the PCT, an experienced hiker should be able to
estimate arrival within about a half-day, but on longer, more difficult,
sections – for example through the Sierra – estimates can be unreliable.
Even
an experienced hiker can’t be certain how the highly-variable surface
condition of the snowpack may slow progress; how much a hiker may have to
delay waiting for a troublesome stream flow to drop; or how many downed
trees must be climbed around, through, or under.
I almost always “under promised and over performed” to the point that
one-day-early became the norm, and if I arrived on the specified day the
question was, “What held you up?”
Where I live in the Pacific NW I often take 2-10 day hikes between the
various highway passes where I will have arranged for my wife to meet me. I
have to be very conservative in estimating such arrivals because when she
arrives she wants to see me there, not only out of concern for my safety
but also because she doesn’t have much recourse to spending the night
waiting for me. Many times I’ve camped about a half-mile short of the
arrival trailhead and had to sit around for hours the next morning waiting
for her.
A few simple things can be done to obviate a few sources of your concern:
1 Hypothermia – As an ultra-lite hiker I carry a minimum little tarp for
shelter, and I sleep in a more-than-adequate down bag. A more conservative
approach might be to carry a slightly heavier combination of an enclosed
tent and a more dampness-tolerant synthetic insulated bag. Where I live on
the “wet side” of the Cascades cold rain is likely to cause more
hypothermia than traveling over miles of snowpack. For rain I like to use
well ventilating – not Goretex – waterproof rain gear with a layer or two
of synthetic fleece beneath.
http://www.trailjournals.com/entry.cfm?id=265651 Eating is important to
avoiding hypothermia and for sleeping warmly, particularly eating fast-fuel
like candy. When hiking, at the first indication of a shiver I eat a
handful of Peanut M&Ms. Based upon how much I like Peanut M&Ms I’ll have
to admit that the bar is set pretty low defining a shiver.
Stream crossing is a concern for most hikers but there are things that
can be done to ease the concern and provide better results.
http://www.trailjournals.com/entry.cfm?id=265511 One of the best plans for
anyone concerned about crossings is to arrange to cross when other (sane,
sensible) people do. Crossing in a small group is measurably better than
crossing alone and, in the event of a mishap, help will be immediately
available.
Much the same can be said for crossing ice-axe terrain: Just take an
extended snack-break and wait for others to arrive with moral support.
One thing I greatly appreciate for safety and security – much more
important in my view than any electronic trinkets – is a set of trekking
poles. I’m considerably older than your husband and I’ve found that I’m
not quite as quick and agile as I was even a mere 50 years ago. Those 2 or
3 additional points of contact on questionable ground make considerable
difference.
Enjoy the planning and avoid letting your imagination run wild,
Steel-Eye
-Hiking the Pct since before it was the PCT – 1965
http://www.trailjournals.com/steel-eye
http://www.trailjournals.com/SteelEye09/
On Tue, Oct 16, 2012 at 11:31 AM, <bluetrail at aol.com> wrote:
> Thanks, Chuck. Jon is retired Army Special Forces (20 years), so I know
> he's got the skills. He's got the experience. He's backpacked about
> 16,000 miles since I've known him. I have enough experience hiking and
> packing to be relatively unconcerned about things like snakes, bears, etc.
>
> What does concern me?
> 1. hypothermia. Jon is particularly prone to hypothermia. On his '97
> PCT he bailed out of snow, sleet, rain mix and went down the western side
> of the slope. Ended up in an Indian reservation, from which he eventually
> got back to town. IMHO, the fact that he bailed on the western slope is
> probably an indication that he was hypothermic enough to not be thinking
> well.
>
> 2. On that same PCT hike, he fell in a particularly bad stream crossing
> and gashed his leg in such a way that it took months to really heal.
> (But,
> of course, he finished the hike.)
>
> 3. He also had to self arrest with his ice axe. At that time, there were
> other hikers near by. My concern here is if there hadn't been anyone
> nearby and he ended up in a broken heap at the bottom of the slide.
>
> Guess that's about it for my concerns. Which still leave me wondering how
> many days should go by before I call for a rescue??????
>
> thanks,
> Joan
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: CHUCK CHELIN <steeleye at wildblue.net>
> To: PCT listserve <pct-l at backcountry.net>
> Sent: Tue, Oct 16, 2012 9:29 am
> Subject: [pct-l] When to Ask For Help
>
> Good morning, Joan,
>
> There’s no easy answer. I suppose there could be situations where a
> 10-minute response time would be too long, but:
>
> First: There really aren’t many dangers out there during the hiking
> season.http://www.trailjournals.com/entry.cfm?id=167914
>
> Second: It’s rare that there isn’t help within some reasonable time and
> distance.
>
> I once broke a bone in my foot on the PCT in N. California and I had to
> backtrack about 3 miles before taking a side trail another 3 miles to get
> out. In that first 3 miles I encountered 6 other hikers whom I knew, and
> each offered to help in any way they could.
>
> Steel-Eye
>
> -Hiking the Pct since before it was the PCT – 1965
> http://www.trailjournals.com/steel-eye
> http://www.trailjournals.com/SteelEye09/
>
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