[pct-l] Pct-L Digest, Vol 72, Issue 24

Wed Dec 25 12:51:28 CST 2013

A couple years ago someone was hiking the trail in a wedding dress, met him
at Swarthout Canyon cache.  Does anyone know if he finished with the dress
or if he gave up on it?  Don't remember his name.

On Wed, Dec 25, 2013 at 10:00 AM, <pct-l-request at backcountry.net> wrote:

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> Today's Topics:
>
>    1. Billy Goat (Bob)
>    2. Re: Question about Halfdmile App (Rob Flynn)
>    3. Start thru in March. -- Fuller Ridge + SoCal section      sequence
>       (Eric Martinot)
>
>
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Message: 1
> Date: Tue, 24 Dec 2013 15:57:12 -0500
> From: "Bob" <bobandshell97 at verizon.net>
> Subject: [pct-l] Billy Goat
> To: "Pct-L" <pct-l at backcountry.net>
> Message-ID: <009901cf00ea$b8936b50$29ba41f0$@verizon.net>
> Content-Type: text/plain;       charset="US-ASCII"
>
> Fans of Billy Goat will want to send positive thoughts his way.  Yesterday
> he was diagnosed with a 90% blockage in one artery, 60% in another and he
> can't remember the amount in the third artery.  He will be having a triple
> bypass whenever they can make the proper arrangements after the holidays.
> On the phone just now he said it was OK to share this info with his PCT
> friends.  I'm urging him to view this positively. better to find out and
> get
> things fixed, rather than have the worst hit you on an uphill climb.  There
> are undoubtedly miles of good hiking ahead for him.  He is at "Amoeba's"
> (Marilyn Beckley) in Syracuse NY right now.
>
>
>
> I shared a favorite quote from AARP: " Nowhere is it written that your
> glory
> days can't be the ones in front of you and that your best memories can't be
> bested."
>
>
>
> Dr Bob
>
>
>
>
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Message: 2
> Date: Tue, 24 Dec 2013 16:46:17 -0500
> From: Rob Flynn <rob.flynn at live.com>
> Subject: Re: [pct-l] Question about Halfdmile App
> To: <pct-l at backcountry.net>
> Message-ID: <BLU402-EAS9816BFC5322B907853D30A81C00 at phx.gbl>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
>
> Hey Timberline, yup that was me.  What is so memorable about a dude in a
> red
> dress???  :)
>
> I did finish up the PCT, 'twas a good year.  Hope you have some happy
> trails
> yourself.
>
> Inspector Gadget
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: pct-l-bounces at backcountry.net [mailto:pct-l-bounces at backcountry.net]
> On Behalf Of Dan Welch
> Sent: Tuesday, December 24, 2013 7:48 AM
> To: pct-l at backcountry.net
> Subject: Re: [pct-l] Question about Halfdmile App
>
> Inspector Gadget,
>
> Excellent information.  Thank you!  I especially appreciated the links you
> sent for more background info.
>
> BTW - I think I may have met you in 2012 while I was doing a SOBO of the
> JMT.  Were you doing a PCT NOBO that year?  I'm sure you don't remember me,
> but you were very memorable - at least partly because of your hiking
> wardrobe.  I hope you had a successful finish to your trip.
>
> Thanks again!
> Timberline
>
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Message: 3
> Date: Wed, 25 Dec 2013 10:23:20 +0900
> From: Eric Martinot <eric at martinot.info>
> Subject: [pct-l] Start thru in March. -- Fuller Ridge + SoCal section
>         sequence
> To: pct-l at backcountry.net
> Message-ID:
>         <1387934600.3905.63362281.1220CCD5 at webmail.messagingengine.com>
> Content-Type: text/plain
>
> The two problems with Fuller Ridge in snow in my opinion are the local
> wind patterns and sun exposure that seem to create ice easily, plus the
> fact that there are rocky outcrops on the ridge top.  So the trail
> doesn't just go along the ridge top the whole way, but has to drop down
> significantly a few times on the south-west side and then climb back up
> to the ridge top, which makes for steep trail along rocky terrain, not
> just forest.  (The slide exposure on the north-east side of the ridge is
> mostly forest that would likely prevent long slides, and presented much
> less icy conditions, but the exposure on the south-west side was much
> more rocky and icy.)
>
> I hiked Fuller Ridge northbound at the end of October this year, the day
> after a major early-season storm dumped 4-8 inches of snow on Mt. San
> Jacinto. I wasn't expecting ice, just snow, and didn't bring traction
> devices.  The PCT south of Fuller Ridge just had snow, 4-8 inches worth
> (coming up from Idyllwild).  But on Fuller Ridge itself there was lots
> of ice already, just the day after the storm.  It wasn't warm during the
> day, in the 30s, but the wind and sun had already created icy
> conditions.
>
> Just before the northbound PCT attains Fuller Ridge, it drops down the
> west flank of Mt. San Jacinto, then climbs back up to the start of the
> ridge.  Exactly upon attaining the flat top of Fuller Ridge, the very
> first thing that happened was that I slipped and fell on my back on the
> flat icy ground.  Then there were a few places where the trail had
> become an ice chute that required care, and one place with rock walls on
> both sides where I had no choice but to sit down and slide down the ice
> for 20 ft., although with no exposure.  The crux was a 20-ft section of
> ascending trail well below the ridge top that traversed a steep
> rock-dirt slope where the trail had become narrow and eroded, and
> covered with mixed ice and snow, with a severe rocky exposure to the
> south-west.  Very careful cutting of steps and foot plants and glad I
> was going uphill rather than down across it.
>
> The point is that even after just one storm, and just one day of sun and
> wind, the trail was already challenging.  I suppose March-April
> conditions can be very different from October conditions, but still, it
> seems Fuller Ridge is particularly ice-prone, which  combined with
> rugged terrain, not just a ridge-top forest walk, makes it an
> exceptional portion of PCT, albeit a very short one.
>
> If I were to hike the PCT starting in March 2014, and being a person who
> likes to avoid the May desert heat at all costs, I would start with
> Sections E and D from Hwy 58 to Acton in mid-March, which can be done
> easily with public transit (south-bound hike only, a bus can drop you
> off at Hwy 58/PCT by special request, but wouldn't rely on a pick-up
> there, then Metrolink from Acton to get to San Diego), then start at
> Campo.  Then on the way north skip Fuller Ridge via Black Mountain Road
> if there was still late-season snow, as hopefully the only main SoCal
> snow issue faced with an early start, if San Bernardinos are OK, and
> allowing extra time to sit out any late-season storms during April.
> (Then northbound later, you skip from Acton to Hwy 58 via Metrolink to
> Lancaster and bus to Hwy 58/PCT.)  (I say all this because I did hike
> Section E in late March and it was very pleasant, and because I hiked
> Section D in May and wished I had been hiking the northern half past
> Agua Dulce earlier than that.)
>
> I might also consider whether the currently closed San Jacinto segment
> of PCT from Hwy 74 to Idyllwild might be re-opened by later in the 2014
> season, and then initially skip the entire San Jacinto segment from Hwy
> 74 to I-10, and come back for a few days later in the season and do it
> then, if I really wanted to hike the whole San Jacinto trail including
> Fuller Ridge.  (Amtrak California can take you from NorCal to Hemet,
> hitch/taxi/angel from there to Hwy 74/PCT, and then take Amtrak bus from
> Cabazon, 3 miles from PCT at I-10, and go back up to NorCal.)
>
>
> ------------------------------
>
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> End of Pct-L Digest, Vol 72, Issue 24
> *************************************
>