[pct-l] start time

[Eric Lee]

Wally wrote:
>
Hey, Yogi ... what if he did it in 5 sections:
1 - Campo to Warner Springs
2 - Agua Dulce to Kennedy Meadows
3 - Belden to Canada
4 - Warner Springs to Agua Dulce
5 - Kennedy Meadows to Belden
>

Flip-flopping is a valid strategy but travel can be a pain in the butt.
More importantly, flip-flopping on the PCT doesn't solve as many problems as
you might think, especially if you're basing your thinking on experience
from the AT.  The problem is that the entire trail from Kennedy Meadows
north to Canada is under snow until at least mid-June, and more like
mid-July for Oregon and Washington.  I didn't do the precise math but the
first two sections would be roughly 400 miles (right?), which would put him
in Belden somewhere around April 1st and it would be literally nothing but
snow from there to Canada.

In other words, if he starts March 1st then he's got about 3.5 months to
burn on at most 700 miles that are relatively snow-free, and that's just a
really slow pace and doesn't help him finish by mid-August.

Eric