[pct-l] 2014 Snow, Water and Start Date

[Jennifer Zimmerman]

Wow!  I knew snow was low this year but didn't realize HOW low.

Barry is right on.  We started a week before KO this year and, like
everyone, worried a lot about water in the desert.  We would have started
earlier but coming all the way from the midwest and full-time jobs this
wasn't an option. I'm glad we started before KO because our water sources
were low almost the entire way to the Sierras and it was already hot as
heck.  Luckily, the only really scummy source was down off the desert
divide coming into Idyllwild; tough to know how this will affect hikers
this year with the fire closure. Tylerhorse Creek (sp?), after the aqueduct
walk in the Mojave, was very low and looked to my inexperienced eyes like
it might dry up pretty soon. The other really hard dry stretch that sticks
in my mind was the last 30-40 miles before Walker Pass.

We were also in the group that got shut out by the snow this year. Threw in
the towel at Rainy Pass because it didn't feel safe with the snow and the
washouts north of Hart's Pass.  Forget two weeks - we would have made it
with another 3 days of clear weather!  We moved much slower than most
folks, but I'd gone as hard and fast as I personally could the entire way
and it was pretty disappointing to miss the border by the skin of our
teeth.  I've been telling myself that it's a small price to pay for three
weeks of no snow in the Sierra.

On Tue, Jan 14, 2014 at 7:35 AM, James Vesely
<jvesely at sstinternational.com>wrote:

> Here is another graph with last year's snowpack showing.
>
>
> http://cdec.water.ca.gov/cgi-progs/snow/PLOT_SWC
>
>
>
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