[pct-l] 8/9-week section hike

[stonedancer1 at aol.com]

About transportation to and within Yosemite:  Amtrak trains will get you to Merced.  Then YARTS bus will get you to Yosemite Valley, cheap and very pleasant ride.  During the summer, YARTS also runs up to Tuolumne Meadows. Check out the Yosemite Area Regional Transit website.  It's probably frowned on to hitchhike in Yosemite, but you might be able to talk someone into a ride, if YARTS isn't running.
The reverse route works too.  YARTS also connects east to Lee Vining in the summer, where you can take another regional bus up or down Hwy 395 to Mammoth/Bishop/Reno.  


Stone Dancer

Publisher of AThru-Hiker's Heart, by No Way Ray Echols

" If  you're not living on the EDGE, you're taking up way too much space."



-----Original Message-----
From: Glen Winters <glenbwint at yahoo.com>
To: pct-l <pct-l at backcountry.net>
Sent: Tue, Jan 21, 2014 11:34 pm
Subject: [pct-l]  8/9-week section hike


Jean-Louis

No support is fine and shouldn't slow you down much if any. In fact you probably 
won't need to ship food and or supply's too more then 1 to 3 locations, like 
Kennedy Meadows and maybe VVR or Muir Trail Ranch. I have done the entire trail 
your contemplating resupplying out of towns with one mail drop to Kennedy 
Meadows, and a side trip into VVR where I bought dinner, breakfast, and a few 
odds and ends to get to Mammoth Lakes. There were 2 or 3 pieces of the trail 
that required 6 to 8 days of food carried but I'm not that fast. Don't forget to 
arrange for purchase/borrow/rent a bear canister in the Sierras.


940 miles in 8 - 9 weeks I probably can't do that, many others can. You'll have 
to decide for yourself, but why decide you have too make x miles why not choose 
700 to 940 miles depending on weather, snow pack in the sierras, and how well 
you acclimatize to desert and mountains combined? I'm pretty sure there are 
buses from Tuolumne Meadows or a hitch is usually pretty easy there. You could 
also exit at any point from Mojave, to Mammoth Lakes and take Marta Bus service 
to Mojave. I would recommend going South to Mojave, if you exit before Tuolumne 
Meadows, then either Greyhound or in combination with Amtrak trains, or flights 
out of Los Angeles, Ontario, or Burbank would take you to San Francisco. Give 
yourself 2 too 4 extra days to travel. 

I think getting to San Francisco from Toulumne meadows would be very reasonable, 
I have traveled by Greyhound/Amtrak in the area numerous times but not from 
Toulumne Meadows, I'm sure someone else on the list can give you more exact 
travel information.

I love the desert, so I would recommend starting at the border although at that 
time of year it may be real hot and dry. There will probably be a few late 
starters and they usually do fine. Carry lots of water. Try to maintain fairly 
decent mileage, not sure I would want to be in crossing the Mojave in early late 
June or early July if you aren't able to keep up a 940 mile 2 month pace, its 
hot enough in late May, early June. But if you don't care about hitting the 
border, as an alternative you might consider jumping ahead if/as needed to reach 
Toulumne Meadows on your schedule. I would probably consider skipping Mojave 
area (lots of road walking) and/or from Tehachapi to Walker pass although the 
last day or two of each of those sections are quite nice even if you don't like 
deserts. Also their is no public transportation between these points.


Hope this helps,
Argentina
_______________________________________________
Pct-L mailing list
Pct-L at backcountry.net
To unsubscribe, or change options visit:
http://mailman.backcountry.net/mailman/listinfo/pct-l

List Archives:
http://mailman.backcountry.net/pipermail/pct-l/
All content is copyrighted by the respective authors. 
Reproduction is prohibited without express permission.