[pct-l] Oregon in April?

[Rob Langsdorf]

Robin,

    I have experienced years when there was still too much snow north of Crater Lake on July 4th. So April is probably way too early.

                 Mataguay Connector


________________________________
 From: "robin.curtis at alumni.ubc.ca" <robin.curtis at alumni.ubc.ca>
To: "pct-l at backcountry.net" <pct-l at backcountry.net> 
Sent: Wednesday, May 28, 2014 6:20 AM
Subject: [pct-l] Oregon in April?
 

Hi Folks,

I thru-hiked the Appalachian Trail last year, and am in the process of planning a thru-hike of the PCT for next year. For the AT, I took about 130 days, including 20 rest days, for an average of 16 mi/day total, or 20 miles per hiking day. I'm hoping to average a little faster on the PCT, at perhaps an average of 20 mi/day total, or 25 miles per hiking day, which will again mean taking about 130 days total.

However, my big concern is that I need to finish by mid-August, in order to start a new job or study program in September. Counting backwards, for a proper NOBO thru-hike, that would mean setting off in early-to-mid-April, and hitting the High Sierra in mid-May, which is too early. The trail will still be totally snowbound, and hiking through that will be terrible. I have already hiked the John Muir Trail once, and those passes were challenging enough in July.

To mediate this problem, it occurred to me that I perhaps I could Flip-Flop, hiking Oregon in April, then traveling down to Campo to start with the main rush in early-to-mid-May, and arriving at the High Sierra in mid-June. I could then skip straight to Washington after finishing California, and stand to finish by mid-August without having to rush myself.

My question is whether anyone knows whether Oregon, said to be the easiest section, is itself hike-able in April. Despite its relatively low elevation, it's still a lot further north, and I figured I might have just as much snow trouble there by starting so early. So far, I have not been able to find any online resources addressing this. I'd be very grateful for anyone's tips or advice!

Cheers,
J-Rab
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