[pct-l] Rainy Pass confusion....open or closed

[Andrea Dinsmore]

​What I'm hearing from the weather guy is that the NW is supposed to have a
continued El Nino thing going on into next year. I hope he is wrong. That
will be a repeat of low snow and higher temps for the mts and drier for the
whole state. We would have the possibility of another high fire year in
2016. It is good for the SOBOS who get through the state early. Deal with a
little snow when you start instead of the fire and route closures later in
the summer and fall. Nothing is simple when hiking the PCT no matter which
direction you go.

Andrea Dinsmore
PCT MOM

On Fri, Aug 21, 2015 at 3:12 PM, Ned Tibbits <ned at mountaineducation.org>
wrote:

> If current year NoBo thrus decide to wait for a few weeks after the fires
> are out (IF the trail is "opened" back up), be aware that early-season snow
> storms typically start arriving anytime after mid-September.
>
> As I'm sure Andrea will add, some of the PCT Class of 2013 got caught in
> deep powder snow near the end of September and had to quit, wallow on, or
> be rescued by SAR.
>
>
>
> Ned Tibbits, Director
> Mountain Education, Inc.
> www.mountaineducation.org
> ned at mountaineducation.org
>
>
> Mission:
> "To minimize wilderness accidents, injury, and illness in order to
> maximize wilderness enjoyment, safety, and personal growth, all through
> experiential education and risk awareness training."
> -----Original Message----- From: Andrea Dinsmore
> Sent: Friday, August 21, 2015 2:20 PM
> To: PCT-L
> Subject: [pct-l] Rainy Pass confusion....open or closed
>
> ​Chris Caviezel <https://www.facebook.com/caviezel?fref=ufi> , Andrea
>
> Dinsmore, PCT MOM, you should be commended for your continued diligence for
> attempting to provide the most current and up to date. While time will tell
> what may be the best course on action for a particular individual to take,
> I would like to offer the following comments. 1. The US Forest Service,
> initially was going to throw a ton of resources in an effort to get the
> trail open north of the Suiattle. At that exact time, the trail north by
> Rainy Pass and Hart's Pass was closed AND additional fires started to flare
> up all around. Resources have been tapped with the US Army called to help
> and Firefighters coming from New Zealand and Australia. For the first time
> ever, Washington DNR is actually allowing volunteers, under specific
> guidelines, to take part in this massive problem that has occurred. For the
> sake of argument, let's say that the PCT is "open" for someone to complete
> a through hike, be warned that you will be hiking through a lot of burnt
> out area. Camping at night will likely be in ash and not fun. I don't think
> that it will be possible simply to hike through the entire burned out area
> and camp outside of the burned out area. Let's say you decide to try and
> wait it outa week, two, three or whatever. Before you know, precipitation
> will be upon us in massive amounts. By October 1st, for sure, and perhaps
> even sooner, I would not be surprised if some areas of the trail
> experienced an over night dump of 2-3 feet of snow. Its happened before.
> July 4th, 1972, there was 12 inches of fresh snow at Snoqualmie Pass (which
> did melt out within the next day I understand). In any event, many people
> as I understand it are taking the smart decision and ending their hike at
> Stevens or wherever. I hope you are able to make it back next year or
> whenever to "finish" the hike. I write this as a felloow hiker, volunteer
> firefighter and Snoqualmie Pass Resident who occasionally has done some
> trail angeling. Regardless of what you decide on your trip. Be Safe!
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