[pct-l] First Post

[Ned Tibbits]

Everybody is right on!

Although March 7 is a week ahead of my start date of March 14, 1974, I don't 
believe Gordon will have much trouble...as long as he doesn't hit or have to 
deal with powder snow.

Even ice or crusty snow is not as bad! Yes, there are a few places in SoCal 
where he might have to walk on some snow (depending on the heaviness of the 
winter), but some of those can be circumvented, too.

There are many benefits to leaving "early," only some does Gordon know about 
or desire like having more time on trail to go slower while still arriving 
at Manning before first snow.

There is much advice I could give regarding early Sierra entry, but the main 
thing is not to enter before April 1st or while big snow storms are still 
hitting the mountains (stay away from powder snow) and to clear the Sierra 
(get to Sonora Pass) by the end of May to avoid the dangerous creek 
crossings caused by the thaw.

Gordon needs to learn his snow skills before he gets on anything steep and, 
yes, that can be as soon as Fuller Ridge!



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: Scott Williams
Sent: Wednesday, February 03, 2016 7:53 AM
To: Pete Sandel
Cc: <Pct-l at backcountry.net>
Subject: Re: [pct-l] First Post

As Pete notes above, in a high snow year the serious snow may begin as
early as the desert in the San Jacintos and continue through all the higher
southern mountains, long before coming to the High Sierra.  If you start
early in this El Nino year, which so far has the Sierra snow pack above
average (the skiing has been wonderful for the first time in 4 years) plan
to be flexible.  Either wait it out and let it melt out, or be OK with
jumping forward around some of the mountains and coming back to hike them
later.  March 7th is a very early start, even in a low snow year so plan
for real cold in the deserts.  The coldest sections we had in 2010 were in
the deserts and I was snowed on 3 times in the deserts.  The High Sierra
was over 4 weeks of living on snow most of the time.  It was the best part
of any hiking adventure any of us had ever had, but also the hardest hiking
we'd ever done.

On the CDT in 2012, we started very early for that hike, April 11th, and
killed time by hiking slowly across NM, getting off to come to the PCT Kick
Off, and generally waited for the snow in the San Juans to melt out.  We
hit it just right and by starting early were ahead of the monsoons.
However, several people 1 to 2 weeks ahead of us had to bail out and
backtrack due to heavy storms still pounding those mountains.  So if you
start early, plan to be flexible.  But realize, that March 7th is really,
really early if it's a normal to high snow year.

Shroomer

On Wed, Feb 3, 2016 at 5:06 AM, Pete Sandel <spete672 at aol.com> wrote:

> My fiancé and I are leaving March 7 with similar plans to to go slow and
> easy . We are doing a 5 day enroute snow course starting past Kennedy
> Meadows with Ned Tibbits. You can get info on his site at mountain
> education. I think it looks as though we will get so now and ice as well
> through SoCal so just winging it with crampons and whippet if needed. Lots
> of good info on Facebook ...The Pacific Crest Trail Class of 2016 and the
> PCT Class of 2016,!regarding your question . PCTA permits are,open now
> as,well,so you might want to get that done.
>
>
> Pete Sandel
> YNF Consulting , LLC
> Cell- 432.413.9384
>
> > On Feb 1, 2016, at 10:32 AM, Gordon <gwmori at hotmail.com> wrote:
> >
> > Additional comment below
> >
> > Sent from my iPhone
> >
> >> On Jan 31, 2016, at 6:59 PM, Gordon Mori <gwmori at hotmail.com> wrote:
> >>
> >> I have been reading the PCT books which I understand were written
> several years ago.  They seem to suggest the popular starting time for a
> hike-thru S to N to be in late April or early May.  Although we have had
> quite a bit of precipitation this winter,  with the draught over the past
> few years I wondered if it possible to start earlier say in March?  I am 
> 57
> years old and was hoping to take a more leisurely 5-6 months for the trek
> and wanted to avoid going into the fall.  Is this a bad idea to try to
> start earlier? It seems the problem is the snow in the Sierras. Can one
> backpack in the snow with the proper gear and training?
> >>
> >> Regards
> >>
> > _______________________________________________
> > 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.
> _______________________________________________
> 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.
>
_______________________________________________
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.