[pct-l] advice on california section hike

[Jay Bruins]

Temperature-wise, it’s more a less of a wash. Toward the south:
http://www.usclimatedata.com/climate/mojave/california/united-states/usca0715

Climate Mojave - California°C <http://www.usclimatedata.com/climate/mojave/california/united-states/usca0715#> | °F <http://www.usclimatedata.com/climate/mojave/california/united-states/usca0715#>
 	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun
Average high in °F:	57	60	66	71	80	89
Average low in °F:	33	37	41	46	56	64
Av. precipitation in inch:	1.18	1.54	0.98	0.24	0.12	0.04
Days with precipitation:	-	-	-	-	-	-
Hours of sunshine:	-	-	-	-	-	-
 	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Average high in °F:	96	96	88	78	65	56
Average low in °F:	70	67	61	50	40	33
Av. precipitation in inch:	0.31	0.28	0.16	0.35	0.59	0.91
Days with precipitation:	-	-	-	-	-	-
Hours of sunshine:	-	-	-	-	-	-



In the north:
http://www.usclimatedata.com/climate/shasta/california/united-states/usca1045
Climate Shasta - California°C <http://www.usclimatedata.com/climate/shasta/california/united-states/usca1045#> | °F <http://www.usclimatedata.com/climate/shasta/california/united-states/usca1045#>
 	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun
Average high in °F:	53	57	62	69	78	87
Average low in °F:	40	41	44	47	55	62
Av. precipitation in inch:	10.83	11.34	9.49	4.76	3.23	1.38
Days with precipitation:	-	-	-	-	-	-
Hours of sunshine:	-	-	-	-	-	-
 	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Average high in °F:	95	94	88	76	60	53
Average low in °F:	68	67	62	54	45	40
Av. precipitation in inch:	0.2	0.24	0.98	3.66	7.64	12.05
Days with precipitation:	-	-	-	-	-	-
Hours of sunshine:	-	-	-	-	-	-


As the extremes geographically, Campo and Ashland are slightly less representative of where you’ll be spending your time. Campo is slightly cooler in June than September. Perhaps more importantly, very little rain will fall in the desert during that timespan so water will be more available early summer than late summer. A good reason to go north.

You’ll hit the Sierra at similar enough times in either direction so I’d guess snow would be a wash, too. (I’m not sure what the Trinity Alps are like in June, however.)

FWIW, in 2015, I met a few people that tried to start in campo mid-to-late May and skipped ahead due to the heat. Most with continuous footpaths started earlier. That’s a sample size of one and is clearly biased by my own schedule.

If you go SOBO, you’ll cross paths with most NOBOs. If you NOBO, you’ll be traveling well outside the herd. Perhaps the importance of the “wilderness” vs “social” experience should be your deciding factor?

Cheers,
Armstrong

> On Feb 11, 2016, at 11:54 PM, Anna Baddorf <annabaddorf at gmail.com> wrote:
> 
> Hello everyone,
> 
> my boyfriend and I are coming from Europe this summer to do the California portion of the PCT (Campo to Ashland area). Our planned start date is around the 25th of June, and we want to be finished around the beginning of September.  We are still undecided about whether we do NOBO or SOBO. We are considering which option would be best for crossing the Sierra’s in the least snowy conditions as possible, and the best for avoiding the hottest part of the year in the SoCal deserts. I fear, we will not be able to avoid the heat of the desert considering our window of time, but I would like to get some advice from experienced PCT hikers on which (NOBO or SOBO) they would choose and why.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Thanks in advance for your input!
> 
> 
> 
> Anna
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