[pct-l] Sierra Snow Report & The Crazy Ones

[Reinhold Metzger]

High gang,....trouble is back in town!!!
The girls are dancing in the street and the guys are gnashing their teeth.
Just got back 4 days ago from another week of skiing in the Sierra.
That is 5 weeks of solid Skiing in the Sierra so far and the sky season 
is far from over.
There is no shortage of snow at Mammoth Mountain, unlike 2015.
Mammoth has received 257 inches of snow so far this season and the snow 
depth
is 125 inches at 9,600 feet & 165 inches at 11,000 feet.
So, unless there is a reversal, which is always possible, it looks like 
2016 will not be
a low snow year....so prepare for snow and "LISTEN to NED".
Ned knows what he is talking about how to prepare and navigate in snow 
and could
make your trip a lot more pleasant and, perhaps, save you from harm.

I was hoping to run into Switchback riding his "Washboard" ( I run 
Rosignol B-2
which are known as downhill bombers), but Switchback is not really into the
extreme stuff, he is more of a comfort loving critter.
Perhaps I run into him when it gets warmer and closer to his comfort level.
He is also very fashion oriented...you can't miss him when he comes 
strutting down
the trail in his designer wardrobe, fuzzy pink camp slippers, & hand 
free umbrella.

If  "UL"  is high on your list of priorities and you are going to skimp, 
skimp on your
  food, not your gear, because the Sierra weather  can be very cold and 
unpredictable
and change just like that...besides, you can go without food for days, 
even weeks, but
could be a casualty in a day without adequate gear.
For example on one Sierra sky trip the weather changed dramatically 
overnight...
here it was 8 AM at 10,000 feet on Mammoth Mountain, a white out, snow, 
fog, you
can't see where you are gong, hurricane force winds, it is -2 degrees, 
factoring in
the wind chill factor, it must be way below 34 degrees freezing...MAN, 
IT IS COLD.
What am I doing here???...WHAT IS WRONG WITH ME???

Some folks say there are plenty things wrong with me....probably to many 
Bazooka
Rounds in Vietnam.
They say 75 year old guys like me should not be running around in the 
wilderness
in that kind of weather...they say I should be sitting by a fire place 
slurping hot milk
and munching cookies.
They may have a point....but I am a different breed of cat....I like 
adventure and
pushing myself to the extreme.
Some folks say I am crazy...although, in the Sierra, with Banner, Ritter 
and the
Minarets starring at me and my baby the JMT at my feet, it is hard not 
to go crazy.

I like the way Brian Robinson puts it.
Brian Robinson, as many of you know, is the first hiker to hike all 3 of 
America's
long distance trails, the Appalachian, Continental Divide & Pacific 
Crest, in 1 year.
When I was getting hammered by the "PURISTS" on this list over my JMT record
attempts 12 years ago, that I was not hiking up to their standards, that 
I could not
possibly enjoy the wilderness speeding down the JMT at 40 miles per 
day,  Brian
told me.. .."Reinhold, some folks don't understand us, they just don't 
understand
the crazy things we do,...but WE CRAZY ONES, WE UNDERSTAND EACH OTHER."

Some folks don't understand "TRU-HIKERS" they don't understand why somebody
would want to spend 4-5-6 month hiking 2,650 miles in the wilderness, 
sleep in a
tent, drink river water, eat freeze dried food, battling snow, rain, 
mosquitos, etc.,
etc., etc.
They think it is  "CRAZY".

Seems to me I am not the only  "CRAZY"  one on this list.
Most members, including Brick, seem to fall within their "CRAZY" definition.
But, like Brian said,...."WE CRAZY ONES,....WE UNDERSTAND EACH OTHER".

JMT Reinhold
Your "CRAZY" sky bumming trail companion


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