[pct-l] Hiker division out of Kennedy Meadows

[Eric Lee]

Chipmunk wrote:
>
Are a meaningful number bouncing north?
Of those bouncing north, where is the predominant point of reentry, and in
what direction?
Of those not bouncing north, is there a meaningful number entering the
Sierra?
>

I'm not at Kennedy Meadows (I will be in a couple of weeks!), but in an
average snow year there's very little point to bouncing north from KM
because of snow.  Whatever the trail conditions are in the southern Sierra
is pretty much what the trail conditions will be at all points north of
there.  Sure, you might find a day's worth or two of dry trail around Old
Station but that's hardly worth flipping for.  The reason for this is that
while the southern Sierra is very high in elevation and the more northern
parts of the trail tend to be lower, the northern parts are also more, well,
north, and tend to have many more trees.  Both of those factors ensure that
pretty much the entire trail north of KM melts out at roughly the same time,
broadly speaking.

About this year specifically, I've been seeing a lot of messages on Facebook
from people who have bounced north from KM and have found difficult trail
conditions pretty much everywhere.  As of right now there doesn't seem to be
any significant section of trail (more than a couple days' worth) open north
of KM.  If you're going to struggle through snow, you might as well just do
it straight out of KM.  Or relax and wait a week.

Eric