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[pct-l] Re: pct-l-digest V1 #1113



So, I've been off line for awhile, but I return to the familiar spring sights and sounds of the PCT-list in Spring: the endless alcohol burner discussion, PCT vs.
AT, homemade packs, jump-off dates, etc.

    So, up here near Donner Pass, we had a spectacular little storm system that dumped a bunch more snow at high altitudes. Although Boreal Ski area (directly on
the PCT) closed yesterday, there's a very solid base. What does this mean? Well, Boreal is at 7200 feet, and the PCT meanders at 10,000 feet plus for much of it's
Sierra length. If anyone is planning on marching into the Sierra in the next month...well, I definately wouldn't come hike with you.
    I've said it before: May 1 is too early to start hiking the PCT. The PCT is NOT the AT and snow is a huge issue. You can hope and hope that the sun will blaze
and melt that high altitude snowpack, but I promise a great deal of it will be there in June.

And with that, I wish all thru-hikers a fantastic hike. I will be working near Donner Pass until June, when I move to a job at the White Mountain Research Station,
near Bishop. If any through-hiker would like to set up a ride or something, email me at manjovin@hotmail.com. The high sierra section near bishop can be a bitch to
resupply, so I could go out of my way to help.

Will's top ten predictions for this year's through-hikers:

10. The kick-off party will be a ton of fun, with high hopes and a complete lack of animosity that sometimes plagues this site.

9. A thru-hiker, pissed off about hiking through a bunch of backyards and pastures at the start of the trail, will leave the trail.

8 1/2. A thru-hiker will lose their food/gear to an illegal immigrant.

8. A significant percentage of hikers will get very, very cold and wet in a surprise storm in the San Jacintos/Lagunas/San Berndinos (fill in the blank.) A hiker
will exclaim, "I thought this was the desert!? The guidebook told us to prepare for the heat and drought!"

7. A homemade pack will fall apart before Big Bear City. A hiker in running shoes will switch to boots and gaiters. A hiker in boots and gaiters will switch to
running shoes.

6. "Concerned Citizen" Jack Fair will freak-out several hikers (all women.) Off-road motorcyclists will freak out several more.

5. A few days out of Kennedy Meadows, three hikers will comment, "There doesn't seem to be much snow up here at all." These hikers will posthole for the next 200
miles.

4. Someone will quit the trail in central Cali from sheer mosquito terror.

3. Someone will quit the trail in Northern Cali/Southern Oregon from sheer boredom.

2. The Goat Rocks/Trinity Alps/Mt. Adams/Northern Cascades/etc. section will cause four hikers to remark, "Wow, I thought the high Sierra were supposed to be by far
the hardest part of the trail."

1. Every thru-hiker will have a wonderful, life-changing, cathartic, injury free and sunny trip on the PCT.


will


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