[pct-l] Avg mile/day N Cascades

[sf <sfox@eskimo.com>]

I did that exact trip last September. No ice axe was needed except
DEFINITELY on Fire Creek Pass.  I do lots of hiking and was ready to hit
the trail "running" (to use a figure of speech only) and had no problem
doing 20-25 mi/day. There are lots of ups and downs but the grade is so
gentle (10%) it didn't seem too bad. I felt sorry for all the thruhikers
going through at the same time. They were burnt out on hiking and didn't
seem to enjoy what has to be one of the highlights of the whole trail.

The best section is Stevens to Stehekin IMO. Snoqualmie to Stevens a close
2nd. Stehekin to Manning a distant 3rd. Early August will probably be
similar to Early Septemeber of last year, judging on the snow level that
I've noticed the past two seasons. So bring an axe on that middle section.
Watch http://www.wta.org for trail conditions. 

Stats: 4 days Snoqualmie to Stevens. Picked up food drop at Skykomish PO.
5 days Stevens to Stehekin, where I picked up another food drop. 6 might
be better, this is a spectacular section of trail! I kinda raced the last
section ins 2.5 days from Stehekin to Manning. Probably 4 would be a bit
more reasonable.


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