[pct-l] Ice Axe Loops and early Sierra Trips

[pct-l@mailman.backcountry.net (pct-l@mailman.backcountry.net)]

 I love this Topic!! As far as ice axe straps go, I agree with Greg. I would 
rather chance getting stabbed on my axe rather risk losing it. If you climb 
Rainier and drop your axe in a crevasse, you may wish you were dead anyway. 
No one wants to have you on their rope team after you dropped your only means 
of arresting yours and their fall! Also , instead of a wrist loop, I use a 
short cord( 5mm or 6mm) which I attach to my chest harness that's made of 
nylon webbing. This allows me to change hands when doing switchbacks without 
removing a wrist loop. ( About 2 and a half ft. long)  June 2 hitting the 
Sierra?? Yes go for it Gail! Of course alot depends on how you like walking 
and camping in the snow. Most of the old timers of this list figured mid-may 
was the time to hit the high stuff anyway. It was only after Ray Jardine's 
book came out that early april starts died out and Late June Sierra section 
hikes became popular for the PCT thru-hikers. If you leave KM at the first of 
June and you find it is not to your liking up high in the snow, you can 
always bail out and get stouter gear or just relax for a week or so off 
trail, catch your breath , regroup and hit the Sierras a little later when 
there is less snow and more people. I still enjoy the early season with a 
heavier boot, instep crampons and hiking early in the morning on frozen snow. 
I too used a long ice axe( Like Joann was talking of) with a snow basket 
attached. Of course, you can't make the big miles of the later tennis shoe 
crowd, but you have the place to your self and the beauty of the snow beats 
the brown lunar landscape of the later season. Go for the June 2nd. Ya!! ( 
Remember, wood ice axes look bestand that is all the matters!! ) Forget all 
this negative or positive head stuff, as long as it's wood, that the main 
thing. ( TIC)