[pct-l] TR: Wave of PCT hikers hits Evolution area

[csiechert@hotmail.com (Carl Siechert)]

We just returned from an 8-day loop out of Courtright Reservoir that =
included a couple of days heading southbound on the PCT (from the =
Florence Lake/Blayney Meadows/Muir Trail Ranch trail to Wanda Lake, just =
north of Muir Pass). Here's a brief report on our trip.

=3D=3D=3DPCT trail conditions

There's still quite a bit of snow on both sides of Muir Pass, down to =
about 11,000'. It's soft, a mess to walk in (lots of postholing after =
midmorning), and melting fast. (I'm guessing that most will be gone by =
the end of this week.) The hikers we encountered reported that Muir was =
the worst pass in this regard; snow is already gone from most others. =
Starman reported that glissading down the north side of Forester was =
"fun." Much of the trail down to about 10,000' is a muddy stream.

The lower crossing of Evolution Creek is pretty easy--if you don't cross =
right at the trail. If you go about 15 feet upstream from the trail =
crossing, you won't even get your knees wet. It's not particularly fast =
or cold; basically it's now a nonevent. Whiteroot reported that the only =
other stream he's had to ford up to that point is Wallace Creek (south =
of Forester Pass).

The mosquitos at 8000'-10000' are out in force, but they're not =
terrible. I'd characterize them as annoying, but not intolerable. To =
those hikers who're whining about the terrible mosquitos, I have only =
two words: southern Oregon. (On our 1977 thruhike, the only time we ever =
considered quitting was when the mossies there became unbearable, =
causing us to literally run down the trail, flailing our arms to try to =
brush 'em off before they'd bite.)


=3D=3D=3DPCT hiker update

We saw over 30 northbound hikers, which was lots of fun for us. We =
regaled any who would listen with stories of our 1977 trek, back when =
men were men, the whippersnappers hiking the trail now were in diapers, =
and the trail was hardly a trail.=20

We can report that the following hikers are alive and well. Let me =
rephrase that: they are alive and well, hungry. The stretch to VVR is =
among the longest between food drops, and more than one mentioned that =
they were running low on supplies and were anxious to get to VVR for =
burgers, pies, etc. etc. (Did we feed them? Of course not! Like bears, =
once thruhikers become habituated to real food from backpackers, the =
problem becomes increasingly worse. They raid other backpackers' food =
caches and sometimes even make bluff charges. Eventually, the problem =
thruhikers must be relocated or even destroyed.)

This is who we saw:

Wolfhound (Wednesday, 6/13, near Piute Creek)

Starman (hiking with Wolfhound, dreaming of VVR burgers)

Moving Target/Dave (6/13, near lower Evolution Creek crossing. His =
military-issue GoreTex socks should have helped him here!)

Singing Steve (6/13, Evolution Meadow. He blames Monte Dodge for the =
predicament he's in. Actually, he said that Monte, his neighbor, =
inspired him to tackle the PCT.)

Michael (from North Carolina, hiking with Singing Steve)

Pam and Eric (6/13, 8pm, Evolution Meadow. They whizzed by us so fast =
I'm not sure I even got their names right. They asked us to tell Chuck =
and ? Kudja "thanks." And to the Kudjas, my apologies if I got your =
names wrong; Pam and Eric reeled 'em off and left before I could =
confirm.)

Michael Anderson (6/13, 9:30pm, Evolution Meadow. Hiking with no moon =
and no flashlight, he said they sometimes hike until 11:00. Hey guys, =
you're missing some _great_ scenery!)

Atom Bomb (hiking with Michael Anderson)

Nathan (Thursday, 6/14, McClure Meadow)

Copper Top (6/14, Colby Meadow)

Scalpel/Aaron (hiking with Copper Top and Scalpel's dad, who's hiking =
from Kennedy Meadows to Tuolumne)

Valkyries/Emily, Pamela, and Genevieve (6/14, Colby Meadow. Genevieve =
wasn't feeling well, but the Valkyries march on!)

White Root (6/14, Colby Meadow)

GI Jane/Mindy (6/14, Colby Meadow. Her hair is now about an inch long! =
She reminded me--repeatedly--that she was born a year after our PCT =
trek. Enough already!)

Caitlin (6/14, Colby Meadow)

Gilligan/Brian (6/14, Colby Meadow. It's easy to see how he got his =
trail name, but our conversation was cut short by a swarm of mosquitos.)

Marty (6/14, Evolution Lake)

Scott (hiking with Marty and Steve)

Steve (hiking with Marty and Scott)

Sierra Mango (6/14, Evolution Lake)

Brawny/Carol (6/14, Sapphire Lake. Decked out all in black, including =
her award-winning silnylon pants. And she had her award--a Photon =
Microlight--hanging prominently from the back of her pack.)

Ben (hiking with Brawny)

Moonhoney/Brent and Amy (6/14, 7:25pm, Wanda Lake. Hiking the PCT on =
their honeymoon! How cool is that?!)

Miracle Mike (hiking with Moonhoney, Kam, and Citrus)

Kam (hiking with Moonhoney, Miracle Mike, and Citrus)

Citrus (hiking with Moonhoney, Miracle Mike, and Kam. True to his name, =
he was wearing an orange jacket.)

Patch (6/15, Wanda Lake. Who needs expensive trekking poles when some =
paint roller handles will do the job?)

Eric (from Tennessee, hiking with Patch. They started on the same day, =
but hadn't seen each other in the 40-some intervening days.)


I have pictures of quite a few of these characters, which I'll try to =
post somewhere on the Web sometime soon. (First I have to catch up on =
work!) If you're interested in a particular picture before I get around =
to posting it, drop me a line.

Cheers,
Carl Siechert
1977 Kelty Kid

(on behalf of Norm Switzer and Bill Berg, the other Kelty Kids)





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