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[pct-l] L 9 O



Hilsensvenn,
mange takk

I plan on heading out this spring from Campo and had considered
flip-flopping due to fears of the predicted El Nino snowfalls...but, since
time is not as great a factor to me...and hearing from you about your
experience..I think that I will try the complete  Mexico- to- Canada
thru-hike...

Glad that you spoke up...

thanks again for your story..

Randy of the Redwoods
----- Original Message -----
From: "Svein Eriksen" <svein_eriksen@yahoo.com>
To: "Jim Keener" <jkeener@backpacker.com>; <pct-l@backcountry.net>
Sent: Monday, December 16, 2002 11:40 PM
Subject: Re: [pct-l] L 9 O


> 1998 was called a El Nino year. I thruhiked that year
> and was forced to jump around (called a flip-flop),
> which means hiking first from the Mexican border to
> Kennedy Meadows. Then go north and hike southbound
> back to Kennedy Meadows.
> A lot of people (probably most) either quit or tried a
> flip-flop in 98, but a lot quit in Wa as the snow
> levels there were fairly high.
> Quite a few people made it thru the Sierras and hiked
> the complete PCT nortbound though. Doing a flip-flop
> isn't (for me) how a thruhiked should be done, but I
> had a time constraint that meant I had the choice of
> either doing the whole trail by flip-flopping or doing
> most of the trail northbound. I chose the whole trail.
> As I live in Norway it's also not that easy to go back
> and finish it another year.
> So it's certainly possible to thruhike in a El Nino
> year/high snow level year, but probably (since I
> haven't tried both) more enjoyable when you don't have
> to deal with that much snow. If 2003 is your chance
> then go for it.
> High snow levels also have some advantages making
> southern California easier. There were almost no water
> problems. It actually rained when I entered the first
> major "water alert" area in the Databook (25 miles
> without water), and almost all streams were running.
> A high snow level year in California doesn't
> necessarily mean high snow levels in Wa/Or, so it
> could still be a good southbound year.
>
> Svein
>
>