[pct-l] timing for so cal sections

[chwillet at indiana.edu (Christopher Willett)]

I started hiking this year on May 9, and was in Kennedy Meadows on 
June 9.  Except for a few days, the weather wasn't too bad.  Usually in
the upper 90s and there was plenty of water.  I wouldn't worry about
hiking without water caches.  You don't really need them, although they 
are nice to have for a safety margin.  Sections A and E are nice; the
aquaduct walk in section E is one of my favorite parts of the entire 
trail.  Both sections took me 5 days of moderate hiking.

>From the Pines-to-Palms highway to San Gorgonio pass is one of the 
best parts of the entire trail.  The San Jacinto mountains are really 
spectacular.  There was a heat wave on when I was going through 
Idyllwild, so this was a tough spot.  Plus, I think the trail 
between the highway and Idyllwild is the most difficult of the 
entire trail.  Certainly the steepest.  This is the stretch that 
I would do given your time restrictions.  Of course, Mojave into 
Kennedy Meadows is a real winner, also.

Chris

On Sun, 5 Oct 2003, judson wrote:

> Hello, all-
> 
> Since I am a teacher and have no intention of giving that up anytime soon,
> I'll never be able to do a thru hike in 1 year. (before you point it out,
> no, I am neither willing nor able to do it in record setting time!) As such,
> I am stuck with 2 choices for the so cal sections: 
> 
> *	Hiking sections A and E- the lowest, hottest ones- during my Spring
> Break at the end of March (not during the same year), and...
> 
> *	Hiking B, C, and D right after school gets out in early June (again,
> only one per year)
> 
> I would like to solicit opinions about the feasibility of these choices.
> Well, actually, let me rephrase that. Since I have no choice, this is what
> I'm going to do. I guess I just need some feedback on what I can expect-
> e.g., is March too early for water caches in A and E? Will the low parts of
> B, C, and D have any water in early June? etc.
> 
> I eagerly await your deluge of sage advice.
> 
> Judson 
> Ashland
> 


----------------------
Christopher Willett
Department of Mathematics
Indiana University
831 East Third Street
Bloomington, IN. 47405-7106
(812)-855-1883
chwillet@indiana.edu
mypage.iu.edu/~chwillet