[pct-l] S Calif in December

[brick at fastpack.com (Brick Robbins)]

At 11:45 AM 11/22/03, Sam Demas wrote:
>Hi!
>We are planning a 5 day, first time walk on PCT in S. Calif. in December. 
>What sections are likely to be snow free and scenic at that time of year?

You can probably get from Campo to the Pines to Palms Hwy (north of Anza, 
south of Idllywild) without walking on snow in December, however you may 
get snowed on. The weather, especially in the Mt Laguna area can be really 
cold and nasty if a storm is moving through. In that case I would be more 
worried about freezing rain or sleet, as that penetrates much worse than 
snow. The big problem is the wind: 50mph is not uncommon along the crest in 
a storm.

Occasionally it snows enough to stick, but probably not till Jan or Feb. In 
that case, the snow rarely lasts more than a week,If it does and you can't 
find the trail, the Sunrise Highway parallels the trail very closely along 
the area that would be snow covered. You could road walk.

You could also probably get from Agua Dulce to Cottonwood creek (Map e12) 
without snow also, but I think water would be more of a problem along this 
section in December.

I hope this helps.