[pct-l] SOBO on the PCT (was PCT Start Date)

[alyssarr at yahoo.com (Alyssa Rayman-Read)]

I would be interested in hearing from people who have
tried a SOBO hike, or from those who considered and
decided NOT to go SOBO.  What are the pros and cons. 
How much would I be alone if I went SOBO?  

Thanks again,
Alyssa

--- ROYROBIN@aol.com wrote:
> In a message dated 6/18/04 10:33:13 AM Pacific
> Daylight Time, 
> Lars@standardarmament.com writes:
> 
> > I am an AT '03 hiker now in grad school and aching
> to get back out
> > there, this time on the PCT, when I graduate next
> May. I want to start
> > planning so I have something to look forward to
> but wonder if I am
> > uneccesarily getting my hopes up - I won't be able
> to start until late
> > May, something like the 25th. Is this too late?
> What are the challenges
> > to starting this late and how many people do it?
> 
> _____
> 
> In a normal year, you might consider a southbound
> PCT hike starting in late 
> May or early June.  It all depends on the snow pack
> in the northern Cascades, 
> but it's usually possible to get through the Sierras
> as late as October to 
> complete a southbound hike.  
> 
> Whichever way you choose, do the hike.  We have to
> hike while we have the 
> chance, and these opportunities come at times of
> change in our lives... between 
> graduation and the job, between jobs, between
> relationships or, for some of us, 
> after retirement.  So, go for it.
> 
> The larger question seems to be:  Is a SOBO PCT hike
> even an option in the 
> next few years?  The latest PCTA Communicator
> suggests that parts of the detour 
> around Glacier Peak in Washington will be impassable
> until early or even 
> mid-August.  The fords of the Chiwawa and Napeequa
> Rivers are specifically 
> mentioned.  Such a warning by the PCTA is entirely
> appropriate.  We don't want anyone 
> killed or suffering a hike-ending injury through
> lack of information about 
> trail conditions.  
> 
> However, snow levels and runoff vary from year to
> year.  I hope people on 
> this list who can do so will pass along
> up-to-the-minute information about trail 
> conditions, particularly on the Glacier Peak detour.
>  Strategies (if any) for 
> a southbound PCT hike should be a topic for
> discussion at our next ALDHA-W 
> meeting in October.  That's Oct. 1-3, 2004, at Clair
> Tappaan Lodge, near the PCT 
> at Donner Summit, CA.  See: 
> http://www.aldhawest.org/             
> _____
> 
> _______________________________________________
> pct-l mailing list
> pct-l@mailman.backcountry.net
> unsubscribe or change options:
> http://mailman.hack.net/mailman/listinfo/pct-l
> 



		
__________________________________
Do you Yahoo!?
Yahoo! Mail - 50x more storage than other providers!
http://promotions.yahoo.com/new_mail