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[pct-l] Sonora Pass



This weekend I had the opportunity to day hike trails around Sonora Pass. 
I met quite a few PCT thru hikers. Here is my report:

Trail Conditions --

Thru hikers coming from Tuolumne Meadows report no major problems with 
snow, just occasional snowfield crossings which can be icy in the early 
morning. There is enough snow left near Sonora Pass that some hikers were 
glissading down the hill.

Two streams crossing were about thigh deep, but didn't cause any major 
problems.

There were some blowdowns, but overall the trail from Tuolumne to Sonora 
appears to be in good shape.

The main complaint I heard is that the mosquitoes were horrible. They've 
now acquired a taste for thru hikers and are waiting in ambush for more. 
The hikers requested that the trail maintenance crews remove all 
mosquitoes from the middle third of this segment. Looks like a headnet 
and deet are essential pack items for this journey.

People --

Meadow Mary was there doing her trail magic. She told me that True came by 
on Thursday, and that earlier on Friday (6/25) Weather Carrot, Side Track 
and Quixhote passed through.

I arrived around 5 pm on 6/26 and met Tigger, Captain Michael, Paparazzi, 
Bec and Jimmy.

Tigger met her family and went off trail for a few days. Captain Michael 
rode out with them. He's having achilles problems and was going to bounce 
himself to Echo Lake to allow for several days of heel healing. 

Paparazzi hiked out early Saturday morning.

Bec and Jimmy met their friend Aaron (Thanks for the beer, Aaron) and went 
off-trail, but returned and restarted today (Sunday 6/27).

On Saturday around 11:30 Sprite showed up and asked if any of his friends 
had come by. With a negative answer he decided to wait. Good move. By the 
end of the day Skywalker, Home-made, Goat, Wicked, Sisu, Raru, Lisa, 
Cicely-B, and GT (German Tourist) all pulled into camp.

Wicked made a wrong turn somewhere and ended up in Hetch Hetchy.

Cicely-B stayed a few hours and left Saturday.

Sisu turned her ankle crossing a stream and won't be covering major miles 
until it heals.

The whole group left around 8 am today, Sunday (6/27).

Later today Laundromat, Iceman, Scrote and Radar came through. They 
told me that Supertramp, Adam, Buck30 and Dude had hitched a ride to 
Bridgeport. Mulligan was on his way to Kennedy Meadows.

Finally, Wildflower and Packman showed up shortly before I left.

So that's the PCT report from Sonora Pass.

Hank

p.s. Some photos are at:

  http://www.mtinet.com/2004-PCT-Sonora/