[pct-l] JMT southbound conditions 6/19 - 6/23

[scourtway at bpa-arch.com (Steve Courtway)]

Greetings Listers !

I'm back from my attempt to hike sobo from piute pass - onion valley.  I was
stopped short by snowfields covering the golden staircase at Mather Pass,
didn't feel up to the steep ascent of that pass thru that snow after
crossing muir pass which was sketchy on the north side descent with a ton of
run off and a trail buried under near vertical snow fields.  Thru hikers who
didn't get forced up the creek canyon seemed to be climbing the snow on the
west side of the creek rather than tackling the actual trail route on the
east side of the creek which had my heart pounding and my lungs pumping on
my descent.  Seeing where the trail goes is easier on your way down, but can
lead you into sketchy circumstances.  I had hail at the evolution lakes, and
got pounded by an afternoon thunderstorm at the juction of the Bishop pass
trail in Le Conte Canyon, where I decided to end my hike.  It's funny, often
when I'm marveling at the fern coverage and general greeness of an area, I
get rained on soon afterward heh. My silnylon tarptent performed well,
although I did start to get some misting inside after being pounded by rain
for awhile.  Condensation was a bit of an issue as well even though I had my
tarptent open, as I carry a down bag.  I awoke many times during the night
in a mini panic wiping down the inside of the tarptent and my bag with my
Tshirt after feeling chill thru the bag.  On my way down the bishop pass
trail I ran into 4 hikers who after successfully crossing a very sketchy
Bishop Pass, got turned around at Mather, so I didn't feel to much the
whimp. heh heh.  What I did find was a deserted trail surrounded by
luxurious green carpets and wildflowers, save a 1/2 dozen thru hikers daily,
one of which fit the type Monte was talking about who'd had his IT job
outsourced to indonesia and decided to go hike the trail, and a few dream
stretches of trail in Hutchison Meadow and Le Conte Canyon.  The notorious
Evolution Creek was not any more dangerous than any of the other crossings I
encountered on my route, many of which were much swifter and deeper,
especially the headwaters of piute creek.  Walked into Northlake and found a
couple fisherman more than happy to give me a ride all the way back to my
truck for some gas $ - a successful 50 mi. trip this year.  Much respect to
the thru hikers who complete the JMT early season over all that snow at the
passes.  The Southlake-Northlake route is an epic hike for someone who has a
week to go hiking and wants to cross Muir Pass, it was pretty cool to see
the Muir hut in the distance as I approached the pass.  It smells terrible
in there though, don't count on being able to camp in there hahahaha.
Marmots relieve themselves in there regularly I think.

s.c.