[pct-l] San Jacinto Snow

[maurer at earthlink.net (maurer@earthlink.net)]

Hey all,

I noticed a thread about SoCal snow recently so I thought I'd chime in. 
I climbed the Devil's Slide trail out of Idyllwild this past Friday and 
stayed near Saddle Junction overnight. Hiked up near Taquitz Peak on 
Sat. then returned home. At the Junction (~8000'), snow levels are 
currently 7-9'. Photo 15 (see link below) shows the trail signs at 
Saddle Junction. According to the USFS the bottom of the lower sign is 
about 10' off the ground, to give an indication of snow depth. At 8700' 
they are 12'-15'. I took a few shots and posted them on webshots -> 
http://community.webshots.com/album/283270771pCckKC. Ignore the camp 
shots - I was testing some gear. Photo 9 and 10 are of the Little 
Taquitz Valley (B9). I am facing east when taking the photo's - you will 
hike towards the camera along the right side of the photo, then turn 
north, basically along the bottom of the photo from right to left. My 
guess is that there will be snow along Fuller ridge this year if you 
leave from the kick off.

While I cannot commit to it, I may try to break a trail along Fuller 
ridge (using my GPS) a few days before the kick off to help thru hikers, 
then drive down the the event itself.


Mike Maurer