[pct-l] Re: Message: #22, Fri 29 Apr 2005 from Jeff Moorehead: Pacific Crest defined?

[cvassel at earthlink.net (Craig Vassel)]

Jeff,

Being a slow-poke PCT hiker, I spend a lot of time looking at maps, studying the trail and the landscape before each hike.  I???m always curious about why the PCT is routed where it is. 

One definition of the ???Pacific Crest??? is the edge of the Pacific Ocean watershed: if you are standing on the ???Pacific Crest??? facing north, and it is raining, all water falling to your left drains into the Pacific Ocean. All water to your right drains into other watersheds, usually disappearing in desert sands. The PCT mostly follows the crest watershed boundaries but detours significantly from the crest in several places:

Southern California
The PCT veers off the crest to the San Felipes rather than pass through the town of Julian and the Volvon Mountains. After I-10, the PCT crosses the Mission Creek watershed (which drains east of the crest). Near Big Bear Lake the crest is followed until Holcolmb Creek. From there to almost Cajon Pass, the trail is in the east-draining Mojave River watershed. Through the Transverse Ranges, Tehachapis, and Sierras, the crest is followed fairly closely.

Northern California
In Northern Cal, there are some major detours where the PCT crosses the Feather River watershed (the crest is really near the Nevada border) to Lassen Park. While the true crest from here goes northeast into Oregon, the PCT turns west across the Sacramento River and Klamath River watersheds.

Oregon and Washington
The PCT and crest reunite near Crater Lake. In Oregon and Washington, the PCT follows the Cascades, and crosses the Columbia in a gap in the mountains. However the huge Columbia River watershed extends hundreds of miles northeast so the true crest is in Montana and the Canadian Rockies.

The southern detours are probably due to the difficulty of routing though developed areas, privately owned parcels, and Indian Reservations. The Nor Cal route probably was routed west to include several mountain ranges. In the Northwest the watershed crest is just too far east in desolate country. 





Craig Vassel