[pct-l] winter hiking question

[msaenz at mve-architects.com (Mike Saenz)]

Campo to Fobes Saddle. You might get some snow around Mt Laguna and a
few miles north of the 74, but nothing 3-season gear couldn't handle.
>From Fobes to the 10 freeway, there're few "jump in" points that would
let you avoid some of the higher country where 4-season gear is
necessary.
Same from 10 to Deep Creek. Last winter, Deep Creek was buried in snow.
>From Deep Creek to the 15 freeway, any snow would be manageable with 3
season gear. From the 15 till you descend in toward the 14 freeway, the
San Gabriels, winter gear can be required if the conditions exist. The
thing about SoCal is, we have plenty of locations where full-on snow &
ice gear and skills can be required. It's just that we can have no snow
on the ground and heat waves in January one year, and heavy snow and ice
and blizzard conditions the next.

It's generally safe to say that from the 14 freeway to the edge of the
South Sierras, you can get away with 3-season stuff.

It can get quite cold in the desert areas, however... The area from
Campo to Mt Laguna is affected by Catabatic (sp?) temperature
conditions.
The crappy part about this is that it can feel so freakin' cold you just
expect snow to develop at any second, yet it just rains. Can make things
quite miserable if you're not prepared...

For 2-3 weeks, you could easily make it from Campo to Saddle Junction
above Idyllwild. There're a couple spots on the trail that if there's
ice, gear & skills are mandatory (around Apache Peak along the Desert
Divide), but you can bail out at Fobes. Up to and past Saddle J, until
the descent past Fuller Ridge, winter conditions can get nasty. You can,
however by-pass this stretch and pick up the trail just below and north
of Fuller Ridge via Black Mt fire road. Form there, you'd have desert
conditions again until you ascend the flanks of San Gorgonio up toward
Onyx Peak. Expect snow from here till Deep Creek.



Michael Saenz, Associate Partner
McLarand    Vasquez    Emsiek   &   Partners,   Inc.
A r c h i t e c t u r e  |  P l a n n i n g  |  I n t e r i o r s
MVE       MVE    Institutional       MVP    International
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-----Original Message-----
From: pct-l-bounces@mailman.backcountry.net
[mailto:pct-l-bounces@mailman.backcountry.net] On Behalf Of
Lonetrail@aol.com
Sent: Saturday, August 20, 2005 7:52 AM
To: danoheat@hotmail.com; pct-l@mailman.backcountry.net
Subject: Re: [pct-l] winter hiking question

 
Goose:

Hey  yall
I am taking a 2-3 week trip in January (with a group from college) and
want to do it on the PCT.  Is there any good place in southern CA  that
would not require all my friends to buy 4 season gear?  Anyone  know the
temps on the trial in January?

-The  Goose





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