[pct-l] More on June hikes...

[elee at microsoft.com (Eric Lee (GAMES))]

Bonk wrote:
>
But...  I would like to know if anyone has ever been on the PCT in OR or
WA in June, and what the conditions were like.  Too mush snow? Too many
mosquitoes/flies?  Crappy unpredictable weather?
>

I live in Seattle so I can speak to the conditions in the
northern/central Cascades.  Oregon is probably similar but maybe a
couple of weeks ahead.  Like most things, conditions can vary wildly
from year to year depending on the previous winter's snowfall and the
spring weather.  June is a transition month so conditions change rapidly
from week to week.  

But on average, I'd expect that in June you'd still see a lot of snow on
the trail in the higher elevations (say above 4000' in early June and
above 5000' in late June).

The bugs pretty much follow the snow line so in early June you might not
run into them much but in late June they're probably going to be
annoying.

The weather can be highly variable in June, but in general you can
expect beautiful sunny spring days alternating with wet, gray, miserable
rainy days.  Here in Seattle we like to say that summer doesn't
officially start until July 5th.

Here's a good way to get a feel for the range of conditions you might
expect to encounter:  go to http://www.wta.org, mouse over the Trip
Reports tab at the top, click on Search Reports, type "PCT" in the
search box, and click the PCT check box in the Restrict To Regions area.
That should give you a whole bunch of trip reports for the PCT in
Washington.  Now scroll down and read trip reports dated in June of each
year.  Bear in mind that spring 2005 had an unusually small amount of
snow so it wasn't typical.  Spring 2004 was more representative of the
average.

Overall, I'd say that June in Washington is a great time for dayhikes
when you have the flexibility to seize the windows of good weather and
snow conditions.  It can be a really beautiful month; I love hiking
during the meltoff and hearing the rush of water everywhere.  On the
other hand, it's not a great time for extended trips or long-distance
hiking.  South-bound thruhikers do it, but there aren't many of them
even in years with ideal conditions which ought to tell you something.

Eric