[pct-l] Strider's March 1 Irresponsible First Sierra Entry Date

[don at backpackinglight.com (Don Wilson)]

We hiked SOBO on the JMT in June 2003, which was a slightly above  
normal year.  The Golden Staircase had no snow whatsoever - still  
quite a climb though :-)

We did cross many patches of snow above the staircase, and lots up by  
Mather Pass, but it wasn't too bad.  Surprisingly, we had the most  
difficulty with snow on Donahue and Silver passes. In both cases, the  
trail was quite difficult to follow coming from the north, with  
almost no tracks or trail in sight for a long, long way before the  
pass. We wandered around quite a bit, but that was part of the fun.   
Muir, Mather, Forrester and Glen had plenty of snow, but no real  
significant difficulty.  Just slog away and enjoy the scenery.  IMHO,  
you just can't beat hiking thru the Sierras in June.

Lobo