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[pct-l] What should I do???
Hi, I need some advice. I'm sitting her in Norway and can't decide what
to do. Or rather I know what I'm going to do, but not quite what to
expect. I've bought my airline tickets a while ago and I'm arriving San
Diego on April 28th, planning to start the PCT one or possibly two days
later.
I need some fairly slow days in the beginning, so I figured starting a
few day ahead of Jardins 5 month plan would be a good idea. At the same
time I read the mail from this list and hear about skiing conditions
almost from the start point at the border. I simply don't know what to
expect. I understand that predicting conditions 3 weeks from now is
fairly difficult, but could someone give any advice?
From reading Jardins book I had expected no (or at most one single
place) with snow before the Sierras, but that doesn't seem to the case
this year. Again, could anyone give me an "educated guess" about what to
expect - climbing an occasional pass with snow once in a while is OK,
but if it's deep powdery or wet snow for a lot of miles then I might
have to do something. Would bringing skis be completely stupid? Should I
get some waterproof sneakers in stead of very breathable ones. I
wouldn't mind skiing at all as long as I don't have to carry them most
of the time. It's much easier doing 20 miles on skis than hiking.
Another big questions is Ice Ax. I had decided to go without one, but
now it looks like I'll have to change my mind, and even carry one fairly
early in the trip. How important is an Ice Ax? And what kind do I need.
I've got one designed for hiking on glaciers (long handle), but from
reading the mail here it sounds like most people use an ice climbing ax
which is smaller and lighter, but hardly suited for anything but self
arrest (and of course climbing).
Svein
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