[pct-l] Re: crampons and ice ax, Kerrick Canyon

["Joanne Lennox" <goforth@cio.net>]

Brick thanks for the inflo on your 95 trip.  Could you explain the terror
in Kerrick Canyon?

I was mostly refering to steeper slopes, and in June. Your trip was almost
3 weeks later and in July, it would be unrealistic at this point to be
inflexible and have fixed dates for transet of any point on the PCT, but I
was hopeing to be through the southern Sierras by mid July.  This could
just be wishful thinking or a solid belief in the La nina goddess.  I think
that the snowpack is important, but the melting conditions in the spring
are just as important, and people's experience can vary widely even in the
same place at the same time of year.  We might have some idea by the first
of April of what to expect, but mostly we have to arrive before we will
know. It is wonderful hearing people talk about their experience, and
sometimes I get goose bumps reading the stories.  Is there anywhere to find
more of your stories and experiences from l995? It doesn't sound like you
did a flip-flop.

This year on the l5th of June, in Rock Creek (on the East side, North of
Bishop), the snow line was below the trailhead, and well below the
timberline.  We used crampons early in the day even on fairly flat slopes,
and we could have used snowshoes as well later on in the day. We had very
warm days and cold nights.  The lower the angle of the snow, the easier it
was to walk on.  you were postholing on slopes above 30 degrees sooner than
on the flat sections.  It is the opposite of what you usually expect,  most
of the slopes were north facing and you expect that the sun will hit the
flat areas first and make them softer, the steeper north slopes remain hard
for longer. The other thing that was happening was that it seemed that you
were either on very hard snow that could not be dented with a heavy
climbing boot, or you were postholing.  There was very little transition
time between when the snow would support you weight and when it would not.
I think that  what was going on was this: The flater slopes had mostly
consolidated; the steeper slopes had not.  The very cold nights created a
thin hard rind over lots of feet of soft snow, the very warm days melted
the snowcrust precipitously.  Your rarely see that much snowpack where
there is such a variation in consolidation of the snow as well as the
extremes in day- night temperatures. 

You have given me much of what I wanted to know,  and the other comments
from Monte are also helpful. 

I really would hate to take my crampons and at this point do not plan to
take them.  Nevertheless, they will be in a place where they can be shipped
if I need them.  I will definitely have an ice ax, and one of the reasons I
carry it when I am a lone female, is for defence

I still haven't heard from the ULTRA people, does this subscribing business
take quite a while? I did a web search and noticed a couple of different
sitesfor ULTRA..

Thanks for the two other web sites too, it was great seeing the pictures of
Forester Pass, and I also thought about getting a ice-ax-trekking pole
combination, but realized I didn't trust the thing that much without having
used it on steep, rough terrain.

Peace 
Goforth(Ann Lennox)
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