Re: [pct-l] Kennedy Meadows departure dates

[reynolds@ilan.com]

Please remember that I am not a thruhiker. My advice to leave Kennedy
Meadows about July 4 is conservative for a thru hiker willing to traverse
the sierra when there is a good bit of snow on the ground. If, as jardine
suggest, June 15th is an average snow year depart date [from Kennedy
Meadows], then this year one could leave as early as June 1 [based on
current conditions] and expect the same difficulty since the snowpack south
of Whitney is below normal.

If, on the other hand, I was just hiking California I would target July 4.
The sierra is especially beautiful when the meadows and valleys are free of
snow but the mountain tops  are still white.


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