Re: [pct-l] Kennedy Meadows departure dates

["Chris Bailey" <hikertrash@earthlink.net>]

Tom:

I understood the thrust of your advice and where you were coming from.  My
only real point in responding was to reassure potential thru-hikers that
most could easily leave KM earlier than you suggested.  There is a bit of a
different imperative for thru-hikers who have Canada as a goal, versus, as
you note, one who is hiking only California or only the JMT.  I,
personally, will do the Sierras again when there is less snow on the
ground.  But man oh man is it an amazing experience to hike through when it
looks like March, April or May (as I was told it did in '98 by some
returning ski tourers).

FYI, in my personal experience (and I'm no alpinist, God knows) Ray's
advice about the passes is a little conservative.  Perhaps the drawback of
getting published?

Thanks for your comments.

Chris.

Original message:
----------
> From: reynolds@ilan.com
> To: Chris Bailey <hikertrash@earthlink.net>
> Cc: PCT List <pct-l@backcountry.net>
> Subject: Re: [pct-l] Kennedy Meadows departure dates
> Date: Tuesday, February 09, 1999 7:45 AM
> 
> 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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