[pct-l] EARLY '03

[Bighummel@aol.com (Bighummel@aol.com)]

--
[ Picked text/plain from multipart/alternative ]
dude writes:

> > In the driest year on record, 1977...
>
> Greg - I am just curious, were there many fires back in 77' as well?
> How dry was it?  Did you have trouble finding water in the Sierras?
> I would be interested in any other info relating to the conditions,
> if you wouldn't mind sharing.
>
> thanks,
> dude

It was, of course, one of the worst fire seasons on record also.  Many of our
slides from '77 are obscured by the smoke from these fires.  There were few
crystal clear views, particularly later once summer came around.  In climbing
Mt. Rainier, as the sun came up, what appeared to be the horizon was actually
a thick layer of smoke and as the sun came up through this layer it cast a
deep orange glow upon the landscape.

Finding water in the Sierras was no problem as the minor snow was melting off
as we passed through and a late spring snow storm dumped several feet on us
in early May.  The people that started late and hit them later may have had
problems, I don't know.  The worst problem was in Nth Calif and Oregon where
the guide book sited perennial springs that were dried up that year or just a
drip, drip, drip.  One long section in Oregon had only one water source in a
stretch of 25 miles or so.  The spring was merely a drip and took us about an
hour each to fill a quart.  Once we reached Washington the water issue became
moot as it rained and rained.

Early predictions are calling for an extremely dry year in California this
winter.  We'll see.

Best regards,

Greg "Strider" Hummel