[pct-l] section A in January

[brick@fastpack.com (Brick Robbins)]

At 12:12 PM 12/22/02, you wrote:
>hello. what does anyone know about the possibility of hiking section A in
>January? snow levels? water sources? temperatures? any help is appreciated!

If the weather is good at the time, you should be able to do the hike with
now problem. Snow doesn't stick for very long. When we get enough in the
Lagunas to XC ski, we have to hurry because it seldom lasts more than a day
or so. But it WILL be cold. Plan on nighttime temps in the 20s or teens. I
was near where the PCT crosses Interstate-8 the other morning, and the guy
in the store said it was 26F earlier. Brrrrrrr.

BUT......If the weather is bad, it can be VERY bad.
Below freezing, 60-80mph winds, horizontal snow, or worse - freezing rain.
Because a lot of the weather blows up the slope to 6000ft from the ocean,
you can get super cooled rain drops that do this interesting flash freeze
thing when they hit something (like a backpacker.) And nowhere to hide,
since the trail is exposed on the ridge.
Not a fun place to be.

Also, for about 2-3 days after a front  passes, we still have high winds
out of the NW. I avoid the PCT then because it is about the windiest place
in San Diego County those days.

The good thing is that we usually have 2-3 days warning of a storm, since
the rest of the west coast is between us and the storm path.

Have fun

Brick Robbins
San Diego, CA