[pct-l] jmt in june

[dude@xxxxxxxxxxx (dude)]

--
here is a pic from that trip:
http://www.dudedesign.com/photos/tyt/large/tomsnow.jpg



> 20 ft. of snow on the trail maybe a little exaggeration
> hahahahahahahahahahahahaha
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "dude" <dude@fastmail.ca>
> To: <pct-l@mailman.backcountry.net>
> Sent: Tuesday, April 22, 2003 9:01 AM
> Subject: Re: [pct-l] jmt in june
>
>
>> --
>> Nic - I am not really too certain what the snow levels are like
>> this year in the high sierra, however, they were recently hit
>> with a semi- late season storm that dumped tons of snow up there.
>>  Late season large storms are not at all uncommon in the sierra
>> nevada.  I have snow skied at Squaw Valley with 100% of the park
>> open on July 4th (the PCT may even go through Squaw Valley, I
>> forget).
>>
>> I am sure that a JMT hike is *possible* on June 9th, but it
>> doesnt sound like fun to me.  My totally uneducated guess is that
>> there will be TONS of snow all over the place on June 9th.  This
>> snow report indicates that this is a fairly typical year:
>> ftp://ftp.wcc.nrcs.usda.gov/data/snow/update/ca.txt  most of the
>> stations are reporting near 100% of normal.
>>
>> When you say "I assume the peaks have a bunch but is there a lot
>> on the trail at lower elevations?", you have to understand that
>> the majority of the JMT is around 10,000ft. Therefore, the "trail
>> at lower elevations" is still about 9,000-10,000 ft.  In fact,
>> besides yosemite valley, the trail only dips below 8,000 ft three
>> times, and each of those is immediately followed by climbs over
>> 11,000-12,000 passes.  Here is an elevation profile to help you
>> get the picture: http://www.pcta.org/images/elevation_big.gif
>>
>> I have heard/read about people doing JMT hikes in june and seen
>> pics with lots of snow all over the place, so if you are into
>> that type of hiking in snow, where the trail and signs/markers
>> are under 20+ feet of snow for miles on end, where the passes
>> have so much snow that your "hike" is more like mountaineering,
>> where the stream runoff is deep and fast, and the standing water
>> in the meadows makes the mosquitoes as thick as the smog in L.A.,
>> then I would say that you will have a great time.  However, if
>> you are looking forward to a nice summer-time hike where the
>> trail is easy to find, you won't need to know mountaineering
>> skills, and you won't have to carry more deet than water, then
>> you may want to reconsider the date (or is that date is set in
>> stone, perhaps reconsider the destination).
>>
>> I am not trying to scare you off, but I am trying to paint a
>> realistic picture of what it *could* be like on the JMT on June
>> 9th. I did the JMT the last two weeks of august in 1998 (200% of
>> normal snow), and there were still sections of the trail that
>> were under 20 ft of snow.  We all had to use our ice axes too.
>> We even got snowed on one night!
>>
>> In any event, good luck!
>>
>> peace,
>> dude
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>> I was planning on leaving to hike the john muir trail around the
>>> 9th of June and I was wondering about how much snow is usually
>>> on the trail at this time. I assume the peaks have a bunch but
>>> is there a lot on the trail at lower elevations? Does anyone
>>> have any guesses on how this year's snow melt will differ from
>>> other years and how passable the trail will be? Also would it
>>> make much of a difference whether I hiked N-->S or S-->N in
>>> encountering snow? Thanks a lot!
>>>
>>> Nic
>>>
>>>
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