[pct-l] Yosemite snow

[pcnst2001 at covad.net (pcnst2001@covad.net)]

One indication of how the Park Service and the concession company views the snow
situation in
Yosemite is when the High Sierra Camps are scheduled to open.   (The PCT goes by the
Glen Aulin High Sierra Camp, and there are four others).    Normally they open
around the
beginning of July.

http://www.yosemitepark.com/content2hdr.cfm?SectionID=30&PageID=70

This year they are opening about 3-4 weeks late.    The delay is caused by the
time necessary
to set up the camps and get the water and sewage working.    The trails have to
melt out and
dry out enough that the supply mules don't create enormous damage to them.

In the last really big snow year, the season was cancelled completely.    So
there's an element
of optimism in hoping to get them all open by August 5.    The season only lasts
until the
weekend after Labor Day.

*****

In general, the ideal month to hike almost all the PCT north of Kennedy Meadows
is August.
Most through hikers can't do 2000 miles in one month, so through hikers always
compromise and
see some part of the trail at its less than optimal time.    But for section
hikers, August
combines the right amount of water with fairly long days and fairly few
mosquitos.   Oddly 
enough, August is the month when the popular areas are most popular.