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[pct-l] Re: El Nino
I would like to add my perspective to the "too much snow"/El Ni=F1o=
discussion.=20
I through hiked CA in 1995, which had one of the latest snowmelts on record
(second i think). I had snow above 11,000 feet starting near Whitney, and
it dropped down to 8000 feet by the time I was north of I-80. I often hiked
20 mile stretches on snow without setting foot on solid ground. Have a look
at my home page to see Forester Pass when I crossed it. That picture wast
taken 15 July. I hiked in running shoes with REI gortex inner socks.
Several times I wished I had boots, but many others I was glad I had the
running shoes. The gortex socks worked great at keeping my feet warm and
dry. I used a Ramer self arrest skipole handle instead of an ice axe, which
was a big mistake. I often wished for the real thing.
COMMENTS:
First of all, by that late in the season, the snow has compressed, and
generally you can walk on top of it.=20
If you choose to use snow shoes, I would reccomend the MSR or the Ramer
shoes (small and light), but I doubt they are worth the weight.=20
Crampon are useless, except for a couple of hours in the morning, and you
can chop steps then. I wholey agree with Jardine's comments on crampons in
his book.
Skis would be worse than useless because the snow will probably be so
sun-cupped by then that you will have to carry skis up the passes, then
back down the other side.
Your three problems will probably be speed, routefinding and high water.
SPEED. You will go slower than you expect. On dry trails I averaged about
30 miles a day. In the 200 miles of snowcover I walked on, I averaged 20
miles a day in the snow country, about 33% slower than I was planning. I
ran out of food twice. This can be overcome by hiking out a lateral trail
and resupplying, but odds are there won't be any traffic to the trailhead
because of the snow, so you will have to walk the extra 10-15 miles down to
the main highway. Many days I would look skyward, bone tired and legs sore
from walking on the sun cups, and say "Will this ever end?!?!?!" I couldn't
stop and rest because food was low.
ROUTE FINDING. You would think that the High Sierra would be the most
difficult when snowbound but it really isn't because the route finding is
fairly easy. Hike up one drainage till you hit the snow. Take a compass
sighting to figure out which col is the pass you want to go over, then hike
down the other side until the trail peeks out of the snow. Further north
where you are following wooded ridges with no clear "natural line" the
route finding is much much harder. If there is snow cover north of I-80
plan on being lost alot. (been there - done that)
DEEP WATER. By far the most dangerous part of hiking with excessive snow
cover is the runnoff durring full melt. The rivers may be un-crossable at
the normal fords so you will need to hike upstream or you may have to wait
till morning when the water is 12"-24" lower before you can cross. You may
get swept away and drown (almost happened to me). When it warms up and the
creeks start running under the snow you need to worry about falling through
a thin spot into a creek. I did this, and it scared the crap out of me. The
water was only knee deep, but there was a big void between the bottom of
snow and the top of the water. I was up to my chest in the snow when my
feet hit the creekbed. If the water had been a little deeper, the void had
been bigger or I had fallen all the way through I could have been trapped
under the snow in freezing water until I died of hypothermia. As it wasI
couldn't feel my feet for a very long time after I managed to get out of
that hole.
IMHO a PCT trip is do-able with abnormally deep snow, it just becomes much
harder to do a end-to-end through hike, and a trip partner becomes more
important (I travelled alone). The trip is still worth taking even if you
have to jump around, flip-flop, or skip sections.
DISCLAIMER: I am an experience mountaineer, and backcountry skiier/snow
camper. My opinions of difficulty may be significantly different from the
normal summer backpacker.
--
Brick Robbins
San Diego, CA =20
brick@ix.netcom.com =20
http://www.netcom.com/~brick=20
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