Re: [pct-l] Sierra Snowpack

["Tim Barton" <tbarton@govmail.state.nv.us>]

Tony I met John Breen at Carson Pass, as I hiked south on the PCT, and he
had just come from Tioga Pass going north and said it was no problem.  He
was doing right at 17 to 20 miles per day.  Yes there is snow pack but you
do not need crampons as the snow softens up fairly early in the day.  The
hardest I found was spotted in the trees in the valleys.  Ice ax is helpful
but I met a group of high school kids in tennis shoes crossing the
snowfields with just minor difficulty.  But the snow is melting fast.
Cheers


----------
> From: Tom Reynolds <Tom.Reynolds@ilan.com>
> To: pct-l@saffron.hack.net
> Subject: [pct-l] Sierra Snowpack
> Date: Tuesday, July 14, 1998 12:15 PM
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> A far as I can tell the Sierra is clearing of snow. This doesn't mean
that
> North facing slopes
> at high altitude aren't full of snow. However, the normal 9,000-10,000
> trail that runs from Kennedy Meadows to
> Tioga Pass road is no longer white-just spotty.
> 
> This opineon-use it at your own risk-is based on eyewhitness accounts and
> the snow sensor data along the route. All sensors
> except Bishop Pass and Upper Tyndall Creek, both above 11,000' , show
> little or no snow. Even the 11,000' sensors are likely to
> be clear by this weekend.
> 
> My free advice [remember what free advice is worth] is that a PCT hiker
> starting north from Kennedy meadows this weekend
> would have trouble at the high passes-probably requiring ice axe and
> crampon-and find difficult creek crossings but the trail
> is doable by an experienced hiker with some mountaineering experience, as
> opposed to a mountaineer.
> 
> If you have NO mountaineering experience, you could have a problem. Non
> exposed slopes above 11,500 still have plenty of snow
> [I draw this inference from the fact that the Whithey trail from
Trailside
> Meadow (11,5000 to Trail Crest (13,700) is still
> full of snow. This means that Forrester, Glen etc. could be a problem.
> 
> 
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