Re: JMT Spring Traverse 2016
Posted: Sun Jun 12, 2016 9:05 am
Snowshoes, like an ice axe, are helpful in only a few sections. (An axe is only necessary for around .5-1.0+- mile on Lamarck, Mather, Glen & Forester, so you carry an extra piece of gear the whole way for just a few miles of use. Of course, not having an axe is not an option - way too exposed and dangerous. Thought experiment: barefoot for the pass sections, but you have an axe vs boots, but no climbing/self arrest device. I would pick being barefoot.)
Snowshoes wouldn't have helped in Darwin canyon, because we couldn't walk across the semi-frozen lakes. Rather, we were constantly climbing & descending boulders & cliffs that ringed the lake shorelines with mixed snow/ice. In those types of conditions, micro-spikes really excel because you can keep them on through short dry sections, unlike crampons which would have needed to constantly be taken off & then put back on. Actually, crampons weren't necessary at all for this trip, because we never climbed directly up any headwalls - always a vertical traverse on each of the passes.
(Brian) Schmalz started his PCT hike out of Cottonwood pass the day we exited @ Kearsarge. Since I had a DeLorme, I added him as a contact to give him an update on conditions while on the trail. He too was undecided with regard to boots/crampons vs runners/spikes. He was following our breadcrumbs and could see we were on schedule ie going slow. (Seems like everyone expected us to come out a day early.) He sent a text to the effect of "lots of snow?", to which I replied: "snow in every form - solid, soft & melted". In another text, I finally sent: "no boots runners+spikes feet wet all day".
The one possible section where snowshoes would have been nice to have was the short 6 mile stretch from Evo lake to Muir - but only in the afternoon. In the early morning, the surface was so hard you could literally run across it, as we ended up doing from Wanda up to the Muir hut early the next morning. It was just the nature of the hike - the need to make miles and be in position for the next pass early the next morning - that we would cross some sections in the afternoon with soft snow. As long as it's anticipated and built into the hike plan, then you should be ok.
In our case, it was more than anticipated - it was the source of constant discussion for weeks/months leading up to the hike. But since we knew we only needed to get to the Muir hut by the end of day 2, we actually had plenty of time, no matter how slow we went.
Snowshoes wouldn't have helped in Darwin canyon, because we couldn't walk across the semi-frozen lakes. Rather, we were constantly climbing & descending boulders & cliffs that ringed the lake shorelines with mixed snow/ice. In those types of conditions, micro-spikes really excel because you can keep them on through short dry sections, unlike crampons which would have needed to constantly be taken off & then put back on. Actually, crampons weren't necessary at all for this trip, because we never climbed directly up any headwalls - always a vertical traverse on each of the passes.
(Brian) Schmalz started his PCT hike out of Cottonwood pass the day we exited @ Kearsarge. Since I had a DeLorme, I added him as a contact to give him an update on conditions while on the trail. He too was undecided with regard to boots/crampons vs runners/spikes. He was following our breadcrumbs and could see we were on schedule ie going slow. (Seems like everyone expected us to come out a day early.) He sent a text to the effect of "lots of snow?", to which I replied: "snow in every form - solid, soft & melted". In another text, I finally sent: "no boots runners+spikes feet wet all day".
The one possible section where snowshoes would have been nice to have was the short 6 mile stretch from Evo lake to Muir - but only in the afternoon. In the early morning, the surface was so hard you could literally run across it, as we ended up doing from Wanda up to the Muir hut early the next morning. It was just the nature of the hike - the need to make miles and be in position for the next pass early the next morning - that we would cross some sections in the afternoon with soft snow. As long as it's anticipated and built into the hike plan, then you should be ok.
In our case, it was more than anticipated - it was the source of constant discussion for weeks/months leading up to the hike. But since we knew we only needed to get to the Muir hut by the end of day 2, we actually had plenty of time, no matter how slow we went.