High Sierra Topix

Posted: **Mon Apr 29, 2013 10:29 am**

It is that time -
Annual PCT Kickoff just ended...Apr 26 -28.
They have started walking and over 900 hopeful participants this year.
Good luck and a safe hike to all.

Posted: **Mon Apr 29, 2013 11:44 am**

markskor wrote:It is that time -
Annual PCT Kickoff just ended...Apr 26 -28.
They have started walking and over 900 hopeful participants this year.
Good luck and a safe hike to all.

I wonder how many started earlier this year? I'd guess a fair number...the low snowpack may not be good for California, but it does significantly expand the window for a PCT through-hike.

Posted: **Mon Apr 29, 2013 10:59 pm**

When I was up at Big bear, I met two groups hiking the PCT. They were already in Big bear 2 weeks ago.

Posted: **Tue Apr 30, 2013 3:23 pm**

Reading their trail journals is a great way to gather real time information about early season trail conditions, and weather in the Sierra. The herd always hits it perfect to experience a late season storm, the first horrific mosquito hatch, snow postholing on the passes, detours, fires, and one or two bouts of some shared intestinal malady. All chronicled between late May and mid June.

If only they would bring a fishing pole...

Posted: **Tue Apr 30, 2013 7:31 pm**

Is there one easy to find place to find the trail journals?

The PCT site has some.

Is there a place that collects the journals for people to find?

Posted: **Tue Apr 30, 2013 8:39 pm**

Oblient, here is two that I know of...

http://postholer.com/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
http://www.trailjournals.com/journals.c ... st%20Trail" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Posted: **Wed May 01, 2013 11:41 am**

I went hiking in Anza-Borrego Desert State Park this morning, and I ran into a bunch of PCT thru-hikers. I was jealous.

Posted: **Fri May 03, 2013 9:39 pm**

Took a buddy to the kick off so that I could check out some gear. Awesome opportunity to have ZPACKS, HMG, and Lightheart designs all in one place. I am 6 ft 5 so size can be an issue So Jelly of all these lucky peeps. Good luck to you all and enjoy!!!

Posted: **Sun May 05, 2013 8:58 pm**

markskor wrote:It is that time -
Annual PCT Kickoff just ended...Apr 26 -28.
They have started walking and over 900 hopeful participants this year.
Good luck and a safe hike to all.

marksor, have you done the PCT? if so, what an accomplishment

Posted: **Tue May 21, 2013 4:49 pm**

A recent early season report on JMT conditions.

Real entry coming, but in the meantime: long story short, I skipped to Onion Valley.
Passes were as follows:
Kearsarge: piece of cake, virtually no snow.
Glen: I hiked over this in horizontally blowing snow. On ground, virtually no snow on south side, but on north side, snow all the way down to Rae Lakes.
Pinchot: a good deal of hiking/routefinding on snow on south side, and on the north side snow all the way down past Bench Lake Ranger Station.
Mather: on south side, the west side of the switchbacks is a snow chute, so you need to clamber straight up the rocks on the east. Not exposed, exactly, but some of the rocks are loose. If you're in a group, don't drop rocks on each other, that's the main thing. North side: snow down to Palisade Lakes.
At the Bishop Pass Trail junction, Silverfoot posted a note warning of way more snow on Muir than the previous 4 passes, and mentioned "two guys postholing in snowshoes," so Luc and Trent, who were running low on food, exited over Bishop (as had Silverfoot). So I did too. Probably Muir Pass is no worse than usual if you do it early when the snow is still firm, but dunno.
Bishop Pass: minor routefinding on snow for the last mile before the pass. Lots of steep snow below the pass on north side: glissade time! Then lots of nuisance snow until a mile or two before South Lake.

High Sierra Topix

PCT Kickoff

PCT Kickoff

Re: PCT Kickoff

Re: PCT Kickoff

Re: PCT Kickoff

Re: PCT Kickoff

Re: PCT Kickoff

Re: PCT Kickoff

Re: PCT Kickoff

Re: PCT Kickoff

Re: PCT Kickoff