I just returned from eight days out (nine if you count the last mild miles to the trailhead this morning to meet our ride) in the Sierra. It was a Preventive Search and Rescue hike for me - I wore an official SAR T shirt identifying me as a proud volunteer of our county search team. I stopped and talked to a LOT of folks. Part of our planned route (the main plan plus variations accounting for weather changes went to the SAR commander directly
) took us up the JMT. On our night in Evolution Valley we got massive rain, hail, and thunder that sounded like the rocks were coming down and the sky was falling, and surely the wrath of the Almighty would be soon upon us!
My companions and I holed up in McClure Meadow, and just prior to the downpour that lasted an hour and a half, I went out and tossed flies to the eager goldens in Evolution Creek. I wore my rain jacket in preparation. Sure enough it started to rain. I ran across the meadow and in the time that took, the skies opened, the peaks were shrouded, and we had no chance to dive into tents - down it came. We all had dry clothing in our tents so we huddled under a pine and watched the weather go, and go, cycles of hail and rain, and the temperature dropping.
My four month old jacket sopped up rain like a #$%@ sponge, wet through, soaked my red SAR shirt, and of course my pants and underwear were all wet as well. So much for waterproof!
When it let up we all crawled in and changed, and I turned the trash bag pack liner into a rain shirt toot sweet. Worked like a charm for the next day and a half. The plan had been to go into Evolution Basin and to Davis Lakes, or the Ionian (briefly) - but I looked at my companions and said, really? And they said, NO. Because we had all talked about safety before we left, and talked to the ranger in the cabin at McClure who initially argued with us about our plan, but upon finding out we had all done cross country class 2 before softened his position and suggested that a morning crossing at Davis Lakes to Goddard Canyon would be possible since we had the experience. He said he's seen too many people push on and become SAR subjects.
His forecast info said two more days of the same, and when morning came and the rain and hail continued, we nodded to each other and headed back down from the valley to the north fork of the San Joaquin. Arriving at the junction of the Goddard Canyon trail, we took advantage of a break in the weather and spent half a day drying out things. And while fishing there beside the trail (goldens for dinner!) I talked to one JMT hiker after another about the forecast, reminding them of lightning at high elevation.
Did I mention they were all wearing shorts?? Shorts and tank tops are the favorite of the JMT hiker. Very interesting to sit at the MTR resupply hut watching the hikers come through. I can count the prepared and sensible hikers on one hand. A single group heeded the info and camped at the junction near us. A single hiker had rain jacket, rain pants, boots instead of tennis shoes, a moderate sized pack instead of an expedition like outfit bigger than the person carrying it.
Of course, the weather front broke early. My companions and I had a lovely day climbing into Goddard Canyon on our modified itinerary, just as happy as we would have been - the Evolution Basin can wait, and we'll be planning a modified North Lake - South Lake loop to include Darwin Bench. We had a great time. We debated re-ascending and going onward, but the lost time would have meant some long miles cross country, and we wanted to enjoy ourselves, not death march.
The JMT hikers were probably working their wet way over Muir Pass at 9 pm that night, according to some of them... "I HAVE TO REACH WHITNEY ON TIME." And, when we mentioned our destinations - Goddard Canyon, Bench Valley, Hell for Sure Lake, the north fork of the Kings - the dedicated JMT hikers gave us blank looks. I wondered if any of them were enjoying anything. They were so doggedly pushing into the evening, wearing so little. There was a pair of PCT hikers going north who seemed just as doggedly determined, but not in such a rabid fashion; at least they seemed to be alert and able to converse meaningfully for a while at the crossing of Evolution Creek.
Oh, I didn't mention the guy who was cowboy camping the whole JMT. He had an old tent fly to throw over the sleeping bag if it rained.
Peak madness isn't just for peaks.
The Ultralight "isn't safe" assumption bothers me. I don't consider myself ultralight, however, my pack weight for 8.5 days out was 35 lbs. I neither sacrificed comfort nor safety - my stuff was dry, including my down quilt and insulating layers, and I slept on 3.5" of air each night, more soundly than I do at home in bed. But, compared to the old couple who spent two days ascending Hell for Sure pass with truly massive external frames that surely weighed 60 lbs apiece (they were out for 14 days), I sure was ultralight! and how to put a price on my knees being less sore? Nope, I'm sure it's safer not to kill yourself with "durable" gear, circa 1970.
And, none of the tennis-shoe-and-shorts JMT hikers were ultralight. Lots of 70-80 liter packs on shirtless guys and tiny gals. Yet I'd bet you that most of them were inches from hypothermia and/or a variety of other situations that might have led to disaster at the turn of a hair.
To quote the SAR commander, paraphrasing "Deep Survival," an expert is sometimes someone who has made the same mistakes repeatedly without ever reaping the consequences. The Sierra is a great place to backpack and hike without consequences - until the day that it isn't.