[pct-l] WEATHER ALLERT between Laguna and Warner Springs

[cmkudija at ca.rr.com]

Paul wrote <<...Freakin' blizzard in California ... sheeeesh>>

As L-Rod so eloquently put it a couple of days ago, our winter/spring here
in soCal has been particularly weird  - the Jet Stream's just been staying
mostly north of us this year.  But on occasion it dips south, and -
surprise! - we get weather.  Even in so-called "normal" years, temperatures
can swing wildly, especially at altitude, from below freezing at night to,
oh, 60s or 70s during the day (and of course, higher than that in the low
desert elevations, like San Gorgonio Pass).  In the first few hundred miles
of the PCT, you travel from low to high elevations - and the higher you go,
especially at this time of year, the greater your chances of exposure to
weather.  Why?  As the eastward-moving air mass of the Jet Stream moves
generally from west to east, it rises up against the mass of the Pacific
Crest, cools - and if it's loaded with moisture - drops its (ahem) load of
rain or snow on the mountain slopes.  Annoying drizzle at a lower elevation
could mean blizzard conditions higher up.  I guess the main point I'm trying
to make is that soCal mountain weather can be very, very variable at this
time of year.  It ain't the nice, temperate beach.   If anything is reliable
concerning weather, it's that it WILL change.

As Roni put it (also eloquently), shlt happens.  You need to be prepared -
mentally AND physically - for wild temperature fluctuations and the
occasional storm.    Sunny California exists in many imaginations - and in
our typical "dry" season, from May-November, you're less likely to be rained
on, except in the mountains.  And the PCT starts at 2,925' - nearly 3,000'
above sea level.  That's high enough for rain when San Diego only has cloud
cover.

Experienced tarp users can make it through such weather, albeit with some
discomfort.  Naturally, the way to get experience is to struggle with your
tarp through weather like we had yesterday.  However, you must weigh your
risks and choose your equipment sensibly to meet your own needs, comfort &
safety thresholds.  You need to be smart enough to bail.

Even at the so-called PCT completion ceremony on JUNE 3, 1993, in Agua
Dulce, it RAINED.   When Igor & I were thru-hiking in '94, we experienced
our own happy blizzard while climbing Mt Laguna on April 26.  Two days
later, we were in the hot, dry San Felipe Hills and I was getting my first
set of killer blisters.

Christine "Ceanothus" Kudija
PCT partially '94

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Ceanothus (see-ah-no-thus) or California lilac:  Shrubs or small trees,
often with divaricate, sometimes spiny, twigs...[flowers] small but showy,
white to blue or purplish, sometimes lavender or pinkish, borne in terminal
or lateral panicles or umbellike cymes.
                                                               Philip A.
Munz
                                                               A California
Flora, U.C. Press, 1973