[pct-l] Desert Weather (was: Rides Needed)

[gwtmp01 at mac.com]

On Jan 8, 2007, at 1:13 PM, bluebrain at bluebrain.ca wrote:

> There's no chance of snow between Camp and Warner Springs in April,  
> is there?

There certainly is a chance.  Last year I hiked to Warner Springs  
before the
kickoff and we bailed from Pioneer Mail to the motel due to high  
winds and rain.
(about 50 miles from the border). When we awoke the next morning  
there was a
couple of inches of snow at the Mt. Laguna store and lots of ice  
covered chaparral
at Pioneer Mail.  The wind was still howling almost knocking us over  
several times
until we finally dropped down into Chariot Canyon.  We met several  
hikers who had
a pretty miserable time camped out that night in the Lagunas.

I think it isn't all that unusual for PCT hikers to think that a  
desert is always
hot.  It just isn't true.  You need to be prepared for cold weather  
(below freezing)
right from the start on a PCT hike.  And yes, it can rain in the desert.

Oh yeah, if you haven't practiced setting up your tarp/tent/tarptent  
in a sandy soil
with high winds, you might want to think about it now before you have  
to figure it out
on the trail.

And please be prepared to navigate a snow covered trail in the San  
Jacintos.  Lots of
people will warn you about Fuller Ridge but last year I ran into many  
thru-hikers who
were not prepared to navigate the trail south of the Saddle Junction  
in the snow.  They
just figured they wouldn't have trouble until *after* Saddle  
Junction.  I would recommend
getting the Tom Harrison San Jacinto Wilderness map if you need to  
navigate over snow
in the San Jacinto's.  Doing it with the guidebook maps is a real  
challenge (especially
if you've never done that sort of thing before).

Gary Wright (Radar)