[pct-l] How early is too early for Washington north bound?

[jonathan king]

Hello Ralph -

I started my southbound thru hike this year on June 18th. I assume you're
heading north though. We had lots of snow in glacier peak and actually ended
up getting iced out due to freezing conditions in the early mornings and
lack of sufficient food for unexpected low mile days. In 2009, June 18th was
the earliest day anyone started who made it through washington without
detours (others started on this day as well). That said, the ground was
snow-covered, which at first was cool, then it became tiring on the ankles,
and mind. Ice axe for sure, and maybe some microspike crampons.

I would recommend a July 1st start, maybe even a week earlier depending on
snowfall. You might get some snow covering in goat rocks and after
snoqualamie, but you should be fine. Snow changes year to year, and varies
widely depending on where you are (Cascades had 80% snow year this year, but
glacier peak was huge). We had very little snow by the Canadian border at
similar elevations to the Glacier Peak area, which was covered. Check with
the Dinsmores (andrea is on the pct-l) about snowfall around Skykomish as
summer approaches.

August snow melt = mosquitoes, which can be really intense. We had 0
mosquitos in washington, which was amazing.

If you want more info, you can check out my southbound blog www.pct09.com,
or emaill directly.

jon