[pct-l] Southbound Questions

[Austin Williams]

Hi!

1) depends on the year.  For the most part, yes.  As a rule of thumb: if the
lake Vermillion valley resort is heavily drained... then there is probably a
drought in the desert.  To be safe, I recommend asking the southern
Californian trail angels if they'll stock the usual water caches for you.
Water in Southern Cali is impossible to predict for sobos when they leave in
june/july.  Pray for rain, conserve your water, and watch the water
reports<http://www.4jeffrey.net/pct/>.
Know where the water is.  If you aren't anti-GPS, then loading the waypoints
for the water sources might help you out.

2) I carry bear mace.  A small can.  Works unless they really, *really*,
want to want you.  They usually don't.  I never saw a grizzly, but I saw
some tracks in Washington.

3) Sneaking into America is always an option... not legal... but an option.
I also southbounded... we U.S. citizens can't cross into the U.S. along the
trail either.  Stupid really.  I hiked from Hart's pass to Monument 78, then
turned around and hiked south.  I think it was worth it.  Check Google Earth
for Directions.  I had to cache food at the road to pull it off... (not a
popular strategy... don't tell anyone).

4) I left in July after one of the worst winters on record.  I didn't bring
an ice axe.  I made it.  Barely. :)  It was a lot of fun.  Now that I think
about it... it would be irresponsible for me not to tell you to take one.  I
almost died a few times.  Yeah, bring an ice axe.  Worst case scenario is
you don't use it.  You can ditch it when you get to Cascade Locks.

Southbounders need to plan a little differently than NoBos.  Here's some
info about that:

http://www.planyourhike.com/planning/southbound.html

Good luck!