[pct-l] Snow sensor limitation awareness

[CHUCK CHELIN]

Good morning, Barry,

You touched upon something that not everyone has thought about:  The nature
of a “pass”.  When we approach a trail pass we hike up, and up, and up, then
cross the pass before going down, and down, and down.  When we approach a
road pass we go down, and down, and down to cross the pass before climbing
up, and up, and up some more.



Steel-Eye

Hiking the Pct since before it was the PCT – 1965

http://www.trailjournals.com/steel-eye

http://www.trailjournals.com/SteelEye09


On Wed, Jun 16, 2010 at 10:37 AM, Barry Teschlog <tokencivilian at yahoo.com>wrote:

> To those considering flipping to a location because the snow sensors now
> read zero, a word of caution:
>
> Just because the sensor says zero, doesn't mean there isn't a lot of snow
> in the area.  The Sonora Pass (~ mile 1018) sensor read zero about 3 to 4
> weeks before I arrived there on July 5, 2006.  There was still LOTS of snow
> in the area.
>
> Many times, the sensor is at a pass, which in many locations is the local
> low spot of the trail, not the high spot, like in the High Sierra.  Many
> times you'll CLIMB out of the pass (mostly typical here in Washington for
> the highway passes).
>
> A concrete example of this is the Stevens Pass sensor reads no snow (and
> has for about 5 days).  Yet, a quick look at the Stevens Pass Ski Area web
> cam page showing the slopes you'll climb immediately south of the pass shows
> that they're still some where in the 40 to 60% snow coverage range.  Hardly
> zero snow.
>
> Just be aware that what you think might be snow free, in fact may still
> have significant snow.  Plan accordingly.
>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> Pct-l mailing list
> Pct-l at backcountry.net
> To unsubcribe, or change options visit:
> http://mailman.backcountry.net/mailman/listinfo/pct-l
>
> List Archives:
> http://mailman.backcountry.net/pipermail/pct-l/
>