[pct-l] Starting a thru-hike in January from San Diego?

[ned at mountaineducation.org]

This subject comes up every year, as we should expect it to.
Yes, people have skied the Muir in April and I'm sure Dittli has gone into 
the high sierra in the thick of winter (we do all winter long, but in Tahoe 
and with short escape routes out), but the main concerns for this "early" of 
a departure date are,

- nasty winter rain or snow storms in Jan, Feb, and March (maybe even into 
April and May)
- flash floods in the desert?
- obviously powder (avalanche-able) snow in SoCal
- possible avalanche conditions from Cottonwood north (if the snow is not 
consolidating)

Historically, wasn't it Bartholomew who entered the Sierra after Christmas 
way back when to exit at Whitney many months later? Haven't the foggiest 
idea what kind of winter he had! Must have been pretty mild....

Otherwise, we're right there with Austin...a January start is nuts. Don't 
enter Cottonwood north until mid-April at the earliest (depending entirely 
on what the snowpack is doing at the time).


"Just remember, Be Careful out there!"

Ned Tibbits, Director
Mountain Education
South Lake Tahoe, Ca. 96150
    P: 888-996-8333
    F: 530-541-1456
    C: 530-721-1551
    http://www.mountaineducation.org
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Austin Williams" <austinwilliams123 at gmail.com>
To: "Mike O" <molmstead2 at yahoo.com>; <pct-l at backcountry.net>
Sent: Monday, July 25, 2011 10:06 AM
Subject: Re: [pct-l] Starting a thru-hike in January from San Diego?


> It's suicide.  Unless you are Ned ;)
>
> Seriously though, please don't try to thru-hike the PCT starting in
> January.  I estimate a 98% of death.
>
> Austin Williams
>
>
>
> www.PlanYourHike.com <http://www.planyourhike.com/>
> Info on PCT Gear, Resupply Points, Maps, Thru hiking Movies, etc.
>
>
>
> On Sun, Jul 24, 2011 at 11:41 PM, Mike O <molmstead2 at yahoo.com> wrote:
>
>> Hi everyone. I've known about the PCT for a while and I've hiked it once 
>> or
>> twice but it never dawned on me to do a thru-hike. I've always wanted to 
>> do
>> a thru-hike on the Appalachian trail but that is on the other side of the
>> country. Anywho, this idea was switched on in my head like a lightbulb 
>> and
>> as such, I'm trying to find out how feasible it is. I'm a 23, almost 24 
>> year
>> old college student. I'll be graduating in the fall of 2012 and I want to
>> attempt my thru-hike then, as that's really the only opportunity I would
>> have. This means that my hike would start at the beginning of January, 
>> after
>> the holidays. Is this suicide or is it possible? I'm in decent shape, I 
>> know
>> I can get in a lot better shape and I would have a year and a half to
>> prepare for this. I have hiking and camping experience, not much in the
>> winter though. That's my biggest worry, going through the Sierras and
>> Cascades during the winter and early spring. Is this suicide or is it
>>  possible?
>>
>> Thanks
>> -Mike
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