[pct-l] info needed re hiking JMT/PCT Kearsarge pass north to South lake Sept 1...

[CHUCK CHELIN]

Good morning, Linda,

September is usually a great time to hike the Sierra.  There won’t be any
troublesome snowpack or high creek fords, and the mosquitoes will mostly
gone, and while there can be new snow on any day of the calendar at high
elevation the likelihood in September is very low.

A common phenomena in the Sierra is the afternoon rumbles.  Air from the
Pacific move east across California’s central valley and picks up moisture
as it heats up through the morning.  By early to mid-afternoon that air
ascends the Sierra forming clouds that almost every day shed some of the
moisture as rain -- somewhere.

As you know in the Rockies, from the higher aspects one can see about 50
miles in every direction.  Similarly, in the Sierra one can watch cloud
banks form north and south, and there will be spotty dark, cloud cells with
thunder and lightning – somewhere – so assume there is local rain –
somewhere.

In spite of all that, the chance that rain will fall on any one spot is
darn slim, and if there is rain it most probably will be a brief,
refreshing shower.  It doesn’t usually extend into the night because the
air then passing will not have heated and loaded water over the central
valley.  http://www.trailjournals.com/entry.cfm?id=194180

You probably won’t resupply in the 6 days.  I usually carry about 10 lbs.
of base gear plus about 2 lbs. of food per day.  It isn’t necessary to
carry much water in the Sierra so a total pack weight can be well under the
30 lbs. you mention.

 Overnight temperatures will likely be in the 40’s F, but there could be
light frost.  Daytime temps will likely be in 70’s – simply great.

Enjoy your trip,

Steel-Eye

-Hiking the Pct since before it was the PCT – 1965

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

http://www.trailjournals.com/SteelEye09/


On Thu, Jul 5, 2012 at 10:40 PM, Linda Jagger <lindajagger at yahoo.com> wrote:

> Hello, 3 of us are going to hike JMT/PCT Kearsarge Pass north to South lake
> beginning Sept 1. I've hiked bits of PCT in CA, WA but not this area. We
> live in CO and are avid hikers of high peaks and other trails there. We
> have never done a hike in this part of PCT.  We plan to do 6 days, 10
> mi/day. We want to carry as light as possible, packs less than 30 lb
> total?? I believe other than the access trail from Kearsarge pass &
> South lake we will be doing 40 mi of JMT which is also PCT. Is that
> right? We know that bears are an issue and will have our bear
> cannisters. What other general information can you hikers pass on? What
> are typical temps-lows and highs? Is it true that most likely we are not
> likely to encounter thunderstorms and rain? I believe we are almost
> entirely w/in Kings Canyon NP--correct?? Of course we have our permit,
> etc. We have not been on the PCT digest in several years.
> Thanks for any info provided.
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