[pct-l] General advice for a newcomer

[Scott Williams]

You're not too late at all.  First, in preparation for a hike of the PCT
next year, keep reading this list.  You will learn a ton regarding thru
hiking, the gear and techniques to make it real.  Right now, join the PCTA
and start getting the Communicator their publication, as they are the
official angels who keep so much of the trail hike-able and they are the
ones who will cut you a permit for every park you enter next summer, all
jurisdictions.  Also get Yogi's Guide to the PCT as you'll get tons of info
on thru hiking in her books.  Start following Postholer.com, pick someone
interesting and follow their journal this year, or maybe a few people.  The
Wilderness Press guides go into wonderful detail regarding the whole PCT.
 Get your maps from Halfmile simply by downloading and printing them
yourself.  Just google Halfmile's PCT maps.  Sending a donation is a nice
thing to do as he will be your first touch of a trail angel and we hikers
try to give back.  You'll hear a lot more resources by following this list,
but this is a start.

August is a great month to hike the JMT.  The thru hiker pack goes over
very early in June, so you'll be mostly with backpackers, but in summer the
weather in the Sierra is the most benign of any major mountain range in the
world.  That being said, be prepared to be snowed on anytime.  You're above
12,000 feet for long periods and it's hot and cold and possibly wet or
snowy and windy.  Thunder storms are common in the afternoons but usually
don't last into the night, as it's part of the daily heating and cooling
cycle of CA as a whole.  Buy the Tom Harrison Map set for the JMT and
you'll use them again next year.  They give a bigger picture of where you
are than Half Mile or Eric the Black's books.

If I was to fly in I'd come in to San Francisco as there are shuttles from
SF to Yosemite Valley (just google San Francisco to Yosemite) and from
there a park bus that will get you to Mammoth and from there the local bus
that runs on Hwy 395 to Lone Pine, the entry town for Mt. Whitney.  And
besides, San Francisco is a wonderful city.   Yoshihiro Murakami comes over
every year from Japan to hike the JMT and comes into SFO and maybe he has
some feedback for you.   He has flown out of the airports in SoCal, so he
probably knows them too.  He follows the list when he's not crazy snow
backpacking in Japan.  He starts in Yosemite Valley because he likes to
take a few days to chill before hitting trail, and he loves the buffet at
Curry Village.  I recommend booking early in Curry if you plan to stay
overnight.

If you haven't been able to get a permit to enter at Whitney Portal, which
is always a crap shoot, just pick another entry point.  The National Forest
Rangers will help you with getting in the quickest and where there are
openings.  Here's a link to the Inyo National Forest Permit
<http://www.fs.usda.gov/wps/portal/fsinternet/!ut/p/c4/04_SB8K8xLLM9MSSzPy8xBz9CP0os3gjAwhwtDDw9_AI8zPwhQoY6BdkOyoCAPkATlA!/?ss=110504&navtype=BROWSEBYSUBJECT&cid=FSE_003756&navid=160100000000000&pnavid=160000000000000&position=BROWSEBYSUBJECT&ttype=main&pname=Inyo%2520National%2520Forest-%2520Recreation%2520Passes%2520&%2520Permits>page.


I've never waited longer than the next day to get in with no permit when
I'm just going in on a whim.  I usually go in at Cottonwood, south of
Whitney.  You join the PCT in a mile or two and come at Whitney from the
west side and your entry permit from anywhere is good to climb it from the
west.  Then just head north.  Possible resupply spots are to come out at
Kearsarge Pass (very beautiful) and resupply in Independence or go back to
Lone Pine, a bigger town, or north to Bishop.  Or carry enough food to get
you to Muir Trail ranch where you can have a box shipped or Vermillion
Valley Resort, a fun place to spend an overnight and get a rest.  Then,
Reds Meadow and out to Mammoth for real supermarkets and on to Tuolumne
Meadows that has a small store and a PO.

That's a quick sketch, but August is the high season for the JMT and all of
the High Sierra, as the snow is gone and when it does snow it doesn't stay
for long.

You'll need a bear can, but you can rent them cheaply from the rangers.

Have a wonderful time.  I hope you don't fall as hopelessly in love with
the High Sierra as so many of us have.  Poor Yoshihiro has to come over
every year to get his fix.

Shroomer



On Sat, Mar 31, 2012 at 3:51 AM, malcolm pryke <malpryke at yahoo.co.uk> wrote:

> Hi All
>
>
> I live in Austria and would like to attempt the PCT next year.  In
> preparation for this I thought I could visit this year and do the John Muir
> Trail. My problem is, I do not really know too much about the logistics of
> doing this, and so I thought I would ask for some help and for some general
> advice.
>
> 1) I would like to hike the JMT in August, is this advisable or should I
> do it earlier/later?
> 2) If I wanted to hike South to North, which is the best International
> airport to fly to?
> 3) Would it be advantageous to also take an internal flight to a nearer
> airport or is public transport sufficient to get me to the trail head
> 4)Where can I get my pass to enter the parks.  I fear I am too late to
> reserve a pass for this year, so what are the odds of getting a pass if I
> just turn up 1 day before and try to get one of  the remaining non
> allocated passes.
>
>
> Many thanks in advance for your help, I really appreciate it
>
> Mal
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