[pct-l] Planning for Snow, or not

Ned Tibbits ned at mountaineducation.org
Mon Sep 24 02:04:55 CDT 2012


Nathan, Jeff, and Scott...

Jeff, as always, great advice to Nathan. Really, the only way to get in 
shape for the trail is to be conditioned by it. Sure, you can work on your 
cardiovascular and certain muscle group's fitness before departure, but 
there are always the trail-specific muscles that need awakening once on the 
trail that will sound off loud and clear that they are pissed off from 
day-1. Tendons and ligaments experience different strains and pressures 
required of them while hiking that really can't be truly replicated at home 
very well. So, do your best to get in general shape prior to lift-off and 
let the trail and low mileage (like Jeff explained) do the rest.

Scott made a very good point that if you know how to walk "through" snow, 
you might be able to extend your hiking season so you can hike at a more 
leisurely pace and still make it to Canada without fear of being stopped by 
early season powder snow storms.

Let me clarify what this subject means to all who are knee-deep in their 
planning stages:

Yes you can & no, you don't want to.

Snow is not scary. You just need to get to know it.

Spring, consolidated snow is hard in the mornings, so you can walk ON it for 
several hours before its surface starts to soften, say around noon. 
Thereafter, it becomes so soft that you start falling into it, doing 
something we like to call "post-holing," a rather frustrating, dangerous, 
and totally maddening series of one or two-legged plunges deep into the mush 
we also like to call "sierra cement."  If you start your day early, say at 
sunrise, you will have a good six hours of "walking on water" to make your 
miles before you need to be too concerned about post-holing.

Ah, but "walking" on snow is not the same as walking on terra firma. Walking 
on hard ground allows you to push off the balls of your feet to propel you 
forward. If you do that on snow you will most likely slip and not go 
anywhere! So, what each step has to accomplish is to maintain your balance, 
acquire enough traction on its uphill side to get a grip on the slope 
(you're inevitably traversing), and resist the temptation to push forward 
and walk "flat-footed." This takes a lot of time, speed out of your sails, 
reduces your daily mileage hopes, and consumes a lot of calories. Plan for 
10 miles a day in snow.

We tell our students, "Cut your mileage in half and double your caloric 
intake while going through the sierra."

When a person departs the Mexican border early (I would clarify this date to 
be anytime after mid-March), they reach the Sierra snow while it is still 
consolidating (hardening, packing, settling) under the spring sun of 
mid-April and thereafter. It is easy to walk on and when the snow is soft in 
the afternoon, you try to be below snowline to keep on walking (and not 
post-holing) or just retire for the day and play in the snow.

There are other advantages of going through the sierra snow "early." Creek 
crossings, which are feared by later-season hikers, are covered by snow, so 
getting over them is easy (you don't have to go through them). Now, you do 
have to know how to evaluate the thickness of the snow bridges and so forth, 
but its easy to learn. Most all of the nasty rock obstacles, low ridges, and 
other logs and bushes on and off the trail are covered up so you can hike 
anywhere, even in a straight line if you want to! Just know where the trail 
is and your relationship to it and go where you want, pick your own route up 
the pass, slide straight down the pass on your rear, its that easy! (Yes, 
there is a fair amount of "mountain sense" to doing all this safely!) No 
bugs, no bears, no dirt, no rangers, just a lot of beautiful days in the 
sun!

Don't forget, Springtime is when the sun is hot while the nights are still 
below freezing. If you enter in before the thaw starts, you will have a lot 
of time before the snow really softens up to get those miles in. The later 
you enter, the earlier in the day the snow softens, the quicker you will 
start post-holing. So, I guess it is safe to say that there is a period of 
time between the start of the thaw (when nighttime temps stay above freezing 
and when the surface of the snow really doesn't solidify at night) and the 
emergence of dry trail that walking over snow is a real pain in the ass 
(exhausting, frustrating, and no fun). Go early or go late.

What would we do? Certainly with training and practice, going in early is a 
joy. Plan for reduced miles and big meals and marvel at the snow-covered 
sights! By the time you get to Tahoe with its short creeks, the snow will be 
nearly melted off and you won't have to worry about nasty, dangerous creek 
crossings typical of high sierra long creeks (uphill of your crossing 
point). It will be early June and you should be able to reach Canada by 
September, marginally before those early storms start dumping powder (which 
you will have to wade through) and stop your dream hike from coming true.

I did it on the PCT and CDT and so can you. Spend this winter learning and 
practicing and you will have more time on-trail to enjoy all the sights and 
explorations all the way to Canada!



Ned Tibbits, Director
Mountain Education
www.mountaineducation.org
-----Original Message----- 
From: Scott Bryce
Sent: Sunday, September 23, 2012 10:02 PM
To: pct-l at backcountry.net
Subject: Re: [pct-l] Slowest PCT Thru Hike -- sorry

On 9/23/2012 8:20 PM, Nathan Dreon wrote:
> However, all of the journals I found on my own were written by folks
> who did the trial in less than 6 months.

There is a reason for that.

For most hikers in most years there is a less-than-6-month window of
opportunity if one wants to hike the entire trail in one year. The
reason for that narrow window of opportunity has a lot to do with snow.

Starting too early means hiking through snow that has not yet melted off
of the various mountain ranges one will encounter in California.
Finishing too late means playing chicken with early season snowstorms in
northern Washington. This window of opportunity runs from late April to
mid to late September in a typical snow year. Thus a shorter than 6
month long thru hike for most hikers.

If you are prepared to hike in snow, you can stretch that window wider.


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