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<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'>Using poles or not using poles is such a
personal choice. Many hikers prefer hiking without them.
Personally, I really enjoy and benefit from using mine. So whether you need
them or not is really something you have to decide. There are some substantial
elevation gains and losses in So Cal and some sketchy “shelves” or “ledges”
which can be even more intimidating for some with ice or snow on them. The
San Jacintos with snow and ice have scared the s**t out of more than a few
hikers. Keep you eye on snow conditions down south, as well as the
Sierras. In ’05 when the snow and rainfall broke the record, the So
Cal sections were quite the challenge. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'>L-Rod<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
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<p class=MsoNormal><b><font size=2 face=Tahoma><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Tahoma;font-weight:bold'>From:</span></font></b><font size=2
face=Tahoma><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Tahoma'>
pct-l-bounces@backcountry.net [mailto:pct-l-bounces@backcountry.net] <b><span
style='font-weight:bold'>On Behalf Of </span></b>Eric Payne<br>
<b><span style='font-weight:bold'>Sent:</span></b> Wednesday, January 09, 2008
8:42 PM<br>
<b><span style='font-weight:bold'>To:</span></b> pct-l@backcountry.net<br>
<b><span style='font-weight:bold'>Subject:</span></b> [pct-l] How flat is So
Cal?</span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
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<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:12.0pt'><font size=3
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>I'm thinking about not
getting my trekking poles until Kennedy Meadows. I typically always use
trekking poles when there is lots of tricky eleveation gain, but I have a
mental image of most of the PCT (especially socal) being very graded. How
wrong am I? I definitely want the poles for the sketchy fords in the
Sierra, and then I'll keep them beyond that. I can just remember all of
the times on the AT when I hated using them on flat sections. They seemed
sort of like a waste of time in those sections, and I didn't like using the
energy to swing them...it felt unnatural and just something else to pay
attention to. Can you say lazy? Still...it also seems that it would
use less energy, thus calories, thus less water in socal. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=2 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:10.0pt'>No virus
found in this incoming message.<br>
Checked by AVG Free Edition.<br>
Version: 7.5.516 / Virus Database: 269.19.0/1216 - Release Date: 1/9/2008 10:16
AM</span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
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<BR>
<P><FONT SIZE=2>No virus found in this outgoing message.<BR>
Checked by AVG Free Edition.<BR>
Version: 7.5.516 / Virus Database: 269.19.0/1216 - Release Date: 1/9/2008 10:16 AM<BR>
</FONT> </P>