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<DIV>John,</DIV>
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<DIV>I took the detour you are speaking about during my 2006 thru-hike. It was not complicated at all, but it was not a walk-in-the-park either. It entails several climbs that are definitely not PCT-grade climbs, but the scenery is fantastic.</DIV>
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<DIV>No doubt I will return to this area one of these days to follow the original PCT route, however. A fair number of 2006 hikers that went through after I did and a number of 2007 thru-hikers did take the original route and faired well enough. You will need to make the call for yourself once you get there.</DIV>
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<DIV>Elevator</DIV>
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<BLOCKQUOTE style="PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: #1010ff 2px solid">-------------- Original message -------------- <BR>From: minnjohn1@aol.com <BR>Any input from 2007 thru-hikers that made it through Washington is appreciated.<BR><BR>I found out there are some updates to the PCT Oregon & Washington book published by Wilderness Press. In fact, I downloaded them from their web site - all 100+ pages of updates. These updates are for their 6th and new 7th editions of the book. But, my question is about a detour that is detailed in these updates. It is called the "Indian Pass to Miners Creek Detour" and the following paragraph from Wilderness Press introduces their description.<BR><BR><FONT face=Times-Roman>
<DIV align=left>"In October 2003, a storm damaged 45 miles of the PCT in Washington State, from Indian Pass to Miners</DIV>
<DIV align=left>Creek, making some sections in that stretch extremely difficult. Following is a description of the</DIV>
<DIV align=left>51.7- mile detour, which requires a high degree of backcountry skill due to difficult navigation and deep</DIV>
<DIV>river fords."<BR></DIV></FONT><BR>The detour looks complicated. According to Wilderness Press, the detour was available to the 2007 thru-hikers. My question is - did any of you take this detour or did you follow the original PCT? Can you give me some input on this? As stated above, Wilderness Press labels the detour as requiring "a high degree of backcountry skill due to difficult navigation and deep river fords".<BR><BR>John - from Minnesota<BR><BR>
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