Links
I am currently in Burney, CA, having started in Truckee on June 21.
1. Basically, going in to town or a highway crossing you will see the trail.
2. Between towns/highways i had lots of snow. Above 6300 i rarely saw the trail, above 5800 i would easily lose it with the patchy snow, below 5800 would be small patches or pure, dry land.
3. Conditions may vary depending on location and sun exposure. Streams for me were mostly snow bridges, but by now there might be some exposed.
4. GPS a must. Even following fire roads was difficult with drifts of +/- 6' obscuring the topography.
5. Crampons/traction? Not sure. I wore crampons for the first 30 miles from Truckee because temps were still cold, but beyond that i rarely ever NEEDED them. The surface snow was loose enough most of the time so that a good kick-step was sufficient. I never wished i had an ice axe. The day after Lassen got that rain, i almost needed traction since the snow packed up hard.
6. I'm able to do 22-28 miles on snow, which is down from my usual 32-36 on dry land. Definitely eating/drinking twice my normal diet.
7. Truckee to Belden i saw NO other people on the trail (except one trail crew near Sierra City) when i ran into Gourmet + Obsidian who were turning back. I rarely ever saw tracks, but i did often see vehicle tracks. Oh, and somehow the bear/deer still know where the PCT is under all that snow.
8. The only difficult stream crossing was Kings Creek 2.5 miles north of Drakesbad. The bridge is washed out (happens every year) but there is a very slick tree across the creek. In the morning there was 8" of clearance under the tree when i shimmied across, but at least 4 sobo hikers have been swept away here, all having crossed in the evening. It can be 4-5' deep, so plan ahead.
9. The creek crossings north of Belden Town, at the top of the long canyon, were fine. One had a nice long, shallow crossing (knee to thigh deep depending on time of day), the second crossing has a big fallen tree to use.
[ view entry ] ( 7896 views ) | permalink | print article
It's Andrea again. I just got a call from Ken-- he's made it to Hat Creek Rim north of Old Station. He's fine and enjoying good views and clear weather. Happy trails!
[ view entry ] ( 4894 views ) | permalink | print article
[ view entry ] ( 3476 views ) | permalink | print article
Hi everyone- it's Andrea. Ken resumes his hike today from Donner Pass near Truckee, CA, where the trail crosses Old Highway 40. He thought there might still be quite a bit of snow on the trail but that it was safe to continue from there. He hopes to finish the rest of northern California in the next month. He may not have reliable access to phone or internet for this section, so don't be surprised if you don't see a blog entry from him for a long while. I'll update his map if I hear from him.
[ view entry ] ( 14225 views ) | permalink | print article
[ view entry ] ( 6485 views ) | permalink | print article
<<First <Back | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | Next> Last>>