Trouble in the Sierra

[Anonymous]

PCTers are beginning to come up against hard reality as they venture into the higher terrain of the Sierra.

This will not end well for some, I fear.

http://www.seattletimes.com/life/outdoors/wet-snowy-winter-creates-life-threatening-hazards-for-pacific-crest-trail-hikers/

[Ken Thompson]

Lots of issues this year.

[Matthew / BPL]

Any opinions about what conditions will be like in Humphrys/Piute Pass/Sabrina in four weeks? I have a couple permits for weekend trips in late July. I’ve been watching threads (and posting) over at High Sierra Topix but I’d be interested to hear prognostication from y’all over here too.

[Kenneth Keating]

Thousand Island Lake as of yesterday.

 

[John S.]

A friend from Dallas had to bail out on his pct thru hike.

[Cameron M]

Even the situation depicted of the hiker crossing on the two wood poles is questionable if the consequences of falling are deadly currents. I have good balance, but slick slimy poles would make me think twice.

[Miner]

Another 2-3 years of normal to above average snow in a row might do wonders in shrinking the numbers attempting the PCT as the stories get out. There are other factors in the huge jump in the number of people attempting a thru-hike the last few years, but one of the big factors has to have been the consistent low snow pack and how easy it was to hike High Sierra in late May-June; easy compared to an average or greater snow year at least.

Given all the snow out there, I’m still wondering where I’m going to end up going hiking for my 4 day weekend next week. I’m probably just have to suck it up and dust off my snow gear which I haven’t had to use in a long while.

[Paul Wagner]

We were hiking along the PCT north of Truckee this weekend, and met three PCTers who had bailed out on the trail in Bishop and hopped a ride to Truckee.  They’ll continue on to Canada, then attempt to come back in September to complete the miles they missed.

Their description of the snow and water conditions was hair-raising.

[HkNewman]

The snow was known but there’s was a lot of talk downplaying the dangers through the now-green desert part of the PCT.  Then a few reports of being swept down-river/losing ones entire gear kit downriver…or avalanche really wised everyone up.  Here in Reno NV right now and all busses going north are full starting this Friday.

I decided to hike the PCT this year due to the greenery down south (outstanding but could get hot) …but the price is having to jump around the snow now (more transportation, etc…).

[Jim Fitzgerald]

I talked to four NOBO PCT hikers yesterday as they were hiking the still closed road to Red’s Meadows and on to Canada.  They told me they hiked, with difficulty, over Forester with ice axes and crampons, then bailed at Kearsarge.  Hiked back to the JMT/PCT over Bishop Pass to La Conte.  They said Evolution Creek water was up to their mid chests.  They said they could deal with snow, but stream/creek crossings were “scary, terrifying, etc.”

So far, they found dirt every night for camping.  Only saw a few other hikers north of Kennedy Meadows, so they said.

Their plan is to continue to Canada and, if time, will hike Kearsarge/Le Conte (Bishop Pass) late September this year or next year.

It was their view snow is melting reasonably well.  I was in the Eastern Sierra until today, but no higher than 9,000 ft.  Still significant upper elevation snow and streams are roaring.

[jscott]

“They said Evolution Creek water was up to their mid chests.”

!!! No way am I crossing that mid-chest. There’s a significant falls, or drop off anyway, just down from the established crossing, if I remember right.

One year I spontaneously broke into a loud Amazing Grace as I crossed this river when it was up near my waist. I was not happy.

[Kief H]

Matthew—

I went over Piute Pass from North Lake to Summit Lake this past weekend. We hiked in snow starting around the second small lake up from Loch Leven en route to Piute Lake. So the snow coverage started around 10,800′ and continued about two miles to the pass, which was bare. Well packed trail all the way. Suncups started big time over the divide into Humphreys Basin. It was hot and the melt-out was going strong. The North Lake campground had been temporarily closed due to runoff on the road just a few days after opening for the season.

The nice thing about Piute and Humphreys in a big snow year like this is the absence of major stream crossings. (And the snow coverage on the Glacier Divide is a huge plus if you want to loop back via Alpine and Lamarck Cols—you can practically fly up to Alpine instead of picking your way through all that blocky unstable talus above Goethe Lake, and the climb up to Lamarck from Darwin Bench is much more straightforward on snow as well.) Whether you’re up for—and equipped for—that or not, conditions a month from now in the basin itself should be fine for camping and cruising around the lakes. There’ll be suncupped snowfields, but also bare dirt and rock for making camp. Lots of mosquitoes. It would be nice to have a hiking partner who could share the weight of a netted shelter. Otherwise, pack a headnet for sure. I’d personally choose higher-topped footwear than my Salomon trail runners.

One thing you’ll miss is the acres of lupine perfuming the air for what seems like a mile west of the pass. That’s probably going to be a month behind usual schedule this year.

If you want reliable and up-to-date info before your trip, I’d suggest turning to the Supertopo forum over High Sierra Topix. It’s frequented by a lot more people who spend a lot more time in the Sierra, and at least half the posting traffic is non-climbing related. I find the HST interactive map to be an excellent resource for trip planning, but the forum part of the site is hit and miss. I’ve seen misleading (and flat-out wrong) information consistently delivered as gospel by some of the regulars there. On Supertopo you can pretty much count on hearing fairly quickly from people who have actually been where you want to go in the past few days (or know someone who has been).

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