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  1. #1
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    Default What does a record low snow season mean for PCT thru hiking.

    who knows what the water situations gonna be like for 2012 with such a crazy warm winter going on. probably less I would Imagine.
    Need some advice, I am thru hiking the pct this year and i'm stressin' about even less water for 2012 than average

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    It really means nothing until mid June. In 2009 we were told at the kick off. "Low snow year forget your ice ax, scamper through the Sierras, Then about June 9th or so, storm and storm. It turned into a regular snow year. Not crazy like 2011 but I felt underprepared and had to send for my microspikes and get a better sleeping bag and puffy jacket, etc. As for water. It was lowish and I carried 7 effing liters at one point but you'll have plenty of water reports to give you heads up.
    Everything is in Walking Distance

  3. #3
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    so what do ya think about the drinking water though, less runoff might mean very dry springs. no bueno ya know.

  4. #4

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    You're always going to have water in the Sierra. The water in southern California isn't necessarily dictated by snowpack. Just get the latest water updates before you start and plan accordingly. A word of warning, don't rely on caches.

  5. #5

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    Looks like winter is finally hitting the west coast big time. What started out as recored low snow pack could end up being average. Last year was epic for a lot of places. Not likely to see that again real soon - maybe.
    Follow slogoen on Instagram.

  6. #6
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    Here is a great place to keep track of the snow out there for all the US

    http://www.nohrsc.noaa.gov/

    I hope it melts ahead of me all hiking season

    HT1

  7. #7

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    If you want to know what a very low snow year is like, look up some trail journals from 2007 which was an extremely low snow year for the Sierra Neveda. You could have entered the Sierra in mid May and had better conditions then a typical mid June entry. Hikers made faster then normal progress through the Sierra and arrived in Oregon earlier then normal. Yogi hiked that year so if you are buying her PCT Handbook anyway, you might send her and email and ask about water levels in SoCAL.

  8. #8

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    I'm not excited about the low snow. I think it doesn't bode well for the summer fire season in california. We may end up with quite a few road walks if you don't get through the sierra early. Guess it's a good year for a May entry to the Sierras!

  9. #9
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    Here is a link to the CA snow levels. One caution for folks thinking of hitting the Sierra early, monitor the snow levels in OR and WA to make sure you don't fly through the Sierra only to make up for it with more residual snow further north. I went through OR and WA in August, 2011 and had at least some snow everyday with the exception of one day (coming out of Cascade Locks.) While 2011 was not typical even in OR and WA it was quite the surprise last year when we expected clear trail north of the Sierra. The good news though, going through OR and WA early put us ahead of all the fires last year.

    http://cdec.water.ca.gov/cgi-progs/r.../PLOT_SWC.2012

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