Pacific Crest Trail: Northern California. Jeffrey P. Schaffer
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Название: Pacific Crest Trail: Northern California
Автор: Jeffrey P. Schaffer
Издательство: Ingram
Жанр: Книги о Путешествиях
Серия: Pacific Crest Trail
isbn: 9780899977409
isbn:
6 To retrieve your food, snag the small loop at the end of the parachute cord with your stick. Without a stick or similar object, adequate bearbagging is almost impossible. Unfortunately, sticks left by knowledgeable backpackers too often end up in someone’s campfire.
Weather
If you adequately prepare for bad weather, your backpack trip won’t be all that bad even if such weather occurs. Storms come in two categories: frontal storms and thunderstorms. The farther north you are on the PCT the more likely you are to get caught in a frontal storm moving east across the state, since the storm season is several months longer than in southern California. In northern California frontal storms may come in mid- or late August, but they don’t get serious until sometime in September. By October you’ll generally want to be out of the highlands, which likely will become snow-covered before month’s end and stay that way into early July. When you’re in the Klamath Mountains you can get snow any time of the year, although in July and August the storms are infrequent and may dump only a few inches, which is no real impediment if you’re prepared. In the High Sierra, from about the Lake Tahoe environs south to Sequoia National Park, the storm season is shorter. In average years these lands are not closed by snowfall until late October or early November; you can still have frontal storms in August or September, but the snow usually melts in several days. In southern California frontal storms may occur in November, but the serious ones will more likely be from January through March. Still, through-hikers starting in April from the Mexican border can get snowed on anywhere en route.
Contrasting with winter-centered frontal storms, thunderstorms are centered around summer and move north up the state. If you’re caught in one, you can get a real drenching from copious rain or a beating from hard-hitting hail. This can occur in the San Jacintos and the San Bernardinos (the San Gabriels are less likely), and in the southern and central Sierra Nevada. Especially in the high lands of Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks, these storms are likely, particularly in July. They are less frequent in Yosemite National Park, and once you’re north of the Lake Tahoe area they are rare events. The cumulonimbus clouds that create these storms build in the afternoon, and the storms themselves typically occur from midafternoon into early evening, that is, from about 2 or 3 p.m. until about 7 or 8 p.m. Therefore, if you have an exposed alpine pass to cross, try to do it before midafternoon. As mentioned under item 12 of “Trail Advice” earlier in this chapter, if you see the clouds looming and hear distant thunder, be prepared to seek shelter. Exposed high lands are no place to be dodging lightning strikes.
To minimize any storm encounter, hike during an optimal time. For southern California lowlands this can be March or April, when frontal storms are less likely, temperatures are neither too cold nor too hot, there is still enough groundwater for springs to be reliable, and even some seasonal streams may still be flowing. Two-thirds of the PCT, and most of the sections described in this book, traverse relatively high lands, above 6000 feet. In the mid- and northern High Sierra, such high lands can remain largely snowbound through June and into early July. Much of the trail through Sequoia National Park, described in Pacific Crest Trail: Southern California, is above 11,000 feet and the snowpack can be serious until mid-July. Then, as snow melts quickly, another problem presents itself, namely swollen and rushing streams that you must ford. These can be just as life-threatening as icy passes. It’s best to avoid hiking in this area before mid-July in a year with average precipitation. August and September are good months with fair weather, but until Labor Day, they are also the most crowded times of the year on the PCT. In Lassen Volcanic National Park, and certainly lands north of it, September weather can be chancy.
Cloud formations above Tollhouse Lake, along the old (temporary) PCT.
Choosing an optimal hiking month is not an option with through-hikers bound for the Canadian border. They must start at the Mexican border by mid-April through early May, when there are still enough springs flowing and not too much snow in higher elevations. The hike through Antelope Valley (the western part of the Mojave Desert) can be grueling, usually too hot and always too dry. But a couple of weeks later they will be entering the High Sierra, which will be too snowy. Not until early July, when hopefully they’ve reached Interstate 80 at Donner Pass, will their problems be over—temporarily: snow storms await them in Washington in September.
If you plan to through-hike and can choose the year to do it, then pick one in which the south half of the Sierra and all lands south of it (Sections A-H in Pacific Crest Trail: Southern California) are having a relatively dry year. Though springs will dry up earlier in southern California, with a light Sierra snowpack you can start a month sooner, in early April rather than in early May. When central and southern California are having relatively low precipitation in fall, winter, and spring, Oregon and Washington usually are having relatively high precipitation, which means a thick, long-lasting snowpack. However, by the time you reach Oregon, perhaps in early July, the snow problems won’t be that bad and the snow will continue to melt as you advance northward to the really snowy country. Another bonus of hiking in such a year is that you can finish by early or mid-September, before the frontal storms start coming in thick and fast, besieging you with one snow dusting after another.
Perhaps the worst kind of year is one with heavy precipitation both in the central and southern Sierra Nevada and in southern California. On the plus side (which does not approach the heavy minus side), springs and seasonal streams will be flowing in southern California. On the minus side, snowpacks can slow you down in southern California’s mountains, and especially so in the Sierra. Hiking slower than average, you could run out of time, for Washington’s North Cascades can be snowbound and that section can be indecipherable when you reach it. If you don’t have access to information about the water situation in California, contact the Pacific Crest Trail Association (PCTA), mentioned early in this chapter. They keep track of trail conditions, including drinking-water availability, snow problems, and other issues pertinent to the PCT trekker.
Hypothermia
Hypothermia is the rapid and progressive mental and physical collapse that accompanies chilling of the human body’s inner core. It is caused by exposure to cold, and is intensified by wetness, wind, and exhaustion. Therefore, it’s always a good idea to carry raingear. An unexpected storm could otherwise soak you to the bone. Hypothermia almost always occurs at temperatures well above freezing. Anyone who becomes fatigued in wet and windy conditions is a potential victim. If you experience a bout of uncontrollable shivering, you should seriously consider yourself a candidate for hypothermia and take appropriate measures.
The best defense against hypothermia is to avoid exposure. Stay dry. When clothing is wet, it can lose as much as 90 percent of its insulating value, draining heat from the body. Unlike cotton, down and some synthetics, wool and polypropylene retain most of their insulating value when wet. If you can afford them, buy waterproof-breathable garments, which are made by a number of manufacturers. Be aware of the wind. Even a slight breeze carries heat away from your body, and forces cold air under as well as through clothing. Wind intensifies cold by evaporating moisture from the skin’s surface. Use proper clothing. Put on raingear immediately, not after you are fairly soaked. Add a layer of clothing under your raingear before shivering occurs. A hat or ski cap, preferably made of wool or polypropylene, should be worn to protect and help retain body heat.
If your party fails to take these precautionary steps, a hiker with hypothermia may progress to more advanced symptoms, which include slurred speech, drowsiness, amnesia, frequent stumbling, a decrease in shivering, hallucinations and, finally, stupor, coma, and death. The victim may strongly deny he or she is in trouble. Believe the symptoms, not the patient.
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