Bill and I spent (I think) about two hours today going round and round in circles, discussing the topic of “Yikes, should we change our PCT start date plans in view of all the snow piling up in the Sierras?”   In the end, after much weighing of pros and cons and this and that, we ended up back where we started, with “Oh, whatever!   Let’s just keep things as they are, start at ADZPCTKO and see what happens!”

We have been following the CA Dep’t of Water Resources snow reports, which all the way to the beginning of April put snow levels at pretty close to normal.  But just after the final snow survey of the year,  two great big heavy storms arrived, that dumped a whole lot more snow.  One of those storms is just finishing up today, and here in the San Francisco Area, we had two solid days of heavy rain, which is very unusual for this time of year.   Our daughter and I had to drive to San Francisco (we were going to the ballet) in an unbelievable downpour that made it hard to see.

So after much discussion and debate, Bill and I decided that the kickoff was too much fun to miss, and we will just take our time a little more in Southern CA, to (hopefully) give the snow a bit more time to settle down.   And the fact that Bill has hiked the JMT so many times gives us a lot more confidence, since he knows the trail quite well, and has done it early season when there was a lot of snow.   In 2005, neither of us had ever hiked the JMT, and that was one of the factors that led us to skipping the Sierras and coming back to them later in the hike.  Bill is confident that he can figure out where to go even if there is snow, and he also has figured out where the best places are to cross some of those nasty roaring rivers.  The only places that worry even him are the north side of Glen Pass, the south side of Mather Pass, and the crossing of upper Evolution Creek (which is normally done on large, tall steppingstones, but if those are buried in snow, you can’t see them, and if you miss, you could end up dead, like some hikers have–they were pulled under the snow and ice by the current, and drowned).

Personally, I hope that when we get to Kennedy Meadows, we will be able to link up with some other hikers for the trek  through the High Sierras.  I guess I say that because I am a petite person, and the thought of having some more big, strong guys around for breaking trail and creek crossings is a very nice thought!