Hi guys, two weeks time, I’m gonna start a 90 day section hike from Campo.
I realise it’ll be hot and dry, and I’m prepared for them.
I notice that in a lot of Halfmiles maps, he lists campsites. I know some of them you have to pay for (e.g., Lake Morena) but do I have to only camp in designated campsites? can I just camp somewhere quiet and safe off trail?
Thanks.
K-man
You can camp almost anywhere. There are very few places where you have to pay for camping, or where it’s illegal. I can’t think of a single place on the trail for the first several hundred miles where you can’t just camp a few feet off-trail. Some nicer than others. A bigger issue is finding a spot that’s flat. Sometimes if you’re not looking at the maps you’ll find yourself traversing along a slope as the sun goes down, and there’s no place flat for a few miles. So, look at the maps.
markv
I started PCT on May 22… I did have to carry alot of water on the dry ridges, but it was not as hot as I thot it would be, since it is more like a high desert ridge than a low Mojave traverse. Be prepared for copperheads & rattlesnakes which often hang out right on trail… also ticks number in the countless so you may want to wear ultralite pants tucked into your socks & shirt tucked into your pants!@!!!
gingerbreadman
Hey all, any info on where all the PCT hikers currently are and/or when they’ll be passing through the sierras? Thanks
chris d
Chris, Assume they started the third weekend in April. They’ve been out about 35 days. At 15 miles a day that’s 525 miles. At 20 a day that’s 700 miles. So maybe a third of the way thru CA. Don’t remember where that would be town-wise.
bowlegs
I’m guessing the heard is between Tehachapi and Kennedy meadows though, it being a big snow year, many may be taking a slower pace and a larger contingent then usual will probably be flip flopping. Once the heard hits KM, you will see it somewhat dissipate as this is where most folks make their decision about going through the Sierras in the snow
jalan
gingerbreadman - you are full of it. “In the United States, the Northern Copperhead is found in most of the eastern states including Alabama, Connecticut, Delaware, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Maryland, Massachusetts, Mississippi, Missouri, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, and West Virginia.” Wonder what other tall tales you tell…
Cordon
Just for grins, I used Craigs PCT Planner to answer this question. Using all the default values, the planner says they’re somewhere near Agua Dulce. I kind of remember Memorial Day weekend as the target for many hikers to be at Agua Dulce.
bowlegs
Cordon is right. If you saw Copperheads on the trail you were not on the PCT.
dr j reynolds
is a snake when you’re tired. Although if you really did see a Copperhead, and you started on PCT, then being tired is pretty reasonable.
Mike S
Some of you’s guys remind me of the goofy nerd boy knowitall on SNL… I saw a baby snake with a green tail & copperhead looking markings & a triangular head… I knew it wasn’t a rattler, unless the green tail turns into a set of rattles? It was over by the tiny natural bridge in the first few days of PCT in '93… again, I have to stress, the main idea is to be aware of poisonous things including ticks & the famous SoCal high desert leeches!!!
gingerbreadman
Don’t shoot down people for wanting the hikers to get the facts right, gbm. It’s the internet, where one careless post saying there are dragons in Section C can lead to literally a hundred hikers going out and buying dragon spray to be prepared.
For some reason, putting fear into potential PCT hikers perusing the internet seems to be a rite of passage. If you go by literally what PCT hikers have died or been seriously injured from throughout its history, here’s what you have to be afraid of:
No bear attacks, mountain lion attacks, rattlesnake bites (You will see them. Just don’t handle them.), copperheads, or dragons.
Statistically, the 2 biggest animal killers of hikers in the USA are mosquitos and bees. I wonder why we don’t get threads about those.
markv
I just yahoo searched the copperhead… it turns out: there is a trans-pecos southern copperhead in far west texas! I just didn’t think there would be any reason for there not to be copperheads in similar terrain… also, you know-it-alls don’t know whether some LA idiots have released copperheads in SoCal!!! I guess there can’t be any giant constrictor snakes in Florida because that’s not there native habitat… nor can there be any fire ants in the US because they belong in South America or something.
Perhaps you know-it-alls don’t know it all!!!
gingerbreadman
PS: you should be very afraid of bears… I had one on top of me on the JMT portion of the PCT because I camped with my chocolate inside the tent since the trees up at Charlotte lake were so stunted… (on the CDt I used Ursacks that you just tie to the tree instead of having to hang & I much preferred that method.) luckily for me, the bear just clawed some holes in my tent fly instead of my flesh when I screamed high pitched like a girl & the gourmet gals & I threw rocks & banged pots/pans til it went away & surprisingly never came back for our food now hanging in tne low trees!!!
gingerbreadman
So we’ve gone from “copperheads often hang out on the trail” :lol to the possibility of some migrating from Texas without biologists documenting it or someone releasing a pet copperhead onto the PCT. Dude, give up. You lie. Don’t complain when you get busted on it.
If you’re stupid enough to have chocolate in your tent at one of the most popular camping areas in the High Sierra, you might want to be more afraid of yourself than of bears. A few years ago on PCT-L, (search the 2008 archives) i posted links and info for all the fatal black bear and mountain lion attacks in recorded US history. There have been very few, and none on the PCT. Of course, High Sierra bears go after your food, and if they are smarter than you, they get it.
Don’t waste time being afraid. If you must be afraid of something, focus on not falling or drowning, or getting in an accident on the way to the trail. Or of stupid people.
:cheers
markv
Im on the AT right now in Damascus, VA. It’s interesting the level of Bearanoia that exists out here. I sleep with my food every night next to me, even in the shelters. Only one night I hung it in the Smokies, since there were alot of people at the shelter and I wanted to play nice. Turns out me hanging my food earned me a bottle of Glen Fiddich scotch, transfered to a plastic bottle, the next morning.
Every one else hangs their food here which seems like a crazy effort.
Out here, I’m afraid of the local skinheads and other similar idiots the most. I’ve been seeing a ton of them in the towns, and at trail heads. Next in line are ticks, then hypothermia.
Though the AT is pretty cool over all. Back to the original thread though, People have been seeing rattlesnakes out here on the trail. I have not yet, though I like snakes, so look forward to seeing them. I did see something that someone told me was a Rat Snake. I never heard this common name before though. It was about four feet long and black. No rattles. The band last night played “Copperhead Road” so they probably exist here, I should look them up in Yahoo Images so I can identify them. Im a nerd for properly naming animals and such.
Happy Trails.
Guino
Well the green tail on the juvenile could very well be a Copperhead according to this website, http://www.uga.edu/srelherp/snakes/agkcon.htm Glad I saw this thread. I’ll keep my eyes open now. Damn snakes should have rattles, when I die Im going to let god know that I think he should put rattles on every venomous critter in the woods.
Guino
Guino - It’s not about you - it’s about the bears. Nobody cares if you lose your food or get mauled or killed by a bear. Unfortunately, once a bear figures out they can get easy food from stupid hikers they will keep doing it. That spells disaster for the bear which will eventually be destroyed by wildlife managers.
You should hang your food.
grumpy
Let us all worship the infallible MarkV; for Saint MarkV can do nor say no wrong! This stupid person completed the triple crown, mostly solo; not to mention another triple crown of Europe (Alps, Pyrenees, Pennines); & thru hiked Australia as well, which almost everyone predicted my death; but almost stepping on one of the most poisonous snakes there, I jumped higher than an olympic gymnast & survived once again… but I have to admit, I can’t hold a candle to St. Mark!!!
gingerbreadman