Daily Snow Info 07-08

imported
#1

The Postholer Snow Page is now being updated daily for the current snow season:
http://postholer.com/cgi-bin/postHoler

What It Is
Provides general snow conditions along the PCT to assist you in your pre-hike planning; especially for those thru-hikers anxiously waiting to choose a start date. On this page you’ll find tabular and graphical data for each snow sensor as well a link to a topo map and a NOAA weather report for that location. Also, the page has historical data back to 1970; that doesn’t mean all the sensors existed though! You can also compare any 2 dates and see how this year is compared to another. And of course, the Sierra Entry Indicator for your entertainment.

What It Isn’t
It is not designed to give you snow information around the next bend or over the next hill. It is not a human report. The data is collected via automatic sensors. Sensors are 30 miles or more apart, with exceptions.

Postholer Snow Page in Action:
05-06, a very wet season for most of the trail:
http://tinyurl.com/ywzmr5

And 06-07, a very dry season for the southern end of the trail:
http://tinyurl.com/3dle5h

-postholer

Scott

#2

Does anyone ever wonder why Scott Parks here fails to make the connection to running a business and being a person that everyone doesn’t hate? At this point I would rather not even check his site and forego any information it may give, in favor of not supporting a guy who has continually showed themselves to be an a$$h-le on the PCT-L.

You’d think that someone who is clearly using his website as a front for another money-making website, would understand that getting people to hate you is not a good business strategy. Then again, anyone that spends so much time actively “boycotting” something as insignificant and goodnatured as the kickoff, maybe doesn’t make such logical connections as that. (Come on man, you don’t “boycott” a thing like the kickoff, you reserve boycotts for actually bad things like Walmart)

Bystander

#3

Maybe before I posted the above post, I should have looked at your website again. Seems as if you may have changed a bit since I last looked 7 months ago. I no longer see that link to your business site, and the boycott the kickoff crap seems to be gone. Maybe you saw the light…or maybe you just finally recognized that coming off as bad person on the PCT-L gives all your websites a bad flavor. Either way, I apologize for my above post. My bad.

Bystander

#4

I lot of people try to make money off of us hikers Bystander. At the kickoff this year I saw alot of commercialism going on. Tarp Tent, Those expensive handmade backpacks(forgot the name), Gregory crap, all the gregory stickers in the free box. Dudes selling Tye-dyes(gave me a free one and beer and :smiley: ) not to mention, and more. Not that there isn’t probably a need to have this just another marketing event for those companies, I really enjoyed the free food, and got to hang with some cool people. Thats why people probably boycott the thing. Half of it just seems to be a commercial for gear that as I saw in peoples tarp tents during rainstorms were crap. But once again free food is worth this commercialistic nonsense. Plus a shower was cool too. Also people like Yogi make a ton of money off the hikers too. Well you might say it pays for her hike but any job does that too. I like Yogis guide and read it several times before the hike, and had infinite amusement about the water sources listed as disgusting in Or that were actually quite good. But just saying maybe you shouldn’t just focus your anger at one person when you could include everyone and make a hobby out of being a jerk. Same as with every bussiness along the way and expensive hotels which try to lure us in by putting advertisements on the actual trail, like the one in Mojave that was just south of the Tehachapi Mojave road with the new exterior (Motel 6 was like 30 bucks cheaper) It’s ads was right on the trail. Along with the restaurant down the street from Kennedy Meadows (at 702) Have fun and see you on the trail next year if I can afford to hike it again.
PS forgot to mention all the people who hustled donations for their hikes.

guino

#5

I don’t mean this to sound condescending or bad-natured, but I’m sort of having a hard time following your above post. I can’t tell when you’re talking to me or others, and though this sounds demeaning, grammar, punctuation, etc. would go a long way in better conveying your message.

As far as Yogi making a lot of money, I sort of question that. The market for her guide is super small, and if she sells even 200-300 a year (which seems generous really) and makes maybe what, $5 off each? Thats not a whole lot is it? I’ve done a lot of self publishing stuff and I can tell you that a single ink cartridge is probably gone through every 2-4 books. Plus the kinkos binding fees, the website maintenance, the time she obviously puts in, etc. I guess I’m just asking you to rethink your statement. I know its fun to make fun of Yogi, just as its fun and easy to make fun of every person who establishes themselves as a figurehead (high school principal, your boss, elected officials, etc.), but recognizing that you’re just “sticking it to the man,” is different than actually believing they deserve it.

As far as my attacking Scott Parks goes, I think you’d have to know a little PCT-L background before adding any relevant opinion. My experience with this guy is that for months he complains and acts contrary to just about everything said on the list. Seriously, just about everything. It really seemed like he just got a kick out of saying the opposite of everything posted…in a really b*tchy manner. Specifically he moaned and groaned about commercialism on the trail (I agree with your opposition to ads on the trail, but can also see how specific gear vendors at the kick-off could be useful to some people not exposed to lightweight gear or wanting to talk to their producers), while also using his website as a jumping point for his own commercial venture. It just rank of hypocrisy and really destroyed any credibility he may have had.

My only point in posting was that I wondered how a man who supposedly wants to be involved in the thru-hiking world, would actively cultivate an image that is repugnant to most actual hikers.

Bystander

#6

Just my two cents…

Most of the forum and journal sites have their positives and negatives.

Whiteblaze can be extremely funny with all of the cranky ole hikers taking pot shots at each other. They just get so worked up over the craziest things, and after a tough day at work I can always count on a good chuckle amidst all the drama!

Trailjournals is a GREAT read. I’ve posted here, and there are some fantastic journals on this site…Funnybone, Liteshoe, etc. Nice site!

I also post on Postholer, and the administrators of this site have gone above and beyone to help me get set up and rolling. I love the fact that I can post straight from my handheld or pocketmail with no transcriber! Postholer is a great little site that offers some great resources.

They all have their good and bad, “characters” and “angels.” Hats off to all of those administrators and moderators that give their blood, sweat, patience and tears, while listening to a lot of us hikers whine. Job well done!

Ellie

#7

I was not making fun of Yogi, I was just using her as a convinient example of someone whos making money off of hikers, which by your previous statement seemed to make you angry. As I said, I liked Yogi’s book. I was trying to show that everyone is making money off of us, and it’s not really that big of a deal to worry about. Though the sarcazm and the three or four lines that got deleted from dragging my barely opposoble thumbs across the touch pad of this laptop, may have made it hard to understand. Not everyone likes each other on the trail, or in real life too. I even found that some people disliked to the point of disgust the Andersons, which seems to be incredible. Deacon even said that one hiker who stayed there this summer who was a lawyer was going to try to press some legal issues(which Deacon supports) on them. Sorry if you feel offended.

guino

#8

Yes, I am guilty for having my unamed commercial website associated with postholer.com for a few months.

Some folks saw that as pandering to a hikers wallet, especially given my vocal history of those who do. My intentions are pure and they always have been. My actions, not only my words, reflect that.

I assure you I haven’t ‘seen the light’. I will continue to be vocal at the appropriate time. My opinion of those who view hikers as ‘thru-wallets’ has not changed. See this article if you think this is not the case.

If you find a PCT resource as complete/expanding as my site is, at any price, you let me know.

As always, hikers supporting hikers, without a price tag. What a concept!

Scott Parks

Scott

#9

Money doing what you love!

And honestly, few (if any!) in the cottage gear industry are living the fancy life :rolleyes If a person can make a living do what they love, then give them a congrats. Life isn’t free.

I met Yogi for a few minutes this past spring in Seattle (we were both vendors at the PCT Fest). She is incredibly nice, just as Henry Shire is. The feeling I get as a vendor at trail festivals is you get a certain crowd of people that show up that are not hard core hikers. These are the customers more than anyone else. You have a chance to mold future hikers!

I am sure I have had people who have questioned my business as well…and while I am on a good roll, it pays my bills and for my bio-diesel so I can hike. My business allows my family to go trips we couldn’t justify (like going to MT yearly to hike). It is my husbands career that pays the bills so I can go live my vision of grandeur :girl

So think of how it feels if your honest business venture gets mocked. It doesn’t feel good, that business is your baby after all!

sarbar

#10

Guino-

You act like advertisments and big business were being shoved down our throats at the kick off. Hardly the case. The only “commercialism” was a few small vendors trying to sell their stuff, though this wasn’t the main attraction or even the point of the kickoff. Really a backseat to the main stage of presentations, slideshows etc. Most of these folks are small, independently owned biz run by one or two people like Six Moons, ULA and Shires. They aren’t evil corporate tyrants by any means, just people trying to make a living, stiching most of their own gear and picking up the phone 73 times a day to make us hikrs happy.
Plus, not like you had to buy anything or even pay a visit to these vendors. Don’t we all need gear? I’m sure you used a backpack and a tarptent on your PCT hike. Would you rather be bombarded with bigger companies like Merrell, Kelty and North Face?
Not to go on too long, or to attack you (I’m not), but the outdoor industry is a drop in the bucket compared to mainstream retail. As Skurka says on his podcast, you could take every outdoor shoe/footwear company and add them together and this still wouldn’t equal the amount of revenue and profits that a Nike or Adidas makes. Now, think about the guy stiching your tarptent by hand. Still think he’s a bad guy? The market/niche of long-distance hikers who want light stuff is extremely tiny. Working at an outfitter for a yr I found the majority of outdoor people don’t care at all about the lightest stuff-it’s a very small group of passionate dedicated folks.

Lastly, on Yogi, I don’t wanna speak for her, but she isn’t making much if any off of her book you can be assured. You can argue oppositely, but I believe she’s put the work into the book more to benefit hikers than to make money. She loves the trail, she’s not trying to scam hikers. I don’t think she woulda drove from Kansas to Pennsylvania to the Gathering to give a presentation on the PCT if this were the case.

A-Train

#11

I know about my trollish ways, and that I haven’t accomplished much in my life, and that I don’t walk very fast and that I always hike alone… But I do have a opinion.

I was happy the postholer existed in a high snow year like the year I did the PCT. I stumbled onto a link called the “herd”. Glad I read about it as I was almost locked in to attending ADZPCTKO. Glad I didn’t as I wouldn’t have liked starting off my walk in a wad of people.

So big thanks to Scott and all who post on the forums. I don’t agree with many and if having a opinion makes me a troll, well I will be trolling it up until I am a little old viejo. Just hope I can accomplish something by then.

ADAM BRADLEY

#12

I was not criticising the kickoff or any marketing if you reread my entry maybe you can see that. I was pointing out to Bystander that he shouldnt be mad at someone linking a bussiness to a PCT site he runs, because everyone is trying to make a buck off of us. The only ones that pissed me off were the ads I saw directly on the trail for hotels, hostels or restaurants.
However if you want to go there. A bussiness is a bussiness no matter what it’s size. Wether it’s Nike, Ula, Haliburton or Starbucks. There out to make money. Otherwise there products would be free. The size isn’t important. It’s the ethics they use in bussiness that determine wether or not we should view them as disgusting. For example a war profiter like Haliburton is in a completely different catergory then someone who makes a completely useful product like Yogi. You could also see that I didn’t use a tarptent either. They might be fine for some, but they seem a little sketchy in design for me. That add-in mosquito net I saw some people getting at Kennedy Meadows for the Sierra looked questionable. Also if you are reliant on your hiking poles to set up your structure you put yourself at some risk. I went through two pairs of Leki poles on the trail that failed to adjust properly after much use. They’d stay open but only screw tight at one length. It seems that this would seriously hamper setting up a tarp tent. Also I noticed through Gesh and Junkfoods use of them in Nor Cal. they seem to leak alot more then my heavier Eureka tent. I like Scott’s site and don’t think he needs to be criticized for a bussiness link on it.

guino

#13

Sorry to have confused here, but I suppose I should clarify here. I have absolutely ZERO problem on principle with his link being there. My problem comes with the hypocrisy of Scott Parks constantly preaching against people trying to make a buck off hikers, and yet linking his own backpacking money-making website to his supposedly altruistic website. I’ll say again, if he hadn’t been such a hypocrite and so vocally opposed to people “making money off hikers” then I would never have even thought to say his linking his website off the mainpage of postholer was a bad thing.

Bystander

#14

An opinion eh? Its all well and good to stand behind the defense of “I have an opinion,” but at least in the case of your post on Yogi, your opinion was grossly misinformed and clearly wrapped around an agenda. So while opinions are good, really wrong opinions like your previous one (which you never even responded to by the way with any sort of apology/rebuttal/etc.) should maybe be thought through before posting so quickly only to later say something like “Well sorry if I have an opinion!”

Bystander

#15

“(Come on man, you don’t “boycott” a thing like the kickoff,
you reserve boycotts for actually bad things like Walmart)”
- Bystander

HA! LMAO!

Now, “can’t we all just get along?”
(Trivia: who said that? Why?)
:tongue

Hoopdedoo

#16

“Come on man, you don’t “boycott” a thing like the kickoff, you just choose not to go. You reserve boycotts for actual bad things…like Walmart.”

Bystander