I am planning the PCT and am trying to figure out how dangerous it can be in the Sierras? I live in Michigan and have done quite a bit of winter camping and snowshoeing. I can stay pretty comfortable in my tent for days in a snowstorm. Would I be okay in hiking in winter in the Sierras with the proper gear and lots of extra fuel and food? Does anyone do that? Am I nuts for even thinking about it?
Heatmizer
When are you planning to start? Most PCT hikers start at Campo at the end of April and plan to reach the Sierras in mid-June. At that time the problem is not cold so much as swift river crossings from snowmelt and snowy passes. If it is a low snow year or if you are after June 15, then it isn’t much of a danger. If you are early or the snow levels are high, then you will spend more time in the snow, but the danger isn’t that much greater. It is more frustrating than anything to be spending a lot of time in the snow. Postholing gets old after a few hours. So do suncups.
Get an ice axe and learn how to use it. Learn how to do river crossings. In winter - real winter - you would probably do better with skis if you are a competent backcountry skier.
It is a long way between resupplies in summer. In winter the usual ways of cutting the distance are not available. I’m not sure whether the store at KM is even open pre-May, Muir Ranch would be closed, and VVR, Tioga Road is closed until mid or late May.
Spirit Walker
In warm, sunny weather, snowfields don’t stay flat. They develop depressions, up to bathtub-sized, due in part to a neat positive feedback loop (the deeper the hole gets, the better it traps heat (due to shape, surface dirt, etc.), the faster it melts, the deeper it gets).
http://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2004/1216/s/s.html
Craig “Computer” Rogers
Suncups make a snowy field look like a giant egg carton. The interesting part about suncups is you have a choice of either balancing on the edge of the cup or stepping into the depression and up and over the lip to the next depression. If you fall, you don’t fall far, so they aren’t dangerous, but they make for slowish walking.
Spirit Walker
If you follow the conventional “wisdom” and plan on leaving KM around Ray Day (6/15) there is virtually nothing to worry about except frying in the desert before you get there.
However, I’m a lot more comfortable in snowy mountains than waterless desert, so I would go earlier. As said before, get an ice axe and know how to use it, which may mean going up to Nub’s or Boyne this winter and practicing self arrest. By late in the spring some chutes can be very icy. Personally, when I go back I intend to take full 12 pt. crampons (unless it’s a very low snow year), which allow me to move like the wind. They currently make 12 pts. in aluminum or titanium that are quite light, and, while worthless for technical climbing, should be more than adequate for backcountry packing. Instep crampons and the like are just plain worthless, you’d be better off packing some extra Cliff bars for the weight. The corollary to this is to save the running shoes for the desert and points north. If you are going in early enough that snow is a concern, use boots.
Finally, something you probably haven’t had to address in your MI trips, learn all you can about avalanches. For most PCT hikers the only ones to worry about are afternoon wet snow avalanches. Go in early enough that you might get hit by a late spring snow storm(s), then you need to understand windslab. I’m constantly amazed that there haven’t been more thru-climbers zapped by avalanches.
Pappy
What’s up man! Met you on the AT back in '01. Just wanted to let you know that if you have any questions feel free to email me. Should reach Canada by early Oct. Hope all is well.
Ganj