Trees in the desert?

imported
#1

planning a thru hike, and wondering if it is easy to hang a hommock south of the sierra’s . Never hiked in the desert, and I dont know if I should get a tarp for the first section, or to stick with my hammock wich suited me fine on the AT.

topknot

#2

In some areas of SoCal you won’t be able to string up a hammock. However, you can usually cross these stretches and camp with trees. Most of SoCal isn’t desert like you would think: You cross a sequence of mountain ranges. In the mountains, you have plenty of trees. On the transition zones between them, you have a lot of desert. You should be ok with the hammock, but know that there will be days when you will want to stop, but there won’t be any trees close by. If you bring the hammock, try also bringing a foam pad so that you can sleep out on the ground if you want.

Suge

#3

Thank You Suge for the input

Im looking to start early April, what degree bag will I need?
Any advice on Scorpians/Rattlesnakes?
If I finished the AT in 5 and a half months with over 30 zero’s how fast can I expect to finish the PCT?
thanks again for answering all my questions

topnkot

#4

Early April is very eary indeed. You’ll most likely face a bunch of nasty snow (nastier than anything you ran in to on the AT) very early on in the San Jacintoes (about 115 miles in). Last year (a heavy snow year) many people had to detour around this range, even if they started in late April or early May. Moreover, if you start in early April and hike at a standard pace, you’ll reach the start of the Sierras in mid May. And then you’ll get to sit for a month while waiting for the snow to melt. Unless you know what you are doing, you won’t want to go in before mid June (again, it depends on the snow year and experience level). So, do yourself a favor and start in late April or early May.

Bring a reliable 20 degree bag for a early April to mid May start.

Don’t worry about rattlesnakes or scorpions. They are not much of an issue. Just don’t do much bushwhacking and keep your eyes on the trail in the early morning. Empty your shoes in the morning before putting them on.

If you hiked the AT at a standard pace, you’ll probably hike the PCT at a standard pace. Get as fit as you can, as standard days on the PCT are a bit longer (water restrictions) than on the AT. If you start on ADZ (late April), you could expect to finish in mid September. However, it would be better to finish in mid-late August as the weather in Washington is pretty reliable then.

Suge

#5

Suge is right - early April really is too early. Although you say ahead of time that you plan to go slowly through the desert, so that you won’t arrive too soon at Kennedy Meadows, that is hard to do because of the water situation. The terrain forces long days, if you want to get water once a day (and you do.) We started about a week before the ADZPCTKO and reached KM on June 2, despite taking our time in S. Cal. Ours wasn’t a high snow year, so we were okay through the Sierras, but there was snow and snowmelt to deal with. I wouldn’t start any earlier.

As to pace. I did the AT in 5 1/2 months, averaging about 12 mpd. The CDT we did in six months, at 16 mpd, with a lot of time off due to injuries. The PCT we did in 5 months, 5 days, averaging 19 mpd, again with a lot of days off. We could have easily finished earlier, but we were trying to stretch out the time so we could go to the Aldha-West Gathering. We still finished a week early.

PS - my PCT journal is at www.spiriteaglehome.com

Ginny

#6

We started ‘too early’, April 10th 2005. It worked really well for us. The conditions we experienced were:

  1. Lots of water in the desert - the only noticeable dry stretch early on was the san felipe hills. We took our time through the desert to enjoy it. However, it was a very wet winter thus there was enoguh water around that we could do that. Nobody knows what the water will be like next year yet.
  2. Peace and quiet on the trail - no ‘combat camping’ fighting for the shady spots or waiting to get water at a spring. We could go for a day or two in Socal and see nobody.
  3. Cool weather - eg we used <4L of water each for the 24 miles to Barrel springs.
  4. In the San Jacintos, snow from 4mi before saddle junction till 4mi after black mountain road (about 18mi).
  5. Patchy snow in the san bernadinos
  6. Snow from the base of baden powell to Islip saddle, about 16 miles.
  7. Snow from just after kennedy meadows (left June 1st)till just after sierra city (500 miles total). However, the snow was well consolidated, not melting much, and we had very little post holing. We maintained an average pace (for a dry year) through this. Some others were faster.
  8. Relatively easy river crossings up till Tuolumne, then a few nasty ones that we swam.
  9. No people in the Sierras. we saw two other people on trail (apart from a guy we hiked with) in 23 days.
  10. We finished early September before it started raining much in Washington.

There’s no ‘too early’ or ‘too late’ IMO, but there is a best time to start for the kind of hike you want. If you want more of a social scene, higher temperatures in the desert, potentially less water, less (but softer) snow, and the risk of rain in Washington, then starting later achieves that. We don’t hike so well in heat, but don’t mind snow, so we made our judgement accordingly.

Dave

#7

topknot - the beauty of SoCal is that when there is a lack of trees, there is normally a lack of rain so you can cowboy camp on almost any given night. I thru-hiked the PCT in '97 and ‘05 and had a total of 3 rainy days in California! A 20’ bag worked great on both hikes.

I agree with Dave on the subject of starting too ‘early’. I started on April 8th (WAY TOO EARLY :)) on a heavy snow year and had a blast - lots of water, cooler desert tempts, LOTS of zero days (1 month), and a much more relaxed pace. See The PCT Starting Dates post about this subject for more info.

happy trails, freebird

freebird

#8

Thanks again for all the advice
I am from the NE and I think I would like starting earlier so I dont have to deal with the HEAT right away. Im just hoping that there are a few others that start as early as me so I feel part of a community of hikers rather than a solo hiker.

topknot