Hey guys!
This is my first post here, so I apologize if there’s a similar topic somewhere…
Two friends and I were looking to take the month of July to start at the Oregon/Washington border and go up to Canada. Is it insanity with the snow? We’re all fairly experienced, but none with the snow… Unfortunately we can’t move it back too much (we’re all starting college mid August)
Thanks if anyone has any insight!
RJB
Facts:
http://www.wcc.nrcs.usda.gov/snow/
click on Washington.
Find the following sites, South to North:
These are the sites closest to the PCT. Compare this year to last year on the Snow Water plot. Read journals of SOBO’s from previous years and compare their experience with the plots from those years and compare to the plots for this year to extrapolate what conditions may be like. Note that just because a snow sensor reads zero, does NOT mean there isn’t snow around (at least for a while). Most sensors are at or near passes, which in Washington are the lower spots of the trail.
Opinion:
Odds are that there will still be a fair amount of snow on the trail, especially in earlier July, even if there is sustained warm weather.
Earlier on in the hike, you’ll encounter the flanks of Mt. Adams and the Goat Rocks. ~40 miles from the Columbia, you’ll hit 4k elevation. 12 miles later, it’s 5k. Going through the Goat Rocks, you’ll be at 6k plus. Snow will linger at higher elevations longer than the lowlands near the Columbia.
Even north of White Pass, you’ll have a good 10 mile stretch over 6k elevation, before dropping to lower elevations. About 50-60% of the section from White Pass to Snoqualmie is above 5,000 feet. Even at the lower elevations, north aspects can (and likely will) hold snow well into July this year.
The upside of the snow is that water will be plentiful. Nav in the trees in snow might be a pain. A GPS with a good trace of the trail and / or solid map and compass nav skills are in order.
For a more enjoyable experience (as in a more typical hiking on trail experience), you may want to consider waiting until mid July (or monitoring conditions until they’re to your liking) then just doing what you can do with the time you have.
Token Civilian
http://www.nohrsc.noaa.gov/nsa/ Click on the region you want and then click on “Snow Depth.”
grannyhiker