A friend and I just finished Section J. There were no trail reports in yet and so concern for lack of melt out compelled us to wear light hikers (instead of trail runners). The trail itself is stunning. World class hiking. In fact, 3/4 of hikers we encountered were PCT thru-hikers from around the world. In a fun connection I hadn't previously considered, it was mostly from areas with other fantastic mountains: New Zealand, Germany, Switzerland, France, etc.
Snow: there's about 20 snow fingers or short snow fields to cross, only two of which pose any runout danger (they're above rock fields). If you have any snow skills (from say, a scrambling or mountaineering course), you have nothing to fear. Leave the ice axe, crampons, and microspikes at home. We used our hiking poles below our foot placements to prevent slips and stay in balance. Most hikers were doing fine with trail runners.
River: the one river crossing can be a challenge. For us taller folks, there's a couple big rocks that funnel the water and one can either jump across (I would have 10 or 20 years ago), or pole place across the gap, straddle it, and then pole push off the other side. For shorter legged folks without sandals, an idea we thought of while tramping away with wet boots: remove your socks and liners, put your shoes/boots back on and walk across. Replace socks and liners, and you dry out MUCH faster.
Berries: there are loads of huckleberry blossoms, some thimbleberries were just coming in, so I'm guessing 3-4 weeks until there are ripe berries to eat.
Mosquitos: abundant, nearly omnipresent, and dying to have intimate encounters with us. They were on everyone's mind on as we chatted with other parties. We had bug suits: pants and jackets with full hoods. They worked about 75%. A mosquito can still bite through them so they work best combined with a mid-weight base layer worn underneath. When we stopped moving, often the first thing we'd do is put the suit on, so we can rest, eat, or just be without the incessant pestering. The biggest factor that pushed us to complete this in 4 days instead of 5 has to be mosquitoes. We'd have loitered longer in many areas if we had a better abatement system.
Trees: there are areas with some magnificent trees, including a mated pair of a majestic hemlock and a doug fir who have been "a thing" for several hundred years. There hasn't yet been a log-out in the interior portions of the trail leaving many hundreds of trees to get past. Very few slowed us down.
Comments