I sent Bill an email, but I'll post a summary here, too.
My hike went well. We covered the 70 miles in 5 days, starting at 3 PM on Sunday, 6/14. There was quite a bit of snow in some places, a few miles on snow total.
The area is beautiful, with several areas pretty gentle (nearly flat) hiking. The map contours in the area are 200 ft. per heavy contour, so it took me some time to realize that each ridge or stream drainage would only take an hour or so to cover, rather than half a day or all day, like the JMT area of the Sierra. Unfortunately, once I became accustomed to the easier terrain, the map switched back to 400' contours the last stretch between Carson Pass and Echo Summit, so the last day fooled me, and the final descent was a classic granite trail with those big JMT-size-steps ...ouch!
The rugged ridges of volcanic necks and fissures were beautiful, unlike anything I have seen anywhere else. Some areas are covered with forest, especially northern slopes, and some are dry and sage brushy, probably due to dryness of the climate and poor volcanic soil. Streams immediatley turned brown with silt during a rain storm.
Much of the area is grazed, and a few places could be described as Cow Pie City. We came upon downed barbed wire fences occasionally. However, I was able to scoop and drink from most of the streams, since they came from higher areas, and after a winter's snow, I figured most of the meadows had been washed clean. ...no ill effects so far.
The toughest part of the hike was losing the trail where it was obliterated by the continuous snow cover, a hundred yards at a time some places. Snow drifts were sometimes 2-4 feet deep, and even 6 feet several places!. It put my map-reading skills to a serous test, and we wandered around lost half an hour or more several times. It helped to use the map and determine the long-view of where the trail was headed, and walk in that direction. It also helped some places in that several PCT hikers had preceded us by a day or two, and we could follow their tracks. They must have had a GPS unit, since they took the correct turn every time.
The weather is warming up, though, and a snow-covered spot on the side-road at Sonora Pass where I parked the car had melted by 50% in the 5 days we were out. So by now, the snow problems should be diminished. My partner took crampons, I got by without. But hiking poles really helped, especially where the trail crossed snow on steep slopes.
Our packs were 24 - 28 lbs to start. I sure appreciate the new light weight Thermarest
NeoAir pad and my
7-oz Zpack.
I'll add pictures when I get them from my partner.
