My husband & I SOBO'd in 2014. Started on June 14th. Most of the snow was late that year (Mar-Apr) and it was a late melt, which is what is going on in 2022. We had very little postholing. The cons for us was definitely walking on snow at a steep angle--our ankles & shins got very sore & had some swelling. To get miles in we had to put in very long days...6:30am to 8 or 9pm. You have to stay on trail through trees & WA has almost no markers. When you are in the trees the snow melts irregularly & there are heavily melted areas & unmelted areas which makes the trail similar to a motocross track, with constant giant swales you have to get up & over, along with trees that are bent over by the snow, which you have to straddle/duck under. We had a lot of snow until Snoqualmie, then had 60 miles/2 days with only a couple miles of snow each day. Then steady snow from White Pass until past Mt Adams. Had about 15 miles of snow in the Sisters even. In a high snow year you will get to OR & when you get on trail your feet will be super sore. Maintainers will not be in WA until you are gone. We loved the solitude, but when you hit the NOBO bubble it is insane...that was the biggest con for us. It was annoying running into 75 people a day. We saw NOBOs until Sierra City. We did a 106 day hike & moved fast, & had perfect weather in the Sierra, but had 10 days that were over 100 degrees in SoCal, no-one ahead to post water conditions, & very few trail angels that had put water out. If you do not have snow experience, I would recommend that you are flexible and willing to pick and choose what year you are going to hike.
thank you for this ! I planned a NOBO start early in 2024 but this means I need to put my sailboat on land an entire season. Thus I got the great idea of a SOBO which would enable both passions. I turn 65 in June 2024 and either go/no go . Cheers Kam and thank you Ned....
Hi there! We aren't going to give advice on that, but if you'd like to ask Ned yourself, you can join an open forum Zoom meetup we are having with him (you can choose between Jan, Feb, and March meetups). Here is the event link page to register: thru-r.com/events/
My husband & I SOBO'd in 2014. Started on June 14th. Most of the snow was late that year (Mar-Apr) and it was a late melt, which is what is going on in 2022. We had very little postholing. The cons for us was definitely walking on snow at a steep angle--our ankles & shins got very sore & had some swelling. To get miles in we had to put in very long days...6:30am to 8 or 9pm. You have to stay on trail through trees & WA has almost no markers. When you are in the trees the snow melts irregularly & there are heavily melted areas & unmelted areas which makes the trail similar to a motocross track, with constant giant swales you have to get up & over, along with trees that are bent over by the snow, which you have to straddle/duck under. We had a lot of snow until Snoqualmie, then had 60 miles/2 days with only a couple miles of snow each day. Then steady snow from White Pass until past Mt Adams. Had about 15 miles of snow in the Sisters even. In a high snow year you will get to OR & when you get on trail your feet will be super sore.
Maintainers will not be in WA until you are gone. We loved the solitude, but when you hit the NOBO bubble it is insane...that was the biggest con for us. It was annoying running into 75 people a day. We saw NOBOs until Sierra City. We did a 106 day hike & moved fast, & had perfect weather in the Sierra, but had 10 days that were over 100 degrees in SoCal, no-one ahead to post water conditions, & very few trail angels that had put water out.
If you do not have snow experience, I would recommend that you are flexible and willing to pick and choose what year you are going to hike.
thank you for this ! I planned a NOBO start early in 2024 but this means I need to put my sailboat on land an entire season. Thus I got the great idea of a SOBO which would enable both passions. I turn 65 in June 2024 and either go/no go . Cheers Kam
and thank you Ned....
Very Good Ned!
Thank you!
What are your thoughts on a July 11 start from Hart's Pass? Appreciate any advice you may have. Thanks 👍
Hi there! We aren't going to give advice on that, but if you'd like to ask Ned yourself, you can join an open forum Zoom meetup we are having with him (you can choose between Jan, Feb, and March meetups). Here is the event link page to register: thru-r.com/events/
How much flexibility is there with the PCT permits to start at a different date based on weather conditions?
I’m starting this March, I’m concern about snow in the Sierra, what temps should I expect in the sierras if I start March from campo ?
How'd it go?