Pacific Crest Trail 2011 Hiking Season

Posted by skywalker on March 30, 2011 in 2011 PCT Hiking Season | 0 comments

I spoke with Leslie at Pacific Crest Trail (PCT) headquarters today in Sacramento (916-285-12846). They confirmed the reports reverberating through the hiking community that this year is shaping up to be an epic snow year. Yikes! Glad I did it in 2009 which was merely an average snow year. They suggest going to California snow page(sierrapacktrip.com/weather.html) to get more specific information.

But Leslie also said that things could change. The temperature is also a key variable. Last year the thru-hikers faced heavy snow in the High Sierra due to below-average temperatures in May and June, and thus below-average snow melt. So for humanitarian reasons, I reckon we should hope for high temperatures to give the PCT Class of 2011 a fighting chance!

Also, Leslie said that the PCT has issued approximately 600 permits, which puts this year on par with other banner years. Congratulations PCT! What recession? The PCT has completely evaded it, and may in fact have been aided by it. How cool is that1