Banner Peak dominates the landscape behind a snowy Thousand Island Lake in Ansel Adams Wilderness, CA, on June 12, 2019. Photo by: Joshua Seligsohnn
We all want to know what’s melted out. In short: the lower elevation stuff. Up high, be prepared, or wait.
The Sentinel-2 Satellite imagery is the first place I look. A generous donation to PCTA from the European Space Agency (ESA) allows us to have this outstanding resource available to you at pcta.org/maps under the “Imagery and Conditions” layer list. ESA saw the value of education and safety for people who recreate on and maintain the Pacific Crest Trail. We hope you use it. The Sentinel-2 Satellite imagery is a near-real-time set of images that are updated every few days. It’s also high-resolution, making it useful for planning around things like snow. Please be aware that it loads slowly and is finicky, and while zoomed in, click on a spot to see what date the image is from.
Please explore our interactive map. It’s a remarkable tool with many useful layers, each described here. I also love using our webcam layer when looking for where snow persists. You’ll find hundreds of live cameras pointed all around the mountains and deserts.
Every year, people ask us where they can easily hike in the early season. Or, often, they don’t ask and just head out and get in trouble.
Photo by: Elske Idzenga
While this May was the warmest May ever globally and the twelfth month in a row of such records (source), there’s still snow in the mountains. Of course, that’s a good thing (we need water!) and normal. Plan on it.
Snow is challenging and can be dangerous. I presented to, thanked, and networked with California’s Search and Rescue team leaders in April. I wrote an article about it for the next issue of our member magazine, the Communicator. Since, rescuers have helped quite a number of PCT hikers—many who have fallen or otherwise gotten in trouble in snow.
Our page about when to hike the PCT is a great read – use it with the Sentinel-2 imagery. It has the obscure, detailed information born of our decades’ worth of effort working on and living on and near the PCT. Obscure? Like that north of Burney, California, the trail between Red Mountain and Grizzly Peak generally holds snow, which can be confirmed as currently true in the satellite images. I’ll spare you from a long list of every snow patch – look at the data!
Other great resources I use? Social media, of course. The FarOut app. Alltrails.com. WTA.org. Webcams from ski resorts (they’re not in our database.) Checking land manager websites and calling ranger stations. And various other layers on our map or linked to our snow page.
See risk so you can manage it.
Persistent snow on the trail has already led to more than a few rescues and injuries on the PCT this year. It is so easy to slip and fall.
To name a few incidents, on May 31st, a PCT hiker was rescued after falling approximately 250 feet down an ice field in Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Park. A few days before, on May 24, another PCT hiker was rescued after falling down a steep slope in Marble Mountains Wilderness. On April 17, another hiker slipped and fell on San Jacinto. These are just a small snippet into the accidents that have already befallen people on the PCT this year. Don’t be next.
Photo by: Jessica Guo
Of course, it’s not just fall risk at this time of year. Warming temperatures are rapidly melting the snow, leading to clear and serious risks when crossing rivers and streams. Snowmelt is incredibly cold and swift.
I wrote an extensive guide on stream crossing safety after two thru-hikers died in 2017, and we’ve published harrowing first-person accounts like I was swept away crossing a river on the PCT.
People have different skills, knowledge, strengths, and risk tolerances. If it’s not for you, be honest with yourself and don’t attempt a risky crossing. If something goes wrong in the middle of the stream, you might not be able to save yourself. The time to make a safety call is on the shore. When you’re swimming, it’s already too late.
Leave a trip plan that includes a past-due date and a commitment to contact your support person from every town. Designate that person as your safety net and work together on a plan for making contact during your journey. Carry a “send device.” These satellite messengers often take the “search” out of “search and rescue,” a huge benefit.
And as always, have a blast! Reach out anytime with questions, stories, or photos. We love that stuff.
A group of hikers taking a break inside the John Muir Hut after navigating the snow on the pass to get up there. While they are in the hut, this is all the gear enjoying the view!
Photo by: Hayley Richardson