Blog
Trail Updates & Current Teachings
Our current thoughts on current trail conditions, certain hiking topics, weather and any other streams of thought we may have on hiking and the wilderness experience!
2023 Sierra, Current PCT thru-hiker intel
2023 Sierra, Current PCT thru-hiker intel: Snowline, So. Sierra: 7500-feet Snowline NorCal: 4300 "Open," low-flow creeks between 8,000-feet and 10,000-feet (water accessible) with soft, unsupportive, and melting snow Thawline above 10,000-feet with the following...
“The Secret Season.”
Right now, at 10,000 feet of elevation and higher in the Sierra Nevada, the environmental conditions of weather and snowpack are typical of what we call "The Secret Season." What is this "Secret Season?" The "Secret Season" is that time interval between the heavy...
The First Wave
The first wave of NoBo PCT Thru-hikers has left Kennedy Meadows, south (KMS), to enter the Sierra while the next one forms on the porch of the General Store. Their vibe is high, as to be expected when you finally reach a milestone, like the gateway to the Sierra and...
The KMS-23 Conundrum,” Part-2:
The Setting: Imagine that I'm a Trail Angel in Aqua Dulce and have a lone, early-season PCT thru-hiker who needs to go to REI for a new stove. Wanting to enjoy a nice, springtime drive out of town, I select the motorcycle for the task. Right before leaving the house,...
The KMS-23 Conundrum!
Yesterday, I had three different PCT Class of 2023 thru-hikers call me on the phone from different locations throughout Southern California asking me about what to take into the Sierra after such a huge winter. During the process of reviewing gear, clothing, food, and...
What is a “Thru-Hike?”
What does a "thru-hiker" go "through," actually? I really don't know if there is a written definition, anywhere, other than a loose one, maybe, that only points to a "thru-hike" being a journey on foot between two points a sizable distance apart. Therefore, anyone can...
“To go where no man has gone before…”
“To go where no man has gone before…” …because that’s how you feel when the trail disappears beneath a snowpack hundreds of miles long and everything looks the same in front of you. Anyone can walk an established trail, path, or roadway, even those with obstacles,...
Tents to match my Mountains!
Tents to match my Mountains! A backpacker who wants to live in the mountains for 5 months is going to experience (for good and bad) everything nature can throw at him/her. For example, it simply has to be expected that the weather won't be ideal the whole time! For a...
Photo Analysis
“An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.” - Benjamin Franklin. I was looking at this picture that I placed in a JMT comment this morning and I asked myself, "What would happen to the central figure, if he slipped and fell downhill?" I want you to study this...
To Axe or Not to Axe? That is still the question!”
To Axe or Not to Axe? That is still the question!" The question came up, today, “Lightest ice axe and still useful? Is it still the CAMP Corsa? I know the Whippet has been suggested, but it is just too heavy.” So, for the PCT Class of 2023, the answer follows... The...
Who is Mountain Education, Inc. for?
Who is Mountain Education, Inc. for? Mountain Education, Inc. (MEI), is a non-profit, public charity (501c3), wilderness school whose sole purpose since 1982 has been to be the Teacher, Coach, Athletic Trainer, Band Leader, School Nurse, Spiritual Mentor, Science Lab...
2023 PCT Thru-Hikers, March starters:
2023 PCT Thru-Hikers, March starters: Hazardous Weather concerns...Whether you start on your Permit Date or wait and see what happens, this is what is going on. You must decide what you're willing to expose yourself to. The Storm Door remains open, as you can watch in...
When are the dangerous seasons of time when it’s not safe to be in the Sierra?
When are the dangerous seasons of time when it's not safe to be in the Sierra? Predicting the weather, much less the typical time frames when it may do "this" or "that" is like watching a bubble floating on a creek, it moves all over the place, constantly varying its...
Recommendations for Aspiring thru-hikers to Avoid the Dangers of Snow-Hiking
A good friend of mine asked me this morning, what do I recommend aspiring thru-hikers do to avoid the dangers of snow-hiking? Recognizing that snow can fall on the trail in the Sierra every month of the year, the answer came down to one of Timing Strategy, as you'll...
What makes snow, in and of itself, so dangerous to snow-hikers?
What makes snow, in and of itself, so dangerous to snow-hikers? It is obviously cold (it's frozen water). The more of yourself you expose to it, the colder you get, leading to hypothermia and death, at the worst, and frostbite (localized soft tissue necrosis) and...
A small, 2023 creek-crossing Primer for thaw-fed Sierra creeks
A small, 2023 creek-crossing Primer for thaw-fed Sierra creeks: I have added a new subset term to my quantitative references to the Sierra snowpack. There have been "drought," "normal," and "heavy" winters, but I must add, now, the term, "Huge," for obvious reasons!...
PCT ’23, Snow Hiking Safety Virtual Google Meetups:
PCT '23, Snow Hiking Safety Virtual Google Meetups: Friday, 2/24 at 6pm PST Saturday, 2/25 at 10am PST Sunday 2/25 at 10am PST More snow is falling in the mountains of Southern California and along the famous Pacific Crest Trail! PCT thru-hikers with the first permits...
Mountain Education’s “Snow Basics Clinics” are dead for this year.
Pull the Plug! The baby is dead. The State of California came back this morning to say that, if Mountain Education wants to continue to work within the State Park in the process of providing free public safety clinics, they will have to apply to do so as a Park...
SoCal Snow Basics Clinics, Update
SoCal Snow Basics Clinics, Update, 1/31/23: In case you're curious, this has been the process of assessing and creating this new snow safety course for the greater hiking and thru-hiking community in Southern California: With all the snow from multiple Atmospheric...
Snow Basics Clinics Announced
It’s official…Snow Basics Clinics will be offered in Southern California for 2023! Mountain Education, Inc., will be offering fourteen (14), 1-day, snow-hiking safety clinics on Saturdays from February to June! If you are a summer hiker and would like to learn how to...
Welcome to Mountain Education for 2023!
We’re Back! Storms are bashing the western United States with tons of rain and snow, then coating the rest of the country with blizzards and sheets of ice. Long-distance “thru-hikers” have finally received the “green light” of their epic start dates and are feverishly...
The Pacific Crest Trail
Why? How? Explain!" It's been almost 50 years since my PCT thru-hike in 1974 changed my life by just walking its length. Due to that revelation, I've tried to reach out to others over the years to help them find what I found along this glorious and challenging trail....
Wilderness Relationship
Through a long-distance hiker's pictures, observations, and wilderness awareness come valuable and important vignettes into the world of backpacking and all the miraculous benefits it offers the human heart and spirit. This picture catches my attention because it...
Trailside, “Black” Bear Encounters
I've had three encounters over the years that went down exactly like this. On my part, I just stood there, "got big," and made a lot of noise, while each bear walked toward me, after a great deal of reluctance and immediate searching of the trailside brush for an easy...
Almost There Adventure Podcast
At the core of the hiking community is a profound love of all things wild and the shared comaraderie amongst hikers of both the struggle to experience it and the joys felt living in it. Thus, the "Almost There" is an encouragement amongst hikers to keep going, because...