Snow Basics Clinics
In Person Classes
Someone once said, “I hear and I forget. I see and I remember. I do and I understand.”
Mountain Education wants our students to learn by doing. We show them what to do and demonstrate it for them right on trail where it is needed. We teach them why doing it is a good idea and assist them as they practice it. This is “experiential education” at its best.
Pacific Crest Trail Class of 2023: Winter 1-Day Snow Basics Clinics
This is the snow and creek safety class you need to attend before you hit the first steep snow in Southern California and the miles of snow and dangerous creek-crossings through the Sierra in May, June, and July!
Getting to the Snow Basics Clinic:
You can easily get to this Snow Basics Clinic after you have already started hiking the PCT north from the Mexican border by leaving the trail at Paradise Valley Café (PVC), hitching to Idyllwild (where you may be picking up your steep snow tools, anyway), taking the Devils Slide Trail up Mt San Jacinto to the PCT at Saddle Junction (2.5 miles), and continuing east on the Willow Creek Trail 5.3 miles to the terminus of the Palm Springs Tram in Long Valley at about 8400 feet.
Camping before and after the clinic:
I suggest that you spend these two nights 1.3 miles before you get to the top of the Tram at a location called, Hidden Lake, which is in a little saddle called, Hidden Lake Divide, right on the Willow Creek Trail. This spot will, conveniently for you, be where the Clinic’s “Afternoon Skills Program” is taught (so, once that is done, you don’t have to go anywhere until you leave the next day). You should expect the Willow Creek Trail to be snow-covered and unmarked all the way from Saddle Junction to the top of the Tram. On the morning of the Snow Basics Clinic, walk the 1.2 miles from Hidden Lake to the top of the Tram to meet your class at 9:00am.
Return Choices:
If you don’t want to skip the section of the PCT between PVC and Saddle Junction, you’ll have two choices,
- Leave Hidden Lake and go cross-country over snow to Red Tahquitz Peak (3 miles), regain the PCT, and follow it down the Desert Divide to PVC, at which point you’ll hitch to Idyllwild and walk back up the Devils Slide trail to rejoin the PCT, again, at Saddle Junction and continue north to Canada.
- Retrace your steps back to Idyllwild (5.5 miles), hitch to PVC, and continue north on the PCT to Canada.
If you don’t mind skipping this section to the south of Hidden Lake and Saddle Junction,
- Retrace your steps back to Saddle Junction (3 miles), turn north, and continue on to Canada.