Snow Guide to the Pacific Crest Trail: Section 1

There are hundreds of these captured moments in time and I am going through them to see which are suitable for your edification in preparing to enter the High Sierra under snow. They are raw and unedited, so enjoy the silly spontaneity with the serious instruction and get out of each what it shows or teaches, so that your thru-hike will be ready for what you’ll see and have to safely deal with.

Entering is optional. Returning home is required!

Snow Guide to the Pacific Crest Trail: Section 2

During Section-2 (of 4 to our Florence Lake documentary terminus), we expected to encounter:

• long, over-snow, above timberline, steep snow ascents and traverses,
• numerous over-snow, navigational trials through forested terrain,
• several wet-crossings of snow-fed creeks, – snow-bridges over creeks that we’d have to test for durability,
• snow storms that would pin us down all day in our 3-man tent,
• multiple 1,000-foot glissades off Forester Pass, and
• a priceless opportunity to film at the base of Forester all the how-to, over-snow skills needed to thru-hike the PCT!

PCT KMS Pre-Entry Preview – May 8, 2023

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 end of the high desert section of SoCal. They are typically excited and cheering each other on, but cautious and uncertain about what lies ahead.

This is what hikers feel like every year while chowing-down on burgers on the General Store’s porch in Kennedy Meadows. There is so much anxiety over the unknown ahead with so little real, practical, functional, and reliable information to advise, direct, and reassure them.

So, that was the point of going to them directly, by creating a live, online, Google Meet via which to describe the concepts of the new life they have to consider, ahead, if they decide to go up into the “Snow Zone.” True and accurate information about the realities of Sierra “Secret Season” snow-hiking would help them decide for themselves whether they want to go forward and see it for themselves or to avoid it.

PCT ’23, Snow Hiking Safety 2023

More snow is falling in the mountains of Southern California and along the famous Pacific Crest Trail! PCT thru-hikers with permits will start a mere 6 days from now while snow is covering much of the trail above 3500 feet in elevation.

This 2-hour, live, Virtual Meetup presentation and open forum focuses on hiking in the current, snowy trail conditions, how to stay warm and dry, make wise decisions, not get lost, and the details regarding moving safely over snow.

THRU-r + MOUNTAIN EDUCATION WILDERNESS SKILLS VIRTUAL MEETUP VIDEOS 

This video series features recorded digital meetup sessions on specific topics put on in collaboration with THRU-r. 

Sierra Creek Crossing Technique Video Series

A great video series to watch for spring hiking.

Sierra Passes – Summertime video series

For all of you thinking about hiking the John Muir Trail during summertime, maybe these short videos shot during June and July, 2015, might get you excited about going and cause you to be a bit more prepared for challenging trail!

Backpacking Basics, Skills to Anticipate!

Backpacking skills.

Search & Rescue Volunteer Work

From time to time, Mountain Education is called upon to volunteer to teach wilderness skills to new SAR members in the greater Lake Tahoe area or to perform on-trail in a Search & Rescue capacity. Here are some of our videos…

We have put in this playlist instructional videos shot in the High Sierra on the Pacific Crest Trail during “thru-hiker season” to help you: – with over-snow navigation, route selection, and finding the trail, – realize what the trail might look like going north-bound (NoBo), – learn how to recognize and assess on-snow wilderness risks, – see how to safely consider each, nasty creek crossing, and – how to go up and down those steep High Sierra passes under spring, consolidated snow conditions! If you can’t attend one of Mountain Education’s Wilderness Skills Courses, these might just help you Play Safe & Stay Found!

These are a series of informative or on-trail, skills-instructional videos we took of the Pacific Crest Trail between Kennedy Meadows (south) and Kearsarge Pass during our annual, 10-day, Snow Advanced Course. This snow skills course is primarily for aspiring PCT thru hikers, to show them what the sierra looks like under snow and teach them how to follow the trail when they can’t see it. We cover many other concerns like creek crossings, icy ascents and descents off Forester and Kearsarge (not to mention just getting in and out of the creek canyons!), and learning how to traverse steep, slippery slopes without falling and sliding into a tree or boulder downhill!

PCT Washington SoBo

PCT SoBo series.

More coming soon.