Carson Pass to Echo Summit

c) Andrew Carter, 2022

Because of the Caldor Fire last year, I had to skip 14 miles of the PCT between Carson Pass on CA Route 88 near Kirkwood Ski Area and Echo Summit on US Route 50, 10 miles southwest of South Lake Tahoe.

When the fire “blew up,” the National Forest Service closed Eldorado National Forest while I was hiking through it. I skipped ahead to Humboldt-Toiyobe National Forest, which was outside the fire zone and still open.

Over Memorial Day weekend, I had the opportunity to knock off this short section of trail. I drove up to Carson Pass on Saturday, spent the night on the trail, then drove back on Sunday.

I knew there might still be snow in the area, so before heading out I did my due diligence to determine whether this was the case. I don’t own an ice axe or “traction devices” (crampons or microspikes). I didn’t want to hike the trail if there was snow on it. During the freeze and thaw cycle at the end of winter, snow on the trail can turn to ice, making travel difficult on steep slopes, even dangerous.

I consulted SNODAS (Snow Data Assimilation System) maps put together by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). Using remote sensing data and “on-the-ground observation,” SNODAS generates maps which produce “the best possible estimate of [current] snow cover” for any place in the US. The maps for the Lake Tahoe area showed no snow on the trail I planned to hike, so off I went.

Unfortunately, SNODAS was absolutely wrong. About half the trail I hiked had snow on it, including one steep “sketchy” section of about 50 yards. So much for NOAA’s on-the-ground observation.

When I got back home, I discovered that SNODAS was completely out of line with contemporaneous “FreshSat” satellite images put together by the United States Geological Survey and the European Space Agency. If only I’d thought to check those images before I left.

Here are some photos from my overnight hike. The first shows what the trail looked like at the start. The other photos show what the trail looked like as I gained altitude.

In most places on the snow-covered trail there were footsteps to follow, but that wasn’t always the case. In those instances, my GPS device kept me from getting lost.

I was able to find a snow-free place to pitch my tent. Since I have an insulated air mattress and a warm sleeping bag, my night passed uneventfully.

Despite my misfortune with the snow, I did have good luck hitchhiking back to my car. I had originally planned an in-and-out, but jettisoned those plans because I didn’t want to cross the steep sketchy section again.

What I’ve learned is that your best bet for hitchhiking is working class people. They seem to have the most sympathy. They are less fazed by a dirty hiker, less concerned that hiker might get their often already dirty car even dirtier, and many of them know what it’s like to need a ride.

That’s it for now. I hope to be back on the PCT at the beginning of August. I have 148 miles in the Sierra still to hike. I’ll do that first. It should take 11 days. Then I’ll head north to Oregon to finish the 653 miles I have to hike between Santiam Pass and the Canadian border. I’ll do that from the middle of August until the end of September.

I hurt my left knee and my right hip when I was hiking back East in March and April, so none of this is guaranteed. I’ve reached the age where my body tends to betray me from time to time. Wish me luck.