Trip Planning Mistakes

Philip Werner at sectionhiker.com published this post in 2014.  My friend Peter who is planning for a PCT hike forwarded this on to me.  Lots of lessons learned in this fine article.

"When Wysteria, Sherpa, and I arrived at the trail head we found 4 foot snow drifts covering the trail. It was late March, and we’d planned to backpack north over Mt Greylock past the Massachusetts/Vermont border. We knew that there might be some lingering snow in the early spring, but we had no idea winter would still be in full force. Scratch that trip.

I’ve since learned to wait until mid-April before hiking the AT in Western Massachusetts, Vermont, and New Hampshire for lingering winter snow to melt off."

Read the rest to Peter's post to read the Trip Planning Guide.

As an aside, I really appreciated the following:

"Write up a trip plan to leave with a friend or relative in case you are overdue.

• When to contact authorities if you are overdue.
• Who to call, including phone number.
• Where you parked your car.
• What your route plan was, including escape routes if any.
• What gear you are carrying."

Check out my detailed Trip Plan.