19:09:50	 From  David Skurnik : How did you manage the transport? Did you do a car shuttle? 
DALE	I drove the group to Suiattle Trailhead and left my vehicle with my "Senior Pass" displayed. Dick's wife, Michele, picked us up at Steven's Pass after he caled her. I had my wife drive me back to Suiattle Trailhead to retrieve my vehicle a couple days later.
19:11:36	 From  Emily Jones (she/her) : is this session being recorded?
19:12:45	 From  Andrew Pedersen & Danielle Graham : @Emily, yes.
19:17:24	 From  Cheryl Talbert - Foothills : Yes Emily, after the session we'll send the recording and presentation out to everyone who has a ticket!
19:21:42	 From  Craig Miller : 8,000 feet of elevation gain with a full backpack in one day? Really?
DALE	The 8,205 feet of climbing is from my Delorme GPS readings that includes all accumulative ups and downs so it is always greater than elevation differance gained. It also includes GPS errors so it needs to be discounted by an unknown amount, nonetheless I calculated that there was 4,300 feet of elevation gain in just the two major ascents, so yes it was a tough day!
19:21:57	 From  Jan agosti : what time of year did you go?
DALE	September 12th to 17th
19:23:00	 From  Cheryl Talbert - Foothills : Craig Miller, that sounds like one of your typical backpacking days!!  :>}
19:23:22	 From  Craig Miller : Hah!
19:24:06	 From  Cheryl Talbert - Foothills : Jan, they went in September.
19:29:53	 From  iPhone : Were there lots of creek crossings? Do you need a permit for any part of this?
DALE	There were countless creek crossings. All the major ones had bridges with one or two exceptions. We did not have to ford any streams in September, but reports on WTA indicate streams accross Suiattle River Trail either get your boots wet or they need to be removed for fording this time of the year (June).
19:30:21	 From  Cheryl Talbert - Foothills : Only the NW Forest Pass is needed, for parking, and a self-issued backcountry permit at the TH.
19:31:19	 From  Cheryl Talbert - Foothills : Dale, you said that there are lots of camps - is that true all along the route or just along the White chuck?
DALE	Yes, there are camps all along the route but many of them are dry camps.
19:31:56	 From  sandra saathoff : No major creek crossings that didn’t have bridges.
19:32:20	 From  Dustin & Kira : How were the crowds on this section of the PCT in Sept?  Did you see many thru-hikers?
DALE	We saw several thru-hikers because we were going the opposite direction than they were. I'd guess about a dozen each day, but as a rule we had the campground to ourselves each night. On my more recent trip to Kodak Peak and Cady Pass we had to share Pass Creek camp with about 20 to 30 thru-hikers and we had to locate in an overflow area of the campground.
19:32:23	 From  tomkovich : Temperature?
DALE	Mostly 40's and 50's during the day, but light snow and 30's on 3rd day when we went through Red Pass and White Pass. 
19:34:46	 From  Cheryl Talbert - Foothills : It used to be that you could bicycle up the White Chuck Road - is that impassable now?
19:36:51	 From  Sarah Hess : Most of the White Chuck Road was destroyed.  It is a bushwack to get to Kennedy hot springs that is now under like 30 feet of mud/debris.
19:50:50	 From  Jan agosti : what photography gear do you bring?
DALE	FujiFilm T300 and a tripod. It is a point and shoot type but the autofocus was wanting, so I have replaced it with first an Olympus D-535 and later a Sony DSC-HX80. The panoramas were processed using Microsoft ICE (Imange Composite Editor) that is still available for download at: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=52459
19:54:14	 From  Dick Lambe : My notes indicate day 2 was 4600’ gain and 4100’ descent.
19:54:53	 From  Cheryl Talbert - Foothills : Thank you Dick!
19:57:40	 From  Sarah Hess : Bears?
DALE	We hung our food each night. 
20:03:28	 From  Dustin & Kira : FYI:  There *are* bears in the area.  We saw a nice big black bear eating blueberries in a meadow near Dishpan Gap in 2019.  The bear took off running away from us once he/she saw us. 
20:04:10	 From  tomkovich : So bear canisters?
20:04:36	 From  Cheryl Talbert - Foothills : Not required - you could use an UrSack.
20:05:43	 From  Cheryl Talbert - Foothills : There is water a short ways down from White Pass near the White Pass camps.
20:06:14	 From  Craig Miller : Why did you choose to backpack from north to south? It looks like you could have saved about 3,000 feet of elevation gain by backpacking from Stevens Pass to the Suiattle River instead.
DALE	Logistics was main reason I believe. You can't use telephone at Suiattle Trailhead to call for pickup and it is 23 miles to the main road so you would have to hitchhike if you didn't leave a car.
20:08:26	 From  Dustin & Kira : What was your favorite part of the trip?
DALE	The third day from Mica Lake and Fire Creek Pass down to Kennedy Creek and area of White Chuck River
20:10:50	 From  Pamela Davies : Thanks Dale! Love the “stitched” panorama photos. Beautiful area.
DALE	When I first made the panoramas, I could share them and anyone could view them with Photosynth which allowed realistic panning and zooming just like you were there. Unfortunately Microsoft pulled the plug on Photosynth in 2017. You can still stitch using Microsoft ICE (Image Composite Editor) to make jpg panoramas, but I don't attempt 180 degree much less 360 degree views anymore. Although I just learned you can create a 360 degree photosynth using Microsft Pix on an iPhone.
20:13:13	 From  Dick Lambe : day 2 was my favorite section
20:15:17	 From  sandra saathoff : When we did it last year, we left a car at Chelan and got a ride to Stevens. Then went north to Stehekin and took the boat back to Chelan. Was a wonderful trip.
20:16:11	 From  Dustin & Kira : Thank you for sharing your trip and information about this route, Dale!
20:16:12	 From  Charles E Grant : Thanks Dale!
20:16:16	 From  Amy Jackson : Thanks, Dale!
20:16:26	 From  Dick Lambe : suiattle pass was closed by fires this year
DALE	That's right the original plan was to start at Rainy Pass, but Stehecin or Lucerne may have been blocked too.
20:16:27	 From  Bill Adams : Thank You!
20:16:31	 From  Robert Ray : Thank you!
20:16:46	 From  Micki : thank you!
20:17:01	 From  Kari Durr : Very nice!  Thank you!
20:17:03	 From  Linda Owen : thank you!
20:17:11	 From  Micki : was 6 days enough for this trip?
DALE	No! I would have preferred 7 or 8 days but food resupply is impossible so you would have to pack more.
20:17:20	 From  Craig Miller : Thanks, Dale!