Wet winter ups the ante for hikers on popular U.S. trail

LOS ANGELES — Anya Sellsted had scaled scary snow-covered passes and forded frightening rivers during her solo hike from Mexico to Canada when the hazards of California's gargantuan winter finally caught up to her.

While crossing a partly submerged log in Yosemite National Park, Sellsted was sucked under the tree and down the rushing creek. She gasped for air as the weight of her 55-pound (25-kilogram) backpack pushed her under the frigid water.

No one was within miles as she was battered and scraped on rocks before grasping branches and saving herself.

“I couldn't stop screaming and shaking and crying,” said Sellsted, who swigged whiskey to calm her nerves.

Sellsted is one of several hikers who reported harrowing incidents tackling the 2,650-mile (4,265-kilometer) Pacific Crest Trail across this year's massive snowpack, which has fed swift streams and turned the dream trip of a lifetime into a neardeath nightmare for some.

Hikers have survived an avalanche, falls on snow and close calls in raging rivers. Most have retreated to lower ground and detoured the hazardous Sierra Nevada — the highest, most rugged section of the scenic trail running the length of California and through Oregon and Washington.

Hiking the trail is an arduous endurance test, but not particularly perilous. It has become more popular each year and draws more than 3,000 hikers from around the world trying to cover the entire length within six months, though fewer than a quarter finished last year.

Given the length and likelihood of snow in the Sierra and Cascades, most hikers start in the Southern California desert in early spring with the hope that snow will melt by the time they reach alpine elevations.

With hundreds of socalled thru-hikers entering the high Sierra early in the season, their experiences can serve as cautionary tales for others planning summer wilderness escapes. More than a dozen people have drowned in Sierra rivers at lower elevations, including one in Yosemite and three in Sequoia National Park, and rangers are warning hikers to think twice about crossing swift water.

Marcus Mazzaferri, 25, of Seattle, narrowly survived an ordeal after falling in a swollen Yosemite creek and abandoning his pack so he could get to shore before being swept over a waterfall. He lost all his gear and had to do jumping jacks and run in circles all night.

He got lost hiking for help the next day and was beginning to despair when he heard a beeping sound and discovered a snow-plowing crew, who took him to a ranger station.

“I remember the feeling of not being sure if I would survive or not,” Mazzaferri said.