PACIFIC CREST TRAIL; CANADA-TO-MEXICO ODYSSEY : FOR AN ANNUAL PILGRAMMAGE OF A FEW DOZEN STEELY HIKERS, A MOUNTAINOUT TRI-STATES TRACK OFFERS A PATHWAY TO DISCOVERY AND A LIFETIME OF MEMORIES.

Byline: Terry Wood Special to the Daily News

And they're off . . .

A field estimated at 130 hikers, presumed to be a near-record number, is hoofing its way over Southern California's mountains and across desert foothills in the early stages of a daunting annual ritual.

They are pursuing one of the crown jewels in the undeclared sport of ``extreme hiking'' - the 2,638-mile odyssey from Mexico to Canada along the backbones of California, Oregon and Washington on the Pacific Crest Trail.

This four- to six-month marathon attracts no cable-network coverage, corporate hucksters, blimp flyovers, soundtracks or boot-cams.

If anyone is wearing swooshes on their wafflestompers, they paid personal money for them. And by now - as the front-runners among this year's crew of ``through-hikers'' pass through forests outside Los Angeles - they are obscured by dust, burrs and close calls with cactus spines.

If the ambition to cross the country south to north by foot isn't unusual or eccentric enough, consider the plight of Scott Williamson of Richmond, who is making his second attempt at a ``yo-yo'' hike - Mexico to Canada and back again.

``Last year he had to bail out around Halloween near Kennedy Meadows (at the southern end of the Sierra Nevada mountain range) because of snow,'' said Joe Sobinovsky, who monitors trail conditions and hiker activity for the Sacramento-based nonprofit Pacific Crest Trail Association. The PCTA keeps a Web page (www.gorp.com/pcta) updated with snow measurements and other usual information for distance hikers. ``I hear a couple of weeks ago in the San Gabriel Mountains he walked past another hiker's camp at night carrying a flashlight.''

Ron Swanson of Portland, Ore., is taking a more conventional approach - one way. The moving van operator is crossing the San Gabriels this week over the 300-mile section of the PCT that traverses the Angeles and San Bernardino National Forests. He is on schedule to complete his third through-hike sometime this fall - in time for his Nov. 2 wedding.

``I wouldn't be out there if we didn't have a date set,'' said Swanson, 50, who completed the PCT in 1985 (losing 45 pounds in the process) and again in 1988. ``We met in a park while walking our dogs sometime after my first PCT hike. We both love the outdoors, but her dad thought I was a little extreme. He told her, `You've met Euell Gibbons.' ''

This is the driest he has found the PCT in Southern California during his four journeys (a trip in 1991 was cut to 90 days - all his work schedule would allow). While that means a mostly snow-free walk in higher elevations - his ice ax has not yet been employed - he has had occasional lengthy waterless stretches, a challenge he expects to continue as he hikes toward the Tehachapi Mountains and the Southern Sierra.

``That means the trail's clear, but the terrain has been hotter and rockier than usual,'' Swanson said as he broke camp Monday morning at Sulphur Springs, about four miles north of the Angeles Crest Highway. ``That's been tough on my feet and on Cooper's (his canine companion).

``I had blisters by the second day, and I've lost both big toenails,'' said Swanson, who started at the PCT's southern terminus in the settlement of Campo at the Mexican border on April 13. ``I always lose a few nails on this hike, but I'm kind of hoping these two grow back.''

Over the last three years, about 125 hikers have completed the trail - 60 each in 1994 and 1996, but only five (PCTA's Sobinovsky included) in 1995, when strong late-season storms clogged the Sierra with deep snow.

What sort of conditions await PCT through-hikers (equestrians also follow the tri-states track) in 1997 following a winter of extremes - powerful turn-of-the-year storms that blasted the Pacific states, followed by a resilient, late-season dry spell?

``Even after the storms we had at the first of the year, it looks like it's shaping up to be a relatively normal year, at least in California,'' Sobinovsky says. ``Oregon and Washington are still kind of unknowns right now, but overall it's turning out to be a better year than we would have imagined back in January during the big storms.''

That's when Sierra backcountry was submerged in a dense snowpack. Accumulations throughout the Sierra were calculated to be well above normal by the end of January.

Typically, such conditions foreshadow a difficult travel season on the PCT. However, the dry spell of February through April changed all that. At Sonora Pass, for example, where Highway 108 intersects the PCT at 9,620 feet, 112 inches of snow - well above normal - blanketed the area. Yet a recent measurement showed just 38 inches remained.

``My guess is that people will be able to get into Tuolumne backcountry by mid-June, which is even earlier than usual,'' said Bob Bandy, Yosemite's wilderness supervisor, who has inspected much of the backcountry via helicopter. ``We'll have trail crews in there repairing whatever needs to be repaired.''

``Anyone who reaches the Sierra on the PCT early this year may have to work a little harder at route-finding, because I expect there may be some heavier erosion of some trails in places,'' he said. ``They also should gain a little knowledge in how to cross fast-moving streams, because the water will be up pretty high early in the season. Some bridges suffered damage and some may have totally disappeared,'' said Dave Page, Toulamne's winter ranger and a former Saugus resident.

Sobinovsky, 35, is well-acquainted with tough times on the PCT. In snowbound 1995, he improvised. He hiked down from the High Sierra to Whitney Portal, caught a bus in Lone Pine and traveled to Northern California, where he resumed his trek north. After hiking through Washington in 21 days (17 in the rain) to reach Canada, Sobinovsky bused back to Lone Pine in the late summer and completed the Sierra portion of his hike.

Is that any way to spend a summer, especially in light of the sneaky, food-mooching tactics of the Sierra black bear, the hordes of mosquitoes waiting in Oregon and the jaw-dropping elevation changes in Washington?

``Oh, most definitely,'' Sobinovsky said. ``The things you're able to see are just amazing. You could come around a corner in Washington, burn a whole roll of film, and each shot comes out looking like a post card. If I ever get the chance to go again, I will.''

SURVIVAL CLINIC

The Pacific Crest Trail can present many difficulties for thru-hikers in the early going. Deep snow, avalanches and dangerous stream crossings are among the risks trekkers faces in late spring and early summer. Those who completed the 2,638-mile odyssey in the big snow year of 1993 offer some telling advice for this year's crew.

Peter Guzman, 35, Albany, Ore.

``People started to make plans to sidestep the Sierra and hike along Highway 395; they pulled off because they were intimidated by the high snow. I think that is a bad idea. When people decided to stay on the trail, they found it was possible to hike. The snow was firm; you could hike on eight feet of it. I'm not saying a hiker wouldn't start postholing - breaking through the snow up to your waist. That is a possibility, but it's not necessarily the case. And don't have Canada as the end goal. If you reach it, fine - an extra bonus. But allow yourself to stop and have layovers; listen to your body when it needs rest.''

Judy Baker-Gianandrea, 37, San Francisco

``Plan well and never give up; I knew I was going all the way, no matter what. But, by all means, deviate from the trail for safety reasons if you need to. It's a ridiculous notion that you have to stay on the trail every inch of the way to say you completed the whole thing. On Mount Baden-Powell, we (her mother, Erma Marak, 67, of Naples, Fla., hiked the PCT with her) had to self-arrest - use the ice ax to stop our fall as we slid down the icy side of the mountain. Common sense would have been to go to the top of the mountain, where it was clear, instead of following the trail, where it was snowed under.''

Andy Rose, 27, Ottumwa, Iowa

``My biggest regret was flying by to make my miles. I planned on doing at least 25 miles a day. In retrospect, it wasn't necessary. I wish I could have slowed down. I met people who I wish I got to know better. I was in a snowstorm on San Jacinto Peak, and I met a guy who was coming down. He put me up in his cabin for the night. It was one of the most memorable events of the journey. But I took off the next day; had to make my miles, you know. I was obsessed, and it's all nonsense. Take your time. And keep a journal; that's probably more important than slowing down.''

?13Brett Pauly

?Photo: (1--color) The Pacific Coast Trail in Ansel Adams Wilderness as it winds south toward the Ritter Range, southeast of Yosemite National Park.

Brett Pauly / Daily News

(2--color) Peter Guzman

(3--color) Judy Baker-Gianandrea

(4--color) Andy Rose

(5) A portion of the Pacific Crest Trail is shown where it meanders past Sapphire Lake in Kings Canyon National Park's Evolution Basin.

Brett Pauly / Daily News

(6) SWANSON

Map: (color) Pacific Coast Trail

Drawing: no caption (Hiker)

Bradford Mar/Daily News

Chart: (color) ELEVATION BY LANDMARK

Box: (1) SURVIVAL CLINIC (see text)

(2) A HISTORY OF THE PACIFIC CREST NATIONAL SCENIC TRAIL 

CAPTION(S):

6 Photos, Map, Drawing, Chart, 2 Boxes