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Spring/Fall Gear
Spring/Fall backpacking gear.
Bear, Black, Tracks, High Sierra, Carson Iceberg Wilderness
Bear, Black, Tracks, High Sierra, Carson Iceberg Wilderness
April 24, 2004
The weight of the walker, in this case a bear, compresses the snow as they pass, leaving tracks.
As the snow mass melts the compressed snow creating the tracks melts much slower than the surrounding snow, pushing the tracks above the receeding snow.
Lightening Safety for Backpackers: Caught Out with Bubba and Dave.
Lightening Safety for Backpackers: Caught Out.
I have observed Summertime heat weather in the Sierra Nevada Mountain Range for decades. The recipie is simple. Heatwaves in the Valley fill the atmosphere with hot evaporated moisture, a gentle onshore breeze pushes it up the Sierra Crest, and the cooling does the rest.
Weather Image: Wolf Creek frozen into layers of Slush, PCT, Carson Iceberg.
Weather Image: Wolf Creek frozen into layers of Slush.
Location: Along the Pacific Crest Trail between Ebbetts Pass and Sonora Pass. Carson-Iceberg Wilderness. Oct 26 2011.
I consider this an effect of weather...
Trail Guide: Tyron Peak to Murray Canyon.
Fall Report: Carson-Iceberg loop on PCT and TYT, Oct 2011
Looping the Carson-Iceberg Wilderness on the Pacific Crest and Tahoe to Yosemite Trails
The Trip
This trip was planned to depart the Silver Valley trailhead on the Eastern side of Lake Alpine on Highway 4 Southbound to follow the Tahoe to Yosemite Trail route South to Saint Marys Pass on Highway 108.
Tracking the Sierra Nevada Spring into Summer-Thaw of 2011
Introduction
Greetings. I'm Alex Wierbinski, and I started up this continuing post in early May so you could both obtain and contribute information that backpackers, hikers, and even you climbers need to track the Spring Thaw of 2011.
Coyote Encounter, Round Top Lake, June 2008
Coyote Encounter, Round Top Lake, June 2008. Coyote on Ice.
Trail Guide Page: Round Top Lake
Related post: Coyote @ Round Top Lake
September Open Thread: High Sierra Trail Condition Reports
September Open Thread: High Sierra Trail Condition Reports
Trip Dates: Hiking Kennedy Meadows South to Glen Aulin High Sierra Camp between September 2 and September 5. Spent the 5th and the 6th visiting Erin Ander's Yosemite NP Trail Crew, which was established near Glen Aulin. I camped at the Tuolumne Meadow's Backpacker camp on the evening of the 7th, and easily hitched home on the 8th.
Video IIa: Spring Snow Backpacking trip, Round Lake to Showers Lake, June 6, 2010
Spring in the Sierras
Rifts great and small are opening up in the snow cover. Intense streams have cut fantastic shapes through their snow covers as they hurry down the mountain, while the meadow snows are suffering a different fate.
Run off from the mountains surrounding Meiss Meadow is flowing under the great sheets of snow covering the meadow, first undercutting, then collapsing the snow on the meadow.
Video I: Spring Snow Backpacking trip, South Upper Truckee to Round Lake, June 5, 2010
This video takes us from the snow free trail head on South Upper Truckee Road up to Round Lake on June 5, 2010.. Round Lake sits about 5 miles South of the trail head at 8000 feet.
We ran into trails running like streams about a mile and a half up from the trail head, and hit the snow line about two miles past the trail head.
The Snow is heavier, at lower elevations, and persisting later into Spring than typical.
Video: Spring Snow Scouting trip past Carson Pass, June 5, 2010
Scouting the Carson Pass prior to backpacking there from the South Upper Truckee Road trail head. This video will give you a view of snow conditions at Carson Pass on June 5, 2010. Late season storms had deposited significant snow the previous week.
The snow line was at 7500 feet on North facing flanks, and 8000 feet on Southern facing flanks. I expect everything but Northwestern faces to be melted off by June 24, at the latest. Continuing high temps may speed this up.
The heavy snow conditions in the High Sierras in early June are depicted by the following videos:
