Share Your Worst October Weather Experience

[maverick]

Yes, the drive out should be taken into consideration when planing a trip, especially
in the late season.
The drive through Yosemite with the snow falling, quite heavy at times, was
exhilarating, beautiful, but hairy at some parts too.
Did bring chains, but did not have to use them.
Also a shovel in the trunk comes in handy to get the snow from around the car when
one gets back to the trailhead.

[SSSdave]

Nothing worst though have skied a few times at Kirkwood late October when big 2 foot deep storms have hit and opened the mountain for the season for limited skiing. That is always a treat. Already bought my season pass for this coming winter so will need to get around to working on my gear.

Only Sierra backpacking I've done in October is usually 1 or 2 nights just a day in from trailheads that will not close. And actually like to do so when a minor dusting is forecast in order to get some fresh snow pics. Because sunrise is due east now, there are some places with due east west orientations that only receive usable sunrise lighting at this time of year like Horton Creek canyon. Generally don't like the long nights in a tent. However frequently am about in the mountains during October for fall foliage, mainly accessing the Eastern Sierra from US395 areas. So either car tent camp or sleep in my Subarus. I prefer the later because it is much more comfortable reading when cold. And have been snowed on often though most are dustings. NWS weather forecasts have often been off some. Usually that may be a storm predicted to hit from I80 north surprises forecasters by moving a lot further south. In any case I don't have any horror stories as I am rather conservative. This feature on my web site has a number of snow and aspen grove images plus their stories.

http://www.davidsenesac.com/Fall_2007/fall_2007.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Am planning on taking off a few days maybe next week or following week depending on how leaf reports go.

[no2haven]

Fairly timely topic, since the weather for this coming weekend (Oct 1st!) is trending towards stormy and colder, with possibly the first significant snowfall of the season.

Where is there a forecast for "significant" snow??? I'm supposed to be out there starting about midweek for about six days so slightly concerned, especially after reading maverick's post.

Sorry, about that - I'm already getting into "enough hiking, lets get snow on the ground so I can ski" mode, so that might have been slightly ambitious wording.

I also wouldn't worry yet, but would be keeping an eye out on the weekend-early next week...as rlwon said there's a tropical disturbance that might make its way up here, and if the timing's right, produce a nice little storm. Its Autumn, though, which means weather patterns are changing, and forecast models don't deal well with large-scale change. So it might end up being perfect weather anyway There'll probably be a clearer picture before you leave...

A good source for more nuance than the boilerplate weather.com forecast is reading the NWS forecast discussions. Reno and Sac give good write-ups of what's on the horizon for the next 5-7 days (which aren't always reflected in the posted extended forecasts).

[tim]

The current forecast is for 6-8 inches of snow above 8-9K ft on about Wed/Thur next week (Oct 5/6), which is much worse than anything expected for this weekend.

The Mammoth Mountain weather forum (http://forums.mammothmountain.com/viewforum.php?f=8" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;) is always a good place to check for forecasts/speculation in the fall/winter/spring (though expect a bias towards people hoping for snow

[Captain Slappy]

A good source for more nuance than the boilerplate weather.com forecast is reading the NWS forecast discussions. Reno and Sac give good write-ups of what's on the horizon for the next 5-7 days (which aren't always reflected in the posted extended forecasts).

Good deal. Will be keeping a close eye on the forecast the next two days and possibly packing some gaiters.

The current forecast is for 6-8 inches of snow above 8-9K ft on about Wed/Thur next week (Oct 5/6), which is much worse than anything expected for this weekend.

I'll be out by Wed. at the latest. Thanks for the link. Apologies for hijacking the thread.

[no2haven]

Yup, this weekend is looking better, but mid-next week is starting to look quite wet. Definitely keep an eye out though, since this far out model timing isn't an exact science and things could easily move up (or back) a day or two. Enjoy your trip!

Back to the regularly scheduled October stories...I've been lucky and just had nice, cold, clear conditions when I've gone out. I have some fun storm driving stories from ski season, however, like the one about how I learned that the Mormon Immigrant Trail ISN'T plowed in the winter. Maybe that belongs in the "Maps lie" thread, however...

[fishmonger]

The current forecast is for 6-8 inches of snow above 8-9K ft on about Wed/Thur next week (Oct 5/6), which is much worse than anything expected for this weekend.

gee, guess it was a good thing I could not get away from work and got sick on top of that. My original plan was to hit the Muir Trail on Oct 4...

Now I'm hoping to head out west in March or April again, so let's see how much snow La Nina can dump this winter for me before I get there.

[tim]

It could now be up to 2ft of snow from Yosemite northwards on Tuesday night (a week from today). Be careful out there!!

[oldranger]

Getting back on topic my worst October trip wasn't in the Sierra and wasn't half bad, in fact it was downright enjoyable--I just couldn't do what I planned to do.

Almost 3 years ago I was up in Holden Village in the North Cascades. To get there you take a boat up Lake Chelan then ride a school bus up the old (but very well maintained) mining road to the Village which is located at the 3200 ft. level of the Railroad Creek Valley (some time in the past it was considered for about 15 minutes a possible route through the Cascades for a railroad). After sawing rounds for firewood for 5 days I had a day off before returning home. It had been raining intermittently during my stay and one day we even had a few snow flurries. My plan was to hike up to Holden Lake at about 5.400 ft and try and catch some rb and cuts and hybrids.

It was cool and overcast, actually great conditions for the hike up primarily s. slopes. About 1.5 miles from the lake I began to encounter fresh snow. By the time I got to the lake there were 3"or so of snow any place that had substantial shade during the day and the lake was mostly frozen.

Holden Lake 2008.jpg

I noted some open water about 1/2 around the lake at a place where I had caught nice trout before and I started to work my way over. Then reality struck. My route required working my way over pole sized downed trees interlaced like jackstraws and covered with snow. I was alone. I decided no fish was worth the risk of negotiating that slippery maze and turned around and returned to the village for a hot shower and a celabratory feast for all the volunteers that helped convert the village from summer to winter operations.

Mike

[lostcoyote]

this one:
viewtopic.php?f=1&t=4612" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;