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Bishop Pass Back Country conditions?

Posted: Sun Apr 29, 2012 6:47 pm
by scottg1178
Hello,

I usually plan my my hiking trips that are over 8,000 feet in June due to snow conditions. This year the conditions are much drier so I am condsidering getting in a couple hikes in the Bishop Pass area the weekend of May 19th (which is usually too early). Before I make plans I would like to know what the conditions are currently like. Since I usually fish on my hikes I am curious to know what lakes are still frozen, I am also looking to see what condition the trail is in. I dont mind hiking in a little snow but I'm not looking to do any cross country skiing.

I'm looking for the condition of the following trails and lakes:

South Lake Basin Trail to..... (Long Lake, Treasure Lake, Ruwau Lake, Green Lake)

Sabrina Basin Trail to... (Blue Lake)

If anyone has been in any of these areas lately I would be thankful for the information.If anyone is going to these areas in Mid June I would be happy to let you know the conditions I had in May/June. Feel free to add to the thread or PM me.

Thanks,

Scott

Re: Bishop Pass Back Country conditions?

Posted: Mon Apr 30, 2012 3:38 am
by texan
Sabrina Lake is ice free and South Lake is thawing. All of the backcountry lakes you talked about in your e-mail will probably be frozen by the time you want to leave(unless it stays warm). Blue Lake is the lowest in elevation at 10,400 ft and probably would be your best bet for open water. Also you could call White Mountain Ranger District for more info.

Texan

Re: Bishop Pass Back Country conditions?

Posted: Mon Apr 30, 2012 9:42 am
by scottg1178
texan wrote:Sabrina Lake is ice free and South Lake is thawing. All of the backcountry lakes you talked about in your e-mail will probably be frozen by the time you want to leave(unless it stays warm). Blue Lake is the lowest in elevation at 10,400 ft and probably would be your best bet for open water. Also you could call White Mountain Ranger District for more info.

Texan

Thanks Texan. Ive never contacted the White Mountain Ranger District...that could be helpful. Sabrina usually has Ice fishing for the opener and this year it was ice free and they even had the boats out. Sabrina tends to update their conditions much more often than South Lake. Both of those lakes are about a month a head of schedule so I am trying to figure out if the back country is also a month a head. You're right.... it will probably depend on how the weather is the next 3 weeks.

Scott

Re: Bishop Pass Back Country conditions?

Posted: Mon Apr 30, 2012 5:42 pm
by jimmeans
P1010148.jpg
P1010134.jpg

Re: Bishop Pass Back Country conditions?

Posted: Mon Apr 30, 2012 6:47 pm
by scottg1178
Thanks for the pics Jim......Looks pretty thick beyond the Sabrina basin. Looks like they opened up the road to North Lake, thats good news. The Lamarck lakes are awesome, was up there last year. I'm sure they are frozen as well.

Scott

Re: Bishop Pass Back Country conditions?

Posted: Mon Apr 30, 2012 6:55 pm
by jimmeans
North Lake road wasn't open, but that didn't keep us from hiking up to the Piute Pass TH. Not sure why the road was closed. There were a few small rocks, but not any worse that any other time that I've been up that road.

North Lake and Lake Sabrina were totally ice-free. A friend who went to South Lake said there was ice floating in the middle of the lake with a sizable gap to shore that shifted through the day as the ice moved around.

Re: Bishop Pass Back Country conditions?

Posted: Mon Apr 30, 2012 9:21 pm
by jimmeans
Here's another photo:

Re: Bishop Pass Back Country conditions?

Posted: Sun May 20, 2012 7:57 pm
by roxyk
Hi,
what are the trail conditions like in the Sabrina Basin? I'm looking to do this hike over Mem day wknd and am wondering if the trail will still have snow...?