High Sierra Topix

Hi there,

This is Boris, the guy who was asking about conditions along this route a couple of weeks ago. We returned yesterday (5/26) and I post a quick conditions report as promised.

Mono Meadows TH to Merced Pass:
Illiluet creek crossing was no problem at 11am but could be later in the day. All other stream crossings for the whole trip were smaller and I will not mention them any more.
Lots of fallen trees right after start, not a fast going there.
Merced pass approach is almost snow free, easy going.

Merced pass - Fernandez pass:
Just some patches of snow above 9k, not too hard. Fernandez pass was almost snow free on ascent and solid snow on descent. Fun boot skiing.

Fernandez pass - Post Peak Pass:
Trail quite faint. Add snow patches, standing water and fallen trees. Result: miles of bushwacking. But fun. Post Peak pass was obvious to ascent with intermittent snow. The descent was also easy and fast with boot skiing on solid snow.

Post Peak Pass - Triple Peak Fork Junction - Washburn lake - Merced lake - Yosemite valley:
Lost trail under snow patches, bushwacked straight to Triple Peak junction. Then easy going until a horrendous fallen trees area around the last bridge before Washburn Lake. Bridge slightly damaged by fallen trees. Nothing of note after Washburn lake. Except snow the last 2 days! But we were out of the high country at this point.

This is it for now, will post pictures if interested.
Thank you,

Boris and Anastasia

Boris wrote:
This is it for now, will post pictures if interested.

Hi Boris,

Thanks for writing up the conditions you experience on your tip. Photo's are always
appreciated here on HST, so please do post some from your trip. Thanks

Thanks for posting. I wonder how Red Peak Pass is now.

Chris

ckm554 wrote:Thanks for posting. I wonder how Red Peak Pass is now.

Chris

Chris,

Expect the south side to be almost snow free and the north side all snow. Here is a picture of the south side from Merced Pass and also a picture of the NE side of Post Peak Pass on the descent. Red Peak Pass elevation is similar to Post Peak Pass and it's oriented more northerly so expect even more snow. Note that snow was rather helpful on our descent as we timed it right when the snow was soft but not too soft (around 11am) and it was a fun bot skiing.

Hope it helps,

Boris

It does, thanks!

Chris