High Sierra Topix

Kinda last minute, trailbud and myself will be camping out of onion valley and attempting Snow Crown or whatever looks good on Sun/Mon.
Starting out around 9am Sun and camping over night if anyone wants to go along.

please report trip incl road conditions - good luck on the hike - if you need any beta send me an e-mail - I am headed to Vegas tomorrow to hike with Rachel and sierragator

Tom just e mailed you, any beta would be helpful
Dave

sorry for late reply - I was out playing poker (won gas money to Vegas) - just sent you e-mail back with hopefully some usable info - have fun

TC

The road to Onion Valley was clear Sun. with a bit of rockfall, no ice only a few inches of snow at the campground parking lot. Temps were low thirties at 8:30am, sky clear, light winds (burr) no other cars at the parking lot. We set out breaking trail in 18" to 24" of snow( with snowshoes) following the approximate location of the Kersarge pass trail. It was slow going and around noon we knew any peaks were out of the question, we had already dumped the idea of hauling gear up for an overnight as soon as we saw the amt of snow (we thought we could get half way up on trail with no shoes). So like many trips, goals changed, but all in all it was a great day in the mountains, we shoed up to Gilbert Lake and did a bit of exploring around the lake, head down and at the car by five, toasted the New Year in the mountains and drove home to spend the rest of the evening with family and friends that expected us to still be in the mountains. A few pictures here
http://outdoors.webshots.com/album/556746993CvyNsE

Gorgeous pictures Ridgeline! The air is so crisp and clear..LOVE the blue sky against the snow and rocks.
Really beautiful area..Thank you for sharing

3 tries for me and still haven't made it . . . I think this will have to wait til spring. Thanks for the photos! Looks like a great snowshoe trip!

Kinda looks that way, but with no big snow dumps? and if we keep working the trail in?
I guess I dont need to bag a peek to go back before spring, the mountains really had a special feel last Sunday, maybee it was the solitude, I didnt put my head down and go go go but I listened to the mountains, sounds of Independence Creek, birds, the crunch of the snow, my own breath, truely a mountain high!
Like Tomcat says, its an addiction, it sure is. The mountains keep calling dont they.

nice hike and pictures Ridgeline. I sure want to get up in that area while the road is still open. do you think the snow shoes helped. I am itching to get into some area with snow - the voices of the mountains sing different songs. even if not bag a peak would be nice to do for a day. congrats on getting back out before years end.

Tom, we started up with out snowshoes and went back to the car for them after about 200'. We would sink about 8" to 12" with snowshoes, anyone going up our trail before the next storm will move quickly because it consolidated well. On the plus side, it is still real safe, no odd layers, ice etc. and should still be safe with another one to two feet of new, after that things could change dramatically.