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Low Snow, Lake Edison and Ferry

Posted: Fri Apr 05, 2013 11:19 pm
by OzSwaggie
Hi All
I'm reading all the info. about the snowpack with gratitude (in Australia!) and thanks especially to J. Dittli! - and I'm wondering what the liklihood is of lake Edison dropping again to the historic low levels that caused the ferry to have to be abandoned last year? I'm thinking we might need to do some serious rethinking of our 7-day trip from Mosquito Flat to Duck Pass via VVR if this is a problem ... (we couldn't accommodate the extra miles involved in hiking around the lake)
thanks in anticipation,
Donna

Re: Low Snow, Lake Edison and Ferry

Posted: Sat Apr 06, 2013 12:13 am
by tim
The reservoir storage at Edison Lake (entered each month) is here:
http://cdec.water.ca.gov/cgi-progs/queryMonthly?TAE" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

As you can see its still desperately low, but March is usually the lowest point of the year before the snowmelt starts. So hard to know how full it will get, but keep an eye on this and by early June you should have a good idea of the trend, assuming an early spring (which looks possible - the forecast is for 80s in the Bay Area next week). I wouldn't count on the ferry being open into September though.

Re: Low Snow, Lake Edison and Ferry

Posted: Sat Apr 06, 2013 11:34 am
by gary c.
The last day for the ferry in 2012 was July 24. I know because our group was on it and it wasn't even the ferry but a couple of aluminum fishing boats. The ferry could no longer make it across a sandbar near the P/U point.
We made the same trek you are planning only in reverse. VVR has a facebook page and what I did was contact them on there page the week before our trip and asked about the ferry. They were very honest and told me that our planned arrival date would be pushing it so at least I knew what our chances were. Here is the report I posted if you are interested.
http://highsierratopix.com/community/vi ... f=1&t=8244" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Re: Low Snow, Lake Edison and Ferry

Posted: Sat Apr 06, 2013 1:03 pm
by DoyleWDonehoo
OzSwaggie wrote: I'm thinking we might need to do some serious rethinking of our 7-day trip from Mosquito Flat to Duck Pass via VVR if this is a problem ...
Yeah, the hike down the res-lake Edison trail is not trivial, with an accumulated up and down gain of 2000 feet over 6 miles. However, taking a route out of VVR that gives you options of Graveyard Lakes/Meadow, Goodale Pass, Indian lakes, Wilber May Lake and especially the Peter Panda Lakes would be a real bonus. The Grassy Lake side of the valley is much more interesting than the Purple Lake side.

Re: Low Snow, Lake Edison and Ferry

Posted: Sat Apr 06, 2013 3:42 pm
by OzSwaggie
Thanks for suggested alternative routes, and for info. We have very limited time and we will emerge at Coldwater Canyon the day we are flying out - so we are really relying on the ferry for our schedule to work and we can't afford any extra miles... We might work on a Plan B (alternative hike). Thanks so much Gary for the trip report link, that really whet my appetite, looks so beautiful! We're booked at VVR on August 1st, so I guess we are sort of mid-season.

Re: Low Snow, Lake Edison and Ferry

Posted: Sat Apr 06, 2013 11:11 pm
by OzSwaggie
Hi Doyle
We have just read your trip report from 2001 on your website re. Goodale Pass Trail and we're thinking in any event we might take this route back to the JMT heading north, even if the ferry is running, rather than repeat Silver Pass. Thanks so much for the tips! Have you done this route again since then?
Cheers
Donna

Re: Low Snow, Lake Edison and Ferry

Posted: Mon Apr 08, 2013 10:07 am
by jfnr
I will be up there the end of May. I am going to do a quick trip up Bear Creek. I plan to head over to the lake before I take off. I will post a report on what I see at the lake and talk to Jim and see what he has to say. At first I was bummed last year when I found out the ferry was not running, but glad I finally walked the lake trail. FYI, Jim was running a taxi to the Bear Creek trailhead. Don`t think this will help for your trip, but good to know. I will post my findings around June 4th. I think the lake trail took about 2 hours (my car was at the trailhead), it is about another mile to the VVR from there. There have been times where I have waited for the ferry longer than that. Typically, by the time I get to the ferry landing I have the mind set that I am done for the day so having to suck up those last 6 miles could be tough. Seemed like coming back was harder than going in. Probably because I was stoked to be heading out.

Re: Low Snow, Lake Edison and Ferry

Posted: Tue May 14, 2013 3:31 am
by OzSwaggie
Hi jfnr

Thanks I'm looking forward to hearing about your trip and how the lake is looking!

We have rejigged our plan so that if the ferry is not running we will just bypass the Fourth Recess Lake and push on further along the Mono Creek trail on our first day over Mono Pass, so we will be able to accommodate the extra miles that way. But we are looking forward to seeing the Fourth Recess Lake so hope the ferry can run!

Cheers to all
Donna

Re: Low Snow, Lake Edison and Ferry

Posted: Thu May 30, 2013 12:43 pm
by jfnr
Just got back from Edison the other day. Spent four days roaming around. The lake is the same level it was back in September. The good news is that Huntington Lake is full and Shaver is close. It looked like they were not releasing water out of Edison.

I was able to drive my truck (on the lake bottom) to Cold Creek which is a one mile hike from the lake trail / Graveyard trailhead. I spoke with Jim and he is not optimistic about the ferry running this year.

I would keep tabs on the VVR website and Facebook page just in case.

Re: Low Snow, Lake Edison and Ferry

Posted: Sat Jun 01, 2013 8:07 am
by Carne_DelMuerto
Posted on VVR's Facebook page today:
The Edison Queen is in the water operating mornings only! Leaving VVR at 9 am and picking up on the other side of the lake at 9:45 am. Spread the word!