Current Yosemite Area Conditions
Posted: Tue Jun 20, 2006 9:15 am
I just came back from a short trip to Ostrander Lake and a general tour of Yosemite.
I would have to say that particularly in the mid-elevations, the snowpack is very deep even with the current rate of melt. I began to hit snow at 8000 feet, and at west-facing Ostrander Lake, the snow coverage was 60% with 3 to 4 foot drifts. Above 8600 feet, the coverage everywhere was 90% to 100% with drifts over 4 foot deep and more. As usual, in the most exposed areas there can be snowless areas, but generally most of the exposed areas above 8600 feet are pretty well covered. I staked out the edge of a drift, and in a day it receeded 6 to 7 inches.
The real hassle of the Ostrander hike was the over 70 deadfalls on the trail, some a pain to get past. I have never seen that many on a hike.
I drove all over the Park Sunday, and there was plenty of snow along the Tioga Road and the Glacier Point Road in the higher places, and even in some lower places. At Tamerack CG, for example, there was a small patch of snow, and that is under 7000 feet (probably gone by now). At Tenaya Lake, the forest was patchy with some good sized drifts and very wet, flooded in places. The water is so high at Tenaya Lake, that the beach is gone, flooded.
The Yosemite falls, cascades, and streams were at their max, and really something to see. (HWY 140 is still closed.)
People were going over to 10 Lakes Basin, but they were going over a lot of snow to get there.
The snow is well consolidated and easy to travel over: I only post-holed once. That will change soon. I saw a few snow mosquitoes, but that will pick up soon.
I would have to say it will be another 3 weeks at least before the high country trails dry out, just in time for the peak of mosquito month, and the streams will a challenge for some time to come. When you stop seeing so much snow in this picture (and when that patch of snow in the dome is gone), conditions will be drier:
http://www.yosemite.org/vryos/sentinelcam.htm
Hard to believe a few years ago I was hiking in a dry Pioneer Basin at this very same time of year.
I would have to say that particularly in the mid-elevations, the snowpack is very deep even with the current rate of melt. I began to hit snow at 8000 feet, and at west-facing Ostrander Lake, the snow coverage was 60% with 3 to 4 foot drifts. Above 8600 feet, the coverage everywhere was 90% to 100% with drifts over 4 foot deep and more. As usual, in the most exposed areas there can be snowless areas, but generally most of the exposed areas above 8600 feet are pretty well covered. I staked out the edge of a drift, and in a day it receeded 6 to 7 inches.
The real hassle of the Ostrander hike was the over 70 deadfalls on the trail, some a pain to get past. I have never seen that many on a hike.
I drove all over the Park Sunday, and there was plenty of snow along the Tioga Road and the Glacier Point Road in the higher places, and even in some lower places. At Tamerack CG, for example, there was a small patch of snow, and that is under 7000 feet (probably gone by now). At Tenaya Lake, the forest was patchy with some good sized drifts and very wet, flooded in places. The water is so high at Tenaya Lake, that the beach is gone, flooded.
The Yosemite falls, cascades, and streams were at their max, and really something to see. (HWY 140 is still closed.)
People were going over to 10 Lakes Basin, but they were going over a lot of snow to get there.
The snow is well consolidated and easy to travel over: I only post-holed once. That will change soon. I saw a few snow mosquitoes, but that will pick up soon.
I would have to say it will be another 3 weeks at least before the high country trails dry out, just in time for the peak of mosquito month, and the streams will a challenge for some time to come. When you stop seeing so much snow in this picture (and when that patch of snow in the dome is gone), conditions will be drier:
http://www.yosemite.org/vryos/sentinelcam.htm
Hard to believe a few years ago I was hiking in a dry Pioneer Basin at this very same time of year.