High Sierra Topix

http://abclocal.go.com/kgo/story?sectio ... le-9088191" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Not like we didn't already know from our research. FWIW

Russ

I just got back from Yosemite and it was amazingly dry and very hot. The falls are still going but at about half volume as usual. Even though the Merced River is at a bit below its banks, the surrounding meadows are already have brownish spots. All the little side gullies are bone dry.

They just got another foot of snow in Wyoming yesterday and are at 100% snowpack. Last week they had record low temps- like single digits in many towns. I was going to spend the summer in the Sierra - now seriously considering going back to Wyoming this year.

After mid January pretty much shut down my skiing this winter even though I had a pass for 3 resorts. As a result of the drought requested a permit for our Great Western Divide 9-day backpack that goes over Sawtooth, 3 weeks earlier from early August to mid July. Will be doing that trip 10 weeks from now. As is the case for most of my mid summer trips, try to time visits for peak of wildflowers while streams still flowing everywhere and a bit of snow graces big peaks.

Link had the below interesting bit of technology advance.

snippet:

Since April the NASA team has been working with the DWR to map the snowpack from the air using lidar technology, which emits 100,000 pulses of light a second to record the surface elevation of snow throughout the mountains. Scientists then compare the elevations to measurements of the mountains without snow to determine the thickness.

The aerial scientists are also using spectrometers to measure the reflectivity of the snow. That will indicate how much energy the snow is absorbing which will determine the expected melt rate.

Already the technology can accurately measure snowpack within four inches, NASA officials said.

I was up in the Kearsarge area to climb Mt Gould last weekend (5/4) There is still snow out there but far less than normal