Weather Warning!

[hikerduane]

Reno TV was saying back into the 90's by Sunday further north.

[oldranger]

Ahhhhhhhhhhh? What's so bad about being stuck in your tent with your girlfriend for a few extra hours? I'm old but not that old to see an upside!

Mike

[trav867]

Alas, work giveth and work taketh away... Turns out I really have to go in tomorrow. I'm just going to take it as a sign that the trip was never meant to be. Hate it when that happens. Anyway, good luck TT! And that is an excellent point oldranger!

[rlown]

Some of my best days were spent, legs dangling off a cliff in full gortex, enjoying a thunder storm dancing around me, with full on rain and strikes.

But, as OR says, there are benefits to returning back to the tent.

Do it regardless.

Russ

[madeintahoe]

Duane..I tried to send you a private message..but it wont let me...I just wanted to wish you a safe and wonderful journey on your backpacking trip to Alaska....have fun romping around up in that wild country up there :)

Take care and be safe
Anita...........using a friends computer so was not able to get your email from my book..so had to send you a note VIA topix

[TehipiteTom]

Alas, work giveth and work taketh away... Turns out I really have to go in tomorrow. I'm just going to take it as a sign that the trip was never meant to be. Hate it when that happens. Anyway, good luck TT! And that is an excellent point oldranger!

Thanks, Trav...but I ended up changing plans altogether. When I picked up the permit, the ranger said they were forecasting snow at 9,000', and that just didn't sound like fun to me. So I did a road trip with dayhikes instead--over Walker Pass and up the Owens Valley, and back over Sonora Pass. Different kind of trip, but I had a blast.

[desertdawg]

We were in the middle of an 8 day trek when we hit McLure Meadow and ranger Dave. The weather seemed a little odd for the first week of August so we inquired with Dave about the forecast. He had just posted a note on the trail but we had not passed it yet. Our plans has us heading south into the Ionian Basin with a planned summit of Goddard when Dave told us of the impending weather. Dave said lots of people were changing their plans with some canceling multi day trips.

We managed to secure an awesome campsite at the west side of Colby Meadow and did day hikes until the never materialized storminess passed. It was very windy and cool so Ionian was probably not a good choice. We were fully prepared for winter weather and were kinda of bummed it never materialized. I never backpack in the High Sierra without gloves, beanie, and a down coat. I was in a newly purchased 30 degree bag so I was a little concerned. Bag worked fine as the low definitely dropped below 30 on at least 3 nights. By Friday it was back to Sierra sunshine so we hit the Darwin Bench and a summit of Goethe for a couple of days before heading out over Lamarck Col on Sunday.

[cammed]

I was at Little Lakes Basin Tues-Thurs with younger children. We hiked out Thursday morning due to cold/wind/limited sun. When we got to the trailhead at about 12:30, we had a snow flurry which lasted until arriving at hwy 395. Nothing major, but definitely flakes of snow. We ended up camped at Forks Campground in Bishop Canyon where it was still windy but not so cold.

On another note, a friend of mine reported a temperature of 18 degrees at 10:30 on Thursday the 6th, with wind strong enough to make her crouch down...probably 30-45 mph. Certainly windchills took the real-feel temps below zero. Hopefully no major hypothermia or frostbite for anyone!

[teejay]

I fished Arrowhead Lake on the Duck Pass trail above Mammoth Lakes on Thursday evening. After observing the same snow flurry on Thursday morning from the comfort of a cabin, I packed my heavy fleece jacket as well as a windbreaker for the jaunt up to Arrowhead -even though the weather seemed to be improving –and I’m glad I did.
With the extra elevation and wind-chill at the lake, my hands were so cold that I could hardly tie a knot. Needless to say, the fishing was lousy.
On returning to the truck, the temperature at the trailhead was 41. On the bright side:
No mosquitoes.

[hawkfeather]

We went in on August 1, not knowing anything was headed our way. On the evening of the 3rd, we were in Blackcap Basin, with the wind rising. (We've got a Tarptent, and although it's proved stable in high winds, it flaps and makes a racket--annoying in the middle of the night.) We spent the next 2 days dayhiking and exploring in various directions, while the temperature gradually dropped. Each day we'd watch the clouds moving in, all going in a northeasterly direction at great speed, and wonder if they'd eventually back up enough for us to get rain. We never did get any, but looking off in the direction of the Silver Divide(?), it always looked like that area was getting something by midafternoon. The wind came up again, big time, on our last night in the basin, and on the 6th we started hiking out as planned, still clueless (apart from what we could observe) as to what was actually going on. That night at Halfmoon Lake it got very cold and condensation froze on on our bags. As somebody else I think observed, thank god for beanies. Best thing ever invented. It was bitterly cold the next morning when we got up (at least, it felt so!) although it was clear, and we kept our options open as we headed farther "out". Then the wind started again, and I'd swear that it felt colder at midday than it had at 7 am. At that point, clouds were moving in again, and they were coming in low. (They were hitting the ridgetops just east of Wishon Reservoir, that's how low.) We met a couple of young guys hiking in who said they'd heard it had snowed in Tuolumne. By that time, though, we'd already made our own decision: we were out of there! Of course, by the time we reached the trailhead at Wishon, the clouds had gone through, it was clear overhead and reasonably warm. We had a late dinner in Shaver Lake, where the evening was quite chilly and we saw people running around in down jackets. I'd have to say that we had a great time despite the weather, and coming out a day early actually made for an easier drive home the next day.