Discussion about winter adventure sports in the Sierra Nevada mountains including but not limited to; winter backpacking and camping, mountaineering, downhill and cross-country skiing, snowboarding, snowshoeing, etc.
This place has been on my winter to do list for a while. Finally got up the nerve to make the long drive from the bay area.
On very little food and sleep I left the Rock Creek sno-park by 10am Saturday. I was very shocked by how little snow there actually was, and also how fast it was melting in what felt like summer temps. I took the safe route by skiing up the road, then braching off at the Hilton Creek Lakes Trailhead and following the trail. By the time I had reached this point the snow was mush and very hard to slog through. It took a very long time to reach my intended campsite here, and given all the whoomping and sluffing I was causing, I ended up having to descend towards Davis Lake before ascending again through the dense trees (all this being said I saw NO sign of any avalanches).
I camped for the night, listening to the music of the ice shifing on the lake and coyotes howling in the early morning. I was intending on moving into Little Lakes Valley the following night, but multiple things - including a ski binding that looked like it was about to blow on me - made me decide to head out the next day.
I'm way behind in processing photos, so I'll try to post more as I go through them, but here is one of my room with a view at the Hilton:
Nice campsite, unless the wind comes up. You should have seen the avalanche roll out last Spring viewed from the highway by whatsitsname road up to whatsitsname lakes. Arg! Where I live, I was shoveling snow a week ago and snowmobiling. This last weekend was warm, I was outside in a heavy shirt, digging down to dirt to get some pots ready to plant tomato seeds on the 18. Plus I took the motorcycle for a ride into town, bundled up in a jacket and vest, with insulated gloves, it was still in the 60's or there about.
Thanks Doug and Duane. The snow seems to be melting fast, and there's so little of it...its gonna be mid-summer early this year. I still haven't gotten my act together to sit down and process more photos...I was a tad disapointed with many of them anyways. Here's one from the lot of velvia I shot:
