Conway Summit Webcam

[KathyW]

The road to Virginia Lakes was open to about 9,600' this past weekend - about 1/2 mile or so from the end of the road. You still need skis or snowshoes for efficient travel past that point, but the snow was consolidating and melting fast.

[Wandering Daisy]

Most CDEC river data sites are below dams, so not that useful for backpackers. One exception is the data on the Merced River at Happy Isles. Reservoir data has inflow data which would show natural flows IF there were no upstream dams. The data is not intended for the public in general, but for water resource managers, particularly flood management. The reservoir data is particularly difficult to use. I believe you can get a graph but it is a bit of a chore. You could download the data and make your own graph in Excel.

The only data that would be of interest to backpackers isr "unimpaired" runoff data - that means it is not influenced by dams or other upstream man-made structures. I watch the spring melt using CDEC sites - primarily to get a feel for when the peak flow is happening. CDEC rainfall and snow pack data is much more user-friendly. The USGS monitors some rivers independent of the CA Department of Water Resources and this data is presented on the USGS websites.

I find the trail journals of the PCT hikers the most useful information on back country stream crossing conditions.