Glen Alpine Springs Trailhead to Tallac Summit 4 April 2015

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Vaca Russ
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Glen Alpine Springs Trailhead to Tallac Summit 4 April 2015

Post by Vaca Russ »

We took a little hike on Saturday before the storm. I thought I would write a little report for those of you who may be curious about the low snow levels in the Southern Desolation Wilderness.

The objective was to reach the summit of Tallac. We didn’t want to take our usual route starting at the north end of Fallen Leaf Lake. This time we drove to the southern end of the lake to start at the Glen Alpine TH.
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We saw no snow until we reached the Gilmore Lake outlet crossing at about 7700 feet.
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This shot ought to give you an idea of the snow level at the Dicks Pass trail junction at about 8300 feet.
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The check dam at the outlet of Gilmore is ice free.
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Don’t tell Aaron and Jeff about this ice. They’ll be up there with their augers. :D
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Sport changed into her mountaineering boots at the Mt. Tallac trail junction.
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As you can see there are plenty of dry spots for an enterprising young adventurer to find a good campsite at Gilmore Lake.

This is a shot across the lake towards Jacks and Dicks.
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Here she is on the summit. You can see Gilmore is still mostly frozen. The east slope of the Crystal range still holds snow.
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This shot is a blurry zoom shot of Suzie. The ice is beginning to melt along the edges.
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It isn’t Modjeska falls but it is still a pretty fall.
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Please see the “Peak Bagging” section for a complete report about the climb.

Thanks for reading our post!

-Russ
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Re: Glen Alpine Springs Trailhead to Tallac Summit 4 April 2

Post by maverick »

Thanks for the TR and pictures Russ it gives folks an idea of the current conditions in that area. :thumbsup:
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Re: Glen Alpine Springs Trailhead to Tallac Summit 4 April 2

Post by FeetFirst »

Thank you! :thumbsup: Any skeeters?

Looks like everything will have an extra foot or two of snow by Wednesday.
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Re: Glen Alpine Springs Trailhead to Tallac Summit 4 April 2

Post by Tom_H »

Ouch! That (snow level) is sad! I'm sure the hike was fun, but I've made that climb many times and have never seen so little snow this time of year. The fire danger is going to be extreme this summer. I'll second the question on the mosquitos.
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Re: Glen Alpine Springs Trailhead to Tallac Summit 4 April 2

Post by Vaca Russ »

FeetFirst wrote:Thank you! :thumbsup: Any skeeters?

Looks like everything will have an extra foot or two of snow by Wednesday.
FF / Tom,

Regarding the mosquitoes...we experienced nothing. It is still too cold for those vampires. And yes, part of the intent of this report was to show just how little snow there is / was.

We did get some snow.
Lake Snow.jpg
I'll bet all of this will be melted away very soon.

Thanks,

-Russ
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Re: Glen Alpine Springs Trailhead to Tallac Summit 4 April 2

Post by TahoeJeff »

Thanks for the report on the conditions Russ! I'm in Costa Rica right now, but when I get back next week, I'll be checking the ice out conditions of the Deso lakes.
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