The mountains are calling, but what are they saying?

[Wrongway]

Longtime lurker (and beneficiary), first-time poster. A quick introduction: I have been backpacking in the Sierras off and on, sometimes haplessly, since I was a teenager in the late ’70s, seriously so in the past decade. I have thru-hiked the JMT, section-hiked the SHR (parts of it twice), and strung together routes that have taken me to (and through) Miter Basin, Center Basin, Kern Basin, Kaweah Basin, Dumbbell Basin, Blackcap Basin, Bench Valley, Red Mountain Basin, and a chunk of Andrew Skurka's Oedipal struggle with Steve Roper (the Kings Canyon High Basin Route). Observatory Pass, Dumbbell Pass, Confusion Pass, Blackcap Pass, Lucifer's 1 and 2, Cartridge Pass, Pterodactyl Pass, Horn Col, Coppermine Pass, Talus Pass, the passes on the SHR: I've been over them all, mostly solo.

I come to you with a predicament, or perhaps an existential question. My original plan for this year was to revisit the SHR from Humphries Basin to Tuolumne Meadows, starting at Paiute Pass. Thing is, though, I have always been a late-season Sierras backpacker, mostly in an era of prolonged drought, which means that I have never had to deal with snow. (The closest I've come was in 2019 on Confusion Pass, where I crossed a tiny snowfield at the top, and Lucifer's Pass, where the cornice had detached from the headwall just enough so I could shimmy through.) Since I wasn't keen on making my introduction to snow travel the SHR in what is essentially June in a heavy snow year, I demurred — I decision I feel good about, having since read Vagabondmountanman's recent trip report (for which, thank you!), and considering that today would have been my entry date. (Truly, the Sierra gods work in mysterious ways.) Instead, inspired partly by posts to this forum and partly by my desire to revisit Blackcap Basin and Bench Valley, my plan now is to visit the mythical Lake 10232, leaving Wishon, through Woodchuck Country, up through Blackcap, over Finger Col, over Reinstein Pass, over either Valor Pass or Confusion Pass (the devil I know), over Blackcap Pass into Bench Valley, and back out by way of Halfmoon Lake, etc. This would be a ten-day trip (typical for me), with an entry date of this Thursday, 8-24. Ah, but! Considering the weather, and Backstroke's somewhat discouraging brief TR for the area, and the fact that I have no experience on snow in what remain June conditions in a heavy snow year, I confront the question: Is this the year I just sit things out? Are my beloved Sierras, with whom I share an intimate connection, sending me mixed signals, or unambiguous signals to stay away, confident in the knowledge that they will still be there next year?

Other considerations: I travel to the Sierras every year from New England (I'm a So Cal native in exile), and this year I'll be out the costs, but am currently comfortably ensconced in LA, awaiting Hilary. I'll be 59 in October, and losing a year hurts.

Thank you all for your indulgence! I reckon I'm not the only one grappling with the same dilemma.

[cgundersen]

Wrongway,
My knee-jerk response is to go for it. Here's why: your two crux days are Finger col and Reinstein. Finger is mostly E-W facing and snow issues should not be horrible. Yes, I mangled my one time at Finger and crossed the ridge a hundred yards further north of the crossing shown in HST's off trail passes section. The message there is if the accepted route looks sketchy, there are plenty of other options for getting over that ridge. We bungled things because of a fast-moving storm, so the rocks were slippery and we still managed. I suspect you will, too. That hop, of course, gets you to (darn close) your target: 10,232, and that means that even if Reinstein looks like a no-go, you got your fix and you can backtrack. But I really doubt that will be necessary. As with Finger, there are many ways to get over the Reinstein ridge and I'm pretty confident you'll find one. Martha Lake is spectacular in her own right and that's added motivation to make it go. Wait till mid-morning for the snow to soften up and it'll make some of the talus fields you've crossed seem like medieval torture by comparison. Cameron

[thegib]

Hi Wrongway,
Of course you should go for it. If Finger col is intimidating you could take Mantle pass instead, it's effectively snow free. Then head north over Blue Canyon pass. Descending from either Finger or BCP should be an easy glissade. You'll probably find the snow is your new best friend. By the time you hit Reinstein/Valor it should be pretty minimal. You sound plenty savvy enough to handle it.

[Wrongway]

Thank you, Cameron and thegib, for taking the time to reply. This was just the encouragement I needed, and I appreciate it. I don't know about the rest of you, but cooling my heels in LA, obsessively checking the NOAA website and HST while waiting for the weather to improve, has given me too much time to brood on potential risks instead of looking forward to known rewards. It's really messed with my head!

Cameron, when I visited Blackcap Basin, etc, in 2019, I did so from Florence Lake by way of the JMT and Goddard Canyon, so I agree with you about Martha Lake. What a beautiful area! And I suppose I would have taken the same route this year, but that bridge on the JMT is mangled. Thus Wishon.

Thegib, I've been called a lot of things in my life, but never "savvy." So thanks for that. I've been reminding myself that I had never gone over a cross-country pass until one day I did, and now I can hardly bear to be on a trail. So who knows? Perhaps I will end up feeling the same way about snow.

[c9h13no3]

Send it.