High Sierra Topix

If I was going solo I would say go for it, but with a girlfriend only you know
whether she can handle roughing it, or whether the experience will bring you
closer, or whether she would would appreciate your concern for her safety in
choosing an alternative outing.

As I mentioned in another post, I've endured a cold front in Humphreys basin...in hindsight it was fun, but lets just say I didn't sleep well - and that was without snow. At that elevation if this storm materializes as predicted you are asking for some snow (and who knows how much). Like Mav mentioned, if I were solo I'd probably go for it, but with a girlfriend I'd look for another option. I'm not sure the path this front is taking, so I'm not sure where to recommend going to get the least of the storm. You may want to narrow your criteria to avoid routes that have passes...perhaps Road's End to Paradise Valley?

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

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

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!

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

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

trav867 wrote: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.

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.

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!