High Sierra Topix

Doyle,
Great idea...thanks!
Done.
Mark

Glacier Point road is opening at 5pm today, which is the earliest in the NPS record (though data only goes back to 1995): http://www.nps.gov/yose/planyourvisit/tiogaopen.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

So we should start the speculation about the Tioga Road - my guess is it could be as early as next Friday April 27 assuming that Olmsted Point is as relatively free of snow as similar aspects on the Sentinel Dome webcam suggest (though with some precipitation in the forecast for next week that might be a little optimistic).

With about 4 ft of snow at Whitewolf and less at Tuolumne I'm betting Tioga opening on or before May 11. If the windstorm hit that far North moving trees may be as big an issue as moving snow.

Mike

This year Tioga Pass will open on my birthday - May 13th.

they don't usually open on a Sunday.. It''ll be the 12th or 14th. they're half way there, but there's still olmstead and all the service roads.

Snow at Horton Lake yesterday:

http://kathywing.smugmug.com/California ... 0221-M.jpg" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

It is a really low snow year, but there's still snow out there - it's just not necessarily in the right places. When going by the Palisades they looked a bit icy already.

I only hit a couple of small patches of snow on the way to Horton Lake, which is at about 10,000'.

Here are the gauges I've been monitoring to figure out my June trip. They are not above 9,000 feet though. As of April 23:

Kibbie Ridge (6700)
0" snow depth, down from 22" on April 15
2" water content, down from 9" on April 14 (does this mean there is a pool of water on the sensor?)

Last year on April 23: 30" water content
2010 on April 23: 26" water content

White Wolf (7900)
22" snow depth, down from 60" on April 15
7" water content, down from 12" on April 15

Last year on April 23: 47" water content
2010 on April 23: 33" water content

As you can see, the heat wave has compensated for the April snow storms and we are back on track for an exceptionally low snow year, at least in this neck of the woods. I'm aiming to tackle NW Yosemite the first week of June, immediately after my school is out for me, and I bet it would be doable for snow challenged duffers like me even earlier.

I heard the Sonora pass may open this weekend. That would be a sight for sure.

Saw these on the VVR web site. Date said they were from 4/20/12 for a quad trip to Edison. Looks like about 3 to 4 feet at the Pass (just above 9,000') and nothing at Lake Edison (~7,300).


Kaiser Pass




From the Edison lake bed/Cold Creek inlet looking south. I believe thats Bear Dome with little snow and maybe Mt Shin in the background.




From the boat launch area looking north towards the Silver Divide

Mineral King's melt is coming along nicely: