High Sierra Topix

Route taken: Crabtree Meadows -> Piute Meadows -> Groundhog Meadows (yes, we missed the trail to Piute Lake in the granite) -> Gem Lake. Return via Piute Lake with a side trip to Bear Lake.

Difficult section encountered: None if you discount the mosquitoes. W. Cherry Creek ford was a rock-hop at the junction with Buck Meadow Creek, and a knee-deep ford in slow water at Piute Lake. All other creek crossings were rock-hops.

Special equipment needed/used: None.

Other tips: Bring headnets and mosquito-proof clothing - mosquitoes are in full force and DEET wasn't quite enough to keep them at bay.

Route taken: North Lake, Lamarck Col, Evolution Basin, Muir Pass and back.

Difficult section encountered: A lot of post-holing near the top of Lamarck Col. Problem was going over late in the day both times; probably easier earlier in the day. Little snow encountered anywhere else. No snow on top of Muir Pass, and only a few patches looking down on the south side.

Special equipment needed/used: Poles & gaiters on Lamarck. Snow is soft, so nothing more is needed.

Mosquitoes are out in force in the Lamarck Lakes area.

Route taken: Green Creek trailhead to camp at East Lake, then dayhike up to Summit Lake.

Difficult section encountered: None. Had to wade one stream crossing above East Lake - the rest were rock-hops. No snow except patches on north faces of the highest peaks. Trail dry and in excellent condition. Gale force winds drove us out after one night of planned 3 nights, but at least they knocked the mosquitoes down. It was quite a sight to see the 1 to 2 foot high wind-driven waves crash on the shore of East Lake. Bigger wind gusts drove a curtain of spray across the lake and onto the shore. Here's a photo of the waves on East Lake just after sunrise when winds were moderating from their nighttime howl.
-Phil

Its too hard to format it right on this moble device so i will keep it simple.

Pants Pass June 22. 70% snow on east side. None on west.

Lion Rock Pass 1 70% snow on north side. None on south.

Lion Rock Pass 2 95% snow on north side. None on south. Both 1 and 2 on the 22nd.

Lion Lake Pass. June 23. No snow pn south side. 80% on north.

Cloud Canyon head wall June 23. 70% snow. Horrible post holing!

Deadman Canyon head wall. June 23. 30% snow on east side. West side including
Elizabeth Pass trail is free of snow.

Horn Col June 23. No snow on either side of pass.

Tablelands are free of all snow.

Scimitar Pass (Big Pine Creek south fork). June 18th. The route is snow-free on both east and west sides.

Cirque Pass. June 18th. The route is snow-free on both east and west sides.

Jigsaw Pass (Big Pine Creek north fork). June 21st. The route is 95% snow-free on both east and west sides. There are a couple small snow patches on the east side. These patches can be avoided, or can be used for glissading.

vhsvhs,
if you have time to post a trip report, it'd be great to hear about that route, and/or see photos!
cg

Italy Pass: Snow free. From Granite Park: (Extremely) well-ducked route is in the granite on the left (as you ascend) above the grassy area, although you really can't go wrong as you approach the headwall. Ducked route up class 1-2 ledges on the headwall starts all the way to the left. Route is snow-free visually to Jumble Lake. Did not descend to Jumble.

Dancing Bear Pass: Two large snow patches will need to be crossed when traversing from Italy Pass. Didn't look bad. There is water in the tarn at the pass, no snow on the north side.

Granite Bear Pass: Solid snow coverage over top third of the east side of the pass, from one side to the other.

Just got back from a weekend at Edison Lake.

Tho this is not the usual format, I thought it was worth posting because it has an impact on so many. The ferry is not likely to be running beyond next week. SoCal Edison is releasing water at a rate of 18" per day and the lake was so low that the fishing was crappy and kayaking around the dam end of the lake we could see the bottom and were navigating around sand bars. We had to put in at the boat ramp instead of from the loop at the end of the campground, because portaging kayaks across mud and silt is no fun.

There was a miserable small amount of water flowing in - sad, dry year.

The ferry at Florence has a better chance of continuing as it is a deeper lake.

Hardly any mosquitos, and the trail crews were busy - they cleared along the lake trail and up to Devil's Bathtub. We saw them cutting trees on the way back from the Bathtub.

AT, thanks for the info. We planned to hike from Duck Pass to VVR then out Mono Pass to LLV starting next week. If we can't take the ferry maybe we will just stay in the backcountry another day or two and head out Mono Pass.

I inquired on the VVR Facebok page about the Edison ferry. I guess we will be skipping VVR this year.

‎@ VVR, We should reach Edison on Tues 7/24 do you think that the ferry will still be running?7 hours ago ·
‎@Gary - it will be close - very very close. We will keep the ferry in the water as long as we possibly can and we will post on here the minute the decision is made to pull it. So far it is still running twice a day.5 minutes ago · LikeUnlike.