Snow Level on opening day

[balzaccom]

For those of you keeping score at home, we were up at our cabin near Twain Harte this weekend, taking care of a few things, making sure it was ready for summer. But that didn't stop us from checking out a few of the local sights.

Up at Pinecrest lake on Saturday, it was opening day of the trout fishing season, and although the lake was quite low (leaving room for some snowmelt that is sure to come in the next six weeks) there was enough water to keep scads of fishermen busy. We saw at least fifty of them: on shore, trolling in boats, drifting in kayaks, and fishing from islands. And we also saw two osprey engaged in the same activity. While we watched, we saw each team catch one fish: men 1, osprey 1.

There was very little snow at Pinecrest itself (5,600 feet) but by the time we had driven up to Dodge Ridge, the snow pretty much covered the ground there at 6,500 feet. It will be some time before Crabtree trailhead will be open, since the road has to go over the top of Dodge Ridge--and that ridge is deep in snow right now.

The next day we headed over to the West Side Trail, an old rail line that runs up along the North Fork of the Tuolumne River. It's an easy hike, and we saw lots of family groups and friends out for a stroll. We also saw clouds of lupine along the trail, and down below the river was really roaring.

[justm]

Thanks for the update, it's good to know where the snow line is.Nice to have a cabin up there !!

[venturefar]

After spending opening weekend at Kennedy Lake the last couple years I headed up 108 to get an idea of what conditions are like. I made it to Relief Reservoir. It was frozen. There's pretty much solid snow not long after crossing the second bridge. Some guy literally snowboarded by me on the trail. Quite a difference than the last few years.