2024 HST Meetup

[wulfman]

I promised a few extra pictures from around 1-3. July, even if conditions are going to change over the next couple of weeks.

Feather Pass: small snow field along LaSalle Lake, otherwise clear on the south side; descended over a snow field after some initial granite ledges on the northern side.

Italy Lake: we tried to follow the southern shore from west to east, but encountered two larger snow fields along the shore. Traversed the western, flatter one, but bailed uphill into the granite before the second, steeper one (later in the day, slushy - see picture). Crossed over at elevation towards the trail to Italy Pass.

Eastern end of Lake Italy looks pretty clear:

Near top of Italy pass, looking towards Dancing Bear Pass, I believe: some snow fields left. Italy pass itself has no meaningful snow left, White Bear pass had a bit of snow left on top & towards the valley floor.

Hope that helps!

[maverick]

Good morning,

The following members have indicated that they are attending the meetup:

Flamingo
grampy
SirBc
Bishop_Bob?
richlong8 (dog)
schmalz
Love the Sierra
Shhsgirl +1?
Rockyroad
ChuckSten
Wandering Daisy
Harlen +1 (dog)
TobyAdam
Cgunderson +2
BradoPond +1
Tomba
Penstemon
Maverick

Did I miss anyone? If you have a question mark after the plus one, please confirm that those people are also coming so they can be included in the total tally. Those with question marks in front of their name were still uncommitted. How many people are bringing dog/dogs? I know of 3. I will update the list accordingly.
Thank you!

[giantbrookie]

Unfortunately I won't be able to make this, owing to various family commitments including temporally overlapping event in the Yosemite area. I hope to make the 2025, but I regret not being able to meet up this year in Bear Basin.

[Love the Sierra]

I will be there so long as the air quality is green or yellow. If it starts heading to orange, very sadly, I cannot go. I will be getting to Vee Lake the evening of the 25th.
Thanks!! Looking forward to meeting all of you!

[Rockyroad]

I am hiking in with grampy and we plan to arrive at Vee Lake on the 25th. Looking forward to seeing everyone!

[Harlen]

Barring any new hip trouble, Lizzie will be coming too. So that's 2 humans and 1 small, very friendly dog:

[Love the Sierra]

Oh, I forgot to add Jasmine Rose. I take it for granted that everyone knows we are a package deal.

[Wandering Daisy]

I will still attend, but am coming from Pine Creek over Dancing Bear Pass. After considering I have an old unreliable car, and that Italy Pass permits were available, I decided it was wiser to go to an easy to reach trailhead so if my car would not start when I got out, I could get a reasonable price tow to Bishop for repairs. The thought of my car breaking down at Edison Lake was concerning.

[maverick]

WD, here is some info on that area from a week ago.

Danielle Gilbert on Sierra Nevada Conditions wrote:

I was up in that area last week, and happen to have this shot of the western side (shot from the other side of Black Bear Lake, roughly 37.33757, -118.79624). The *eastern* side is the side that's likely to have snow and is steeper. We didn't go that way so I don't have beta.
We did Feather-light and Dancing Bear. Feather-light has no snow and is a great option from Pine Creek. The descent to the Jumble Lake use trail from Dancing Bear featured several large snowfields and some complex terrain; I'd advise it only for those with at least moderate cross-country experience.
Also, for what it's worth, it's been so warm that the snow is so slushy that microspikes won't have much value, if any. I didn't bring any for our trip and was happy with my decision, despite us navigating about a mile and a half of snow fields total across three passes. We decided not to exit via Golden Lake (instead sticking to the normal Mono Pass trail) because of steep, slushy snow fields where even an ice axe wouldn't necessarily have stopped a slide.

[Wandering Daisy]

Thanks for the information. The way things have been melting conditions will be quite different for the Meetup. I hope all this heat will fry the mosquitoes! I have done Dancing Bear Pass both with snow and without, as well as Brown Bear Pass, and Feather Pass (also with lots of snow).