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Was hoping to do some winter camping up the north fork/palisades after last weeks snow but now with this heat wave i dunno.
Anybody have an idea what snow conditions will be like this weekend.Its gonna be 90 this weekend.Gross.
I'm a few miles north of that area, but Crowley Lake environ is dry up to 9,000'. It's patchy/solid snow above that. "Spring conditions" prevail; i.e. soft snow during the day. Seems to me it's melting fast.
Currently they are predicting peak snowmelt/river flow around May 1. For reference I think last year the peak snowmelt was mid June, while in 2010 it was around Memorial Day weekend. I guess bug season is going to start pretty early, especially with the coming hot weather.
Also there's a report on the Whitney Portal site that Horseshoe Meadows, Onion Valley & Whitney Portal roads will all open officially on April 27 (though the latter two are apparently unofficially open already). For Horseshoe Meadows that's also about 6 weeks earlier than last year.
Onion Valley is officially open; cones and road closed sign are gone. 89 is also now open, and the Tioga Pass is reported snow free from Lee Vining to the Yosemite entrance, closed beyond.
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Also there's a report on the Whitney Portal site that Horseshoe Meadows, Onion Valley & Whitney Portal roads will all open officially on April 27 (though the latter two are apparently unofficially open already). For Horseshoe Meadows that's also about 6 weeks earlier than last year.
That's incredible. Last year I think Horseshoe opened on June 16 or 17, so it's even more than 6 weeks. Now I'm really tempted to head up there next weekend.
Thanks for the weather updates! I have permits to head to Miter Basin out of Horseshoe Meadows in late May and It looks like NAP will be passable by then.