2014 Feb 1 Kern River Snow survey

[jimmeans]

John,

How do you get up/down Horseshoe Meadows Rd to perform the survey? Does Inyo County unlock the gate at the bottom for you, or are you hiking it up and down?

Jim

[John Dittli]

John,

How do you get up/down Horseshoe Meadows Rd to perform the survey? Does Inyo County unlock the gate at the bottom for you, or are you hiking it up and down?

Jim

The USFS drives us up to the snow line.

[tomba]

Don't you worry that "skiing" on dirt will damage the skis?

[John Harper]

How many in your party? How do you rig up your pack to carry skis, poles, boots? Do you carry tent, sleeping gear, and food too?

Seems like it would be awfully heavy, especially climbing Cottonwood Pass. I had no idea anyone would be out there mid winter.

Thanks for the info, great read.

John

[rileySB]

This brings me hope that I can still find water sources out near Cottonwood Lakes basin for a backpack trip this early summer! Like an earlier poster said, let's hope for a wet March, and a wet spring! What we hear in the news about the drought makes me think that the southern sierras are BONE dry. But it's uplifting to see actual snow on the ground at this time. Thanks for sharing!

[ndwoods]

Thanks for sharing....LOVE that photo "Little Whitney Meadow."

[John Dittli]

Don't you worry that "skiing" on dirt will damage the skis?

For trips such as this, we have "rock" skis (skis that have already been damaged). We take them off for long dirt stretches, but when the are short and frequent, they stay on.

[John Dittli]

How many in your party? How do you rig up your pack to carry skis, poles, boots? Do you carry tent, sleeping gear, and food too?

Seems like it would be awfully heavy, especially climbing Cottonwood Pass. I had no idea anyone would be out there mid winter.

Thanks for the info, great read.

John

We usually travel in pairs, sometimes three. If we have to hike (rare), we put the boots in the bindings then slide the skis thru the packs compression straps.

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We carry day gear and about 5 lbs of sampling equipment each.

The vast majority of the time we stay in snow survey cabins that are stocked with food, wood and sleeping bags. On this particular survey, we were to return via the Kern River, so we carried 30° bags no tent, some food and a tin can for cooking over a fire (ie. cowboy camping).

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