High Sierra Topix

quentinc wrote:Just an fyi -- the Haiwee Pass trail (#39) was washed out the previous winter. I don't know if it has since been reopened. Sage Flat would be a nice alternative (goes a bit higher, but that won't be a problem for this low-snow season).

Haiwee Pass trail is open. I was on it six weeks ago. There is one spot in the bottom of the canyon where the trail was undercut which required some scrambling to get around, but otherwise it is passable. Just don't bring any stock. Near the canyon mouth there is a huge pine log in the stream bed that has been stripped on all branches, bark, roots, etc. The eye-opener is when you realize how far it is from that spot to where any pine trees are growing.

Gem Pass 10750 11.0 -5.0
volcanic Knob 10050 12.0 -4.0
Dana Meadows 9800 9.0 -7.0
Agnew Pass 9450 11.5 -7.5
Mammoth Pass 9300 8.5 -4.0
Kaiser Pt 9200 4.0 -9.5
Tuolumne Meadows 8600 6.0 -1.5
Ostrander Lake 8200 6.5 -10.5
Tenaya Lake 8150 6.5 -4.5
Tamarck Summit 7550 0.0 -8.5
Huntington Lake 7500 0.0 -10.0
Gin Flat 7050 0.0 -8.5
Graveyard Meadow 6900 0.0 -4.5
Lower Kibbie Ridge 6700 0.0 -7.5


Checked some of the CDEC San Joaquin and Tuolumne basin Sierra snow sites today in order to evaluate dates for a week long trip we will be making this mid summer. The first number is the inches of water left in the snowpack and the second number how many inches were lost during the last two weeks. During the next few weeks the melt will accelerate as the sun azimuth continues to rise and the northern hemisphere warms. Thus it is rather obvious in that region, pretty much everything out in the open below 9k is going to melt by Memorial Day weekend so backpackers ought to have considerable early season choices.

I delayed committing to a mid summer date in April because some springs it is cool and stormy through May. However the northern jetstream has continued moving north as expected with California just receiving the tail end of systems moving through the Pacific Northwest and I see no reason to believe it will drop back much given this rainy season's history.

Left Yosemite on Tuesday. There were some small patches of snow on the right side of the trail out to Sentinel Dome and again on the last stretch on bare rock up to the top on the north side; both on the North slightly East sides/exposures. Looked like everything facing South, East or West clear below 8K with maybe the 90 degree stretch from NNW to ENE having some snow depending on the steepness of the slope, and clear all the way round unless the slope was really steep below @7200 - 7500. The was no snow on the dome between Illouette falls and Nevada Falls on the Panorama and that stretch of trail skirts the north side) Don't know if this helps but WTH.......