Horseshoe Meadows to Onion Valley 6/1 to 6/4

[jimmyjamhikes]

I posted a trip report on my Wordpress blog for my 4 day 50 mile hike from 6/1 to 6/4 on the PCT from Horseshoe Meadows to Cottonwood Pass then over Forester Pass and Kearsarge Pass to Onion Valley.

https://jimmyjamhikingclub.wordpress.co ... gh-sierra/
https://jimmyjamhikingclub.wordpress.co ... t-whitney/
https://jimmyjamhikingclub.wordpress.co ... ster-pass/
https://jimmyjamhikingclub.wordpress.co ... arge-pass/

I'm happy to answer questions about conditions either there or here.

[alido2boord]

Wow great report! I'm glad you made it out safely.

Do you think snowshoes are not worth bringing anymore at the higher elevations? Even if it is slush?

[Hobbes]

Very nice report. I'm hiking from Piute to Mammoth (catching the PCT @ Evo) in 2 weeks and was wondering about conditions. I've been up twice so far in May (Bishop & Whitney), and it looks like the snow is finally melting.

If you had hiking crampons, and had followed the trail up Forester, you might have had a different experience. Rather than now be filled with doubt, perhaps you'd be enthused for the challenge of thru-hiking the PCT. So maybe it was just an equipment choice.

I'm certainly no expert, but through trial & error, I've figure out there's a fuzzy line between mountaineering crampons, hiking crampons and micro-spikes. (I have both mountaineering boots/crampons & runners/spikes.) You need full-on mountaineering crampons for peaks like Whitney where there are sections that require vigorous kick-stepping & hanging toe-in up semi-vertical slopes. Then there are hiking crampons that are perfect for the conditions you experienced.

As for micro-spikes, they really excel as the trail line becomes even more compressed and begins to melt-out with significant dry patches. This is key because you can keep spikes on while walking over rocky dry patches, whereas lightweight crampons can be damaged. So then there's the issue of constant stopping to take off/put on.

Finally, you need to consider where you're hiking/climbing: Forester, Glen & Mather (maybe Pinchot) all benefit from (hiking) crampons, but they are overkill on Muir and the passes north. In my case with Selden & Silver, spikes will be more than enough.

If you have the time, you should (a) get some hiking crampons; (b) get right back up there and hike to Rae lakes. If you can handle Glen - both ways - then you'll have tackled the hardest alpine pass on the PCT/JMT (Mather being a close second, Forester 3rd). Doing so, you'll get your head back in the right space to go after thru-hiking the PCT.

[Hobbes]

Here are some recent IG links - including video - of both Mather & Glen pass:

https://www.instagram.com/explore/tags/matherpass/

https://www.instagram.com/explore/tags/glenpass/

It seems quite a few hikers are bypassing the Glen to Mammoth section because (a) it's got the big 4 passes, with *Glen & Mather actually being pretty scary; (b) there's no easy exit strategy once you're committed.

* Notice there's no switchbacks (as on the S side of Forester), melted out or otherwise, on either. The winter routes simply tack up snow pitches and then serve up cornices at the top.

[SSSdave]

Unpleasant and dangerous to challenge such conditions without earlier experience.

jjhc >>>"The PCT goes up and down through the forest here, and what I am learning about snow is that there are these annoying 6 foot piles of snow everywhere that you have to climb up and down, too.  So I shortcut some of that by walking across the Siberian Outpost."

Yup. Every tree shadow causes a variable melt. Once those bumps melt down to ground level at the sides it is much worse because then there are ice ponds between all the slippery uneven bumps. And thin areas one walks over that...oops collapse giving one wet boots. A prime reason I stay away.

That picture of the Rock Creek snow cabin shows lots of unaesthetic tree needle and branch debris atop snow that is what one sees in forest during the melt.

jjhc >>>"My first task today was to cross Rock Creek, which was no easy task.  The creek is already raging from the snow melt and I had a hard time finding a log to cross it.  When I finally did find it, I mistakenly thought I should walk across it.  I was terrified until I realized I could just crawl on all fours, which was super easy."

I readily humbly resort to that however while carrying a weighty pack that amplifies weight shifts, it is easy to suddenly find oneself gripping whatever in a bear hug while a pack is tilted over pulling one off. Each stub branch along a trunk is a dangerous puzzle to get around without snagging gear.

As for your terrifying experiences at steep shadowed passes, as a many decades advanced alpine snow skier, such places are very sobering even with a long sharp ski edge length, not places the unfamiliar ought venture into without experience as one can readily start sliding. Ive long had a set of Katoohlas and they are little help beyond mild gradients.

David

[Hobbes]

Every tree shadow causes a variable melt. Once those bumps melt down to ground level at the sides it is much worse because then there are ice ponds between all the slippery uneven bumps.

Those uneven clumpy, lumpy, bumpy snow patches are perhaps the most underrated element of snow hiking. Everyone is focused - rightly so - on exposed areas and post-holing, but those can be managed with very early 'alpine' starts ie 4-5-6am when the snow/ice is hard & firm.

However, it's the under-the-tree-line patches that are literally murder on your ankles. Plus, those zones typically come after crossing a pass when you've let your mental game slide a bit. Then, bam, slushy, difficult, tedious, exhausting, slippery slow, slow hiking that kills your ankles & knees. And, to add insult to injury, you're in the trees, so no good views to keep one inspired, ugly tree fall, dirty snow, on & on.

Still, IMO the views & experiences above tree line are worth every bit of the effort. Glen pass, 5/17/2017. I mean, seriously, are you shitting me? Photo(s) taken by French alpinists - naturally: https://www.instagram.com/ma_tente_et_mon_couteau/

[jimmyjamhikes]

Thanks to everyone for all the wonderful comments!

alido2boord: I only saw one set of snowshoe tracks -- they were in the stretch from Tyndall Creek to Forester approach. I think they might be useful in about a 3 hour window after the ice starts melting and before it gets so slushy that the snowshoes sink in too. But I have only limited experience with snowshoes, so take my observations as those of a novice.

Hobbes: great posts (love the picture of Glen)! Now that I have some experience I understand SO MUCH better the fine line you are talking about with traction devices. I will probably get some crampons soon, but my next trip I want to just get back out some place safe but in the snow so I can have a good time without worry. Then the following trip I might ramp things back up again. I've actually been really surprised by several people giving me similar advice, which is to try it again with the right equipment and to not let this one bad experience deter me. It's really much appreciated.