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Re: 2011 BACKCOUNTRY CONDITIONS UPDATES
Posted: Sat Nov 12, 2011 7:43 pm
by Cross Country
From the time I started backpacking regularly I always loved backpacking season -- late April to mid October. Then for almost 10 years I would pine for the BP season and look at maps TOO much. Then I took up skiing for those other 6 months. Thank God - saved my sanity. I could then spend part of every month of the entire year in the Sierra. I love the Sierra. I never like living outdoors day and night in the Sierra from Oct. to April - WAY to cold. I'm no masochist and don't like misery or suffering. There was even a 10 year period when (saint) Diane and I owned a condo in Mammoth. I live in LA but I loved the Sierra. I also participated in other sports year around a lot so LA has always been a great place to live.
BACKCOUNTRY CONDITIONS UPDATES --Cold with more snow on the way.
Re: 2011 BACKCOUNTRY CONDITIONS UPDATES
Posted: Fri Nov 18, 2011 2:09 pm
by KathyW
April to October - those are my months in the Sierra too. My favorite time is Mid-April to Mid-June and then August and September. I did some alpine skiing when I was younger, but that's a long time ago and it was at crowded resorts - I have no desire to ski at a resort ever again, but some day I might get a pair of touring skies and wander around in the backcountry on gentle hills. For now, I just enjoy plodding around in the snow on Southern California's mountains in the winter, where the avalanche danger is so much lower than in the Sierra, or I head for the desert to explore.
Re: 2011 BACKCOUNTRY CONDITIONS UPDATES
Posted: Sun Dec 11, 2011 6:58 pm
by hikerchick395
Not very far into the backcountry, but I thought that I'd report on the Rock Creek area. The road is still open to the pack station. (The gate to the road around Rock Creek Lake is closed.) Folks are ice skating on Rock Creek Lake. I walked up to Mosquito Flat, then Mack Lake. Just a small amount of snow, in patches, on the road. The trail is OK til past the wilderness sign where on the steeper incline, it is like a solid ice river. Sandy on top of the rise, then it is ice again as the trail descends. This ice will be lurking under the snowfall when it finally comes. Mack Lake was frozen and a bit uneven.
The restrooms at the trailhead are open!