No Snow in the Crystal Basin

Discussion about winter adventure sports in the Sierra Nevada mountains including but not limited to; winter backpacking and camping, mountaineering, downhill and cross-country skiing, snowboarding, snowshoeing, etc.
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Vaca Russ
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No Snow in the Crystal Basin

Post by Vaca Russ »

This year we chose to do our annual visit to the backcountry of the Crystal Basin and were told by the forest service we didn’t need to do our normal winter hike of over 6 miles. “They” said we could drive all the way up to the gate. From there it is only a half mile hike into the bunkhouse. “They” said there was no snow, so we planned on riding our bikes.

Sport and I made it most of the way to the gate in spite of a very icy drive. Good thing we brought the 4 X 4. It turns out a tree had fallen about a mile before the gate. This obstacle required a little more hiking than we had planned…but, that’s what we do.
1 Hike In.JPG
2 Sport In.JPG
Hopefully these next pictures illustrate the difference in snow fall from 2013.
3 Crystal Range 2013.JPG
4 Crystal Range 2014.JPG
5 Flag2013.JPG
6 Flag2014.JPG
7West Meadow.JPG
8 West Meadow 2014.JPG
We enjoyed our evening together by putting together a puzzle. Unfortunately other activities kept us from finishing the puzzle. :wink:
9 Puzzle Start.JPG
10 Flag.JPG
To be continued…
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"...Or have you only comfort, and the lust for comfort, that stealthy thing that enters the house a guest, and then becomes a host and then a master?"

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Vaca Russ
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Re: No Snow in the Crystal Basin

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The next morning we hiked out to meet the kids.
11 Departure.JPG
This is the first of three trees blocking access to the gate.
12 Tree Hike.JPG
The boys had a blast hiking in the snow.
13 Snow Hike.JPG
Eventually we made it back to the bunkhouse.
14 Bunkhouse.JPG
The princess elated in her discovery of a tiny house.
15 Princess.JPG
The kids helped us finish the 1000 piece puzzle.
16 Puzzle Finish.JPG
That evening we collected some wood and built a fire in the pit. We then hike about a third of a mile into the darkness to observe the stars. The boys decided we should head back to the bunkhouse when they heard the coyotes start to sing.
17 Fire Pit.JPG
We read in the Logbook that if we climbed the hill behind the bunkhouse we would observe some great views. Well, the hill is covered with trees so the view is not that great but we did do some rock climbing.
18 Rock Climb.JPG
We took one last group picture at the bunkhouse before departing.
19 Group.JPG
We had an enjoyable hike out.
20 Hike Out Group.JPG
Hopefully this recent storm is adding snow to our parched mountains. We really need precipitation.

Thanks for reading our report.

-Russ
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"...Or have you only comfort, and the lust for comfort, that stealthy thing that enters the house a guest, and then becomes a host and then a master?"

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Jason
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Re: No Snow in the Crystal Basin

Post by Jason »

Very cool! Thanks for the report. I just wish you were reporting tons and tons of snow. It's a crazy year.
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maverick
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Re: No Snow in the Crystal Basin

Post by maverick »

Wow, what a contrast. Thanks for sharing your delightful pictures of the family.
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I don't give out specific route information, my belief is that it takes away from the whole adventure spirit of a trip, if you need every inch planned out, you'll have to get that from someone else.

Have a safer backcountry experience by using the HST ReConn Form 2.0, named after Larry Conn, a HST member: http://reconn.org
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Re: No Snow in the Crystal Basin

Post by kd6swa »

Vaca Russ and Sport - nice job keeping the children engaged in activities since there were no cell phone, computers, televisions or electricity! :D :thumbsup:

73
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FeetFirst
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Re: No Snow in the Crystal Basin

Post by FeetFirst »

Vaca Russ,

Have you been up there lately? I'm thinking of going in this Sunday for a night or two and trying to decide where to go in Deso/Crystal Basin to avoid deep snow (I know, shouldn't be too hard right?!). Most likely I'll be entering from either Loon or Echo, but nothing is set in stone.

I've been checking out the CDEC sensors (http://cdec.water.ca.gov/cgi-progs/mapp ... =18&quad=4" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;) to get an idea, but those things can be in a hole, in a shadow, all day and don't really tell the overall story well. Anyways, any insight is greatly appreciated. Thanks.
I'm still rather convinced that you can achieve more than you've ever dreamed of if you just lower your standards.
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Vaca Russ
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Re: No Snow in the Crystal Basin

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FeetFirst wrote:Vaca Russ,

Have you been up there lately? I'm thinking of going in this Sunday for a night or two and trying to decide where to go in Deso/Crystal Basin to avoid deep snow (I know, shouldn't be too hard right?!). Most likely I'll be entering from either Loon or Echo, but nothing is set in stone.
FF,

I just saw your post. No, we haven't been up there recently. We have been mostly hitting the slopes. :)

You are probably up there right now! Please let us know what you found regarding snow depth.

I usually rely on this web site for snow depth information:

http://www.nohrsc.noaa.gov/interactive/ ... &js=1&uc=0" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I have found it pretty reliable but I have run into snow (Pinenuts) when this site said it was clear.

Thanks,

-Russ
"...Or have you only comfort, and the lust for comfort, that stealthy thing that enters the house a guest, and then becomes a host and then a master?"

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FeetFirst
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Re: No Snow in the Crystal Basin

Post by FeetFirst »

Thank you for the response, Russ. That modeled snow depth map looks really useful. I've used a similar one linked to the USGS website (I think), but this one appears a bit more user friendly - thanks.

I ended up doing a short overnight trip in Tahoe NF, Big Bend>Lock Levens area (http://www.hillmap.com/m/ag1zfmhpbGxtYX ... ICAk6D9CQw" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;). Snow was sparse below 6100 and dependent on exposure above that. The north facing slope up to the lakes was a post-holing nightmare. I broke through the 1-2 foot of crusty snow to the hidden mangle of boulders and manzinita underneath multiple times and have some pretty good cuts and bruises on my shins as reminders to never do that again. The trail was only visible for the first 1/2 mile or so and after the railroad tracks (6,100 ft.) there was about a foot of snow on the ground with more as you gained elevation. The weather was gorgeous, but a bit gusty at times. It cooled off quick in the evening and felt colder than reported (30 deg. F). I pretty much took a straight line back to the road in the morning and ended up at the Rainbow lodge so I had to walk the road back to my car. #-o Not one mosquito the entire time! :thumbsup: If no more storms hit the area I'd guess it will be in pretty good shape by Memorial Day. I'll update my post with pictures tonight.
I'm still rather convinced that you can achieve more than you've ever dreamed of if you just lower your standards.
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FeetFirst
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Re: No Snow in the Crystal Basin

Post by FeetFirst »

Here are a couple of pictures from my trip.

At the start:
Image

UPRR tracks:
Image

Seasonal creek after RR tracks:
Image

Working my way up:
Image

...and up:
Image

Image

Image

Image

LNT:
Image
I'm still rather convinced that you can achieve more than you've ever dreamed of if you just lower your standards.
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