2023 Backcountry Current Conditions Reports

[jimmyjamhikes]

There is still a considerable cornice, and the gap between it and the rocks is not large enough yet to allow passage via the normal workaround. Some climbers are making it over via the snow-free rock pile to the left of the cornice, but my impression is that that route is at least class 3+. A very capaable looking climber stared at the final chimney on his route for 15 minutes before clambering up the last 50 feet.

[maverick]

SNF:

*Between July 19 and 26, three separate crews of Sierra National Forest Wilderness Rangers were on tour throughout the Forest.

* One group was in the Ansel Adams Wilderness, clearing the Lillian Lake Loop. They made it all the way around the loop and were also able to clear to Rutherford Lake and Anne Lake. They encountered snow at elevations of 8500 feet and above, especially in the most forested areas. The lakes around the loop all had snow at them, which made it hard to find the trail, and camping at times. They cut 70 to 80 trees with a crosscut, and numerous more with smaller handsaws. They talked to several large groups including a Boy Scout troop, and other backpackers as well. Madera Creek was crossable on the Fernandez and Walton trails. (Pictures Wilderness 1&2)

* The second group was working from the Maxon Trailhead at Courtright Reservoir into the John Muir Wilderness towards Post Corral Creek. The crew ran into an enormous number of complex trees beginning outside the Wilderness and stretching all the way to Post Corral Creek. Over the course of their trip, they cut 192 trees greater than 4 inches in size! That includes 65 with the chainsaw outside the Wilderness boundary. They encountered very few people out there, but access is much better now! Work will be continuing on the other side of Post Corral Creek next week towards Red Mountain Basin. (Pictures Wilderness 5,6 &7)

* The third group cleared the Bear Ridge Trail to the Pacific Crest Trail, then cleared south to the PCT crossing of Bear Creek. Along the way they also cleared up the Lake Italy trail to the upper end of Hilgard Meadow. They finished the trip by clearing the Bear Creek Trail to the Bear Diversion Dam and Bear Creek Cutoff. The amount of water still flowing off the high country is incredible, with many areas of flowing or standing water on the trails. The Bear Creek crossing on the PCT/JMT is still waist deep or higher on most folks and should be avoided by following the creek upstream to cross the East Fork and South Fork separately. Hilgard Branch is also knee deep or higher and caution should be taken while crossing it. The crew crosscut more than 60 trees along their loop, and brushed hundreds of feet.

If you are traveling in the area, be prepared to encounter numerous water crossings- and more mosquitos than one could ever ask for!

[themtnwhispers]

We circled this famously gorgeous loop right at what seems the beginning of when more folk feel comfortable doing it. Relatively full of scout groups on the Thousand Island side especially.

No snow on River trail through Shadow Lake and up to JMT.

The trail from JMT to Ediza Lake was fairly clear with snow patches, until the final rise to the lake -- which was snowy enough that we just climbed up the rock rather than trying to find the trail in the snow. On the way back, we went over the pass on the south side of the lake and cross countried back to the bridge.

The "trail" from Ediza to Iceberg Lake was mostly snow. The route was obvious so we just chose good lines while avoiding potential snow bridges. The ascent from Iceberg to the pass to Cecile Lake looked very steep and completely snow, but we didn't examine closely.

On the JMT, the snow is melting fast and much of the trail is clear. Most snow patches are easy to cross with any amount of experience and ankle strength. Some areas (NOBO) supported glissading as an easier approach to descent. We found navigation to be easy without GPS using basic mapreading and landreading savvy, but ran across others who had challenges/delays. (It'll be even easier now.)

The biggest challenge was the snow traverse with runout into Garnet Lake, on the NE corner. It's steep and if you fall will likely not be able to arrest before entering the water. This patch probably will be there a while, though changing. Spikes will help, especially in the morning if it refreezes -- though many were fine without. Lots of people made it, with a range of skill levels including various people with little backpacking experience. However, we did hear about a handful of people who turned around.

There were a few patches of snow around Badger Lakes, but after that High Trail was clear. Creeks still running, so lots of water.

We hadn't been tracking his progress since before he entered the Sierra, and I thought there was no way he'd be so far along, but Karel Sabbe passed us at a canter halfway along High Trail! It was very exciting. We cheered him along and he smiled self-deprecatingly. https://pct.karelsabbe.com/

Good luck out there!

[wildhiker]

I had a few days this week to go backpacking and wanted to avoid snow travel and bugs. So I figured I needed to go to a lower elevation that has been basically free of snow for at least a month so it has had time to dry out and be past peak mosquitoes. Also, not a long drive from the Bay Area. The only place I know that meets these criteria and still has some of that High Sierra feeling, with subalpine forests, meadows, lakes in glacial basins and lots of exposed granite and peaks, is the Grouse Lakes Roadless Area just north of I-80 in the Tahoe National Forest. And, no permits are required (other than standard campfire permit you get online). My expectations were fulfilled and I had a great time.

Route: Loop from Grouse Ridge trailhead down Grouse Ridge trail southbound to Beyers Lakes trail and up to those lakes, where I camped (and saw no one else). 2nd day continue on trail towards Baltimore Lake, but leave trail where it makes the big bend to the east, about 1/2 mile before Baltimore Lake, and then head northwest cross-country up onto the eastern slopes of the Black Buttes; contour north at about 7400 feet parallel to the ridge until I reach a notch that lets me cross over to the west side and then head southwest into the 5 Lakes Basin, where I camped between the two middle lakes. Last day, on trail over Sand Ridge and back to the car up on Grouse Ridge.

Elevations: 6000 to 7600 feet.

Difficult Sections: Trails were all dry and easy to follow with only a few easily bypassed downed trees. But the cross-country section was much harder than I expected, even though I have done it twice before and knew the general route. The terrain is very convoluted with lots of gullies and cliffs, and all sloping steeply to the east. This time, there were a lot of big snowbanks filling many gullies or at the base of cliffs. I had to cross a couple steep snow banks that I could not go around, just kicking steps with my boots (and I use one hiking pole). I got cliffed out a couple of times and had to backtrack to look for a better route. This x-c route is difficult class 2, but easier with no snow.

Bonus features: Only tiny creeks to step across on rocks. Wildflowers everywhere, but most places probably a week or more past peak. Few bugs (see mosquito reports topic). Even though this is a very popular area, with most places reachable on day hikes, I saw very few people doing this mid-week.

Phil

[maiathebee]

Route: Wolverton --> Alta Meadow --> Over the Hill trail --> Lonely Lake outlet stream --> Marble Fork (via Pterodactyl pass / Tablelands)

Tablelands is about 50% melted and navigation is easy. Pterodactyl Pass is also easy---there were lingering snowfields they were easily avoided and I was able to stay on rock almost the whole time.

I also went up almost to Tamarack Lake before hearing a report that it was swarming with mosquitos and already had 8 people there. There are two big avalanche debris fields of downed trees on the trail up to Tamarack.

Wildflowers are amazing out there right now. I managed to avoid the bugapocalypse that was happening in the woods and cowboy camped two of four nights. Get out there!

Looking southeast from Pterodactyl Pass

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Looking southeast towards Pterodactyl Pass from near Tablelands Pass

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[looks easy from here]

Shingle Springs TH loop: Spotted Fawn Lake-Nance Peak-Boundry Lake-Kibbie Lake

Creeks are dry or very nearly so, and should not be relied on for water. Plan refills around lakes.

[kpeter]

August 5-9
Snow is retreating quickly. There is almost no snow cover on any established trails. There was one large snowbank covering part of the use trail from Blue Lake to Baboon Lake, and there were a few snowbanks complicating the route from Moonlight Falls to Moonlight Lake, but these were easily crossed.

[frozenintime]

mono village > crown lake > seavey pass area > lake arndt > peeler lake > mono village.

there's still a fairly steep snowfield in the chute below snow lake. there is a decent boot pack and we did it w/o spikes in the morning. it might be possible to hug the righthand granite wall on the way up and avoid most of the snow, but we felt ok with our choice. going down w/o spikes seems not great.

the 3 snow crossings getting to peeler from the east are also well boot packed and felt ok to us, though there is a bit of an unpleasant0looking run out on one of them.

plenty of boggy zones anywhere flat.

it's very, very green out there right now.

it also rained from 10 pm to 6 am last night... is that a condition? it was for us at least!

[windknot]

The route over Lamarck Col and through Darwin Canyon to Evolution Valley still has several snowfields to contend with, but most are easily navigable without any special equipment. We only postholed a couple of times, so for the most part the snow is in good condition right now: soft enough to dig heels in, but firm enough to support weight.

The permanent snowfield beneath Lamarck Col itself is steep but has a good boot track kicked in. We felt mostly comfortable ascending and descending with only trekking poles, but caution is advised as is the case at all times of year here.

One snowfield on the north side of the lowest lake (11592) in Darwin Canyon is pretty steep with a runout straight into the lake, and hard to bypass. There's a boot track across it and we ventured across twice (eastbound and westbound) with only trekking poles, but thought twice about it and wouldn't recommend this to anyone who doesn't feel comfortable with snow travel. I read a recent report where a group bypassed this by going around the south side of 11592 instead.

[thegib]

Aug 7-13. Crown/Rancheria TH to Blue/Alpine canyons via Mantle pass etc. Bugs were bad 8500' to 10200', almost absent at/above 10700'. Below 8000' they were minimal. Flowers everywhere, trees down too. 'Trail' past Johnson's Cow camp still non-existent. Mantle pass has a snow walk around, Dykeman pass is clear, Tunemah lake almost melted out and ledge to east is clear enough. Looking at the north slope of Finger peak and the route to Finger col (over to Cathedral lake) looked substantially snowed, so I passed on it. Sections from Portal lake to Scepter pass are really soggy, my feet were soaked all day. Trails from Portal lake over scepter pass to crown pass and back to Rancheria were often a struggle to discern. Between the trees and branches down, the water channels masquerading as trails and the seeming in-frequent use/maintenance a lot of guesswork was required.