High Sierra Topix

Kpeter

I would bet that the s. aspect of Pioneer basin will result in a fairly rapid melt and you will do OK. If you are going over a col to the n then all bets are off as to conditions on the north side. Now the lake Russ wants to fish is the same elevation a little further n. and in a N. facing cirque. I'm guessing his lake will be snow and ice bound until sometime in early August.

Mike

oldranger wrote:Now the lake Russ wants to fish is the same elevation a little further n. and in a N. facing cirque. I'm guessing his lake will be snow and ice bound until sometime in early August.

Mike

My supposed hiking partner doesn't believe that to be the case, so he'll be the one on the end of a flimsy rope, with an ice axe or really heavy saw, cutting a casting channel through that pig. I fear our permit is a week too early.

Russ

"California Department of Water Resources
News for Immediate Release
May 2, 2011
DWR Announces Results of Final Snow Survey of 2010-2011 Season

SACRAMENTO -- Manual and electronic readings today show that California's
near-record snowpack is slowly melting with warming spring weather.
But snowpack water content is still 144 percent of the April 1 full season average.
Today's readings will help hydrologists forecast spring and summer snowmelt runoff
into rivers and reservoirs. The melting snow supplies approximately one-third of the
water used by Californians."

I believe we were at 165% of normal as of April 1 in Sierra North and Sierra Central, so there has indeed been some melting in April. Not a lot of melting but many years there is NO melting in April, so this is significant.

RoguePhotonic wrote:Even further South around Kennedy Meadows the snow does not start until about 8000 feet.

There wasn't even a trace of snow on the PCT, where it hits 8000 just south of Kennedy "Meadows" (talk about euphemisms -- I know a desert when I see one!). There was snow on the nearby peaks, starting probably a bit over 8,000. Guess I'll be spending lots of time on the Kern Plateau in June, peeking north towards where I'd really like to be.

I have to admit that I don't carefully read every comment. So I am many times ignorent of the line of thought sometimes.

But there is no doubt that there will be a serious run-off problem this year and there will be problems at drainage crossings. If you are really concerned, which we all should be, best to read all the advice people have expressed on this site. They obviously know, and have the experience to share with ya all. If we get a hot spell or a "Pineapple Express" look out. Watch the weather reports. And other situations can be probrelms, such as rock slides. The freezing and thawing of moisture in rocks is going to cause problems.

There wasn't even a trace of snow on the PCT, where it hits 8000 just south of Kennedy "Meadows"

Hopefully it was free of trees also. We took about 150 trees off the trail two weeks ago.

You have my eternal gratitude then. There were about 3 trees in 20+ miles, all easy to get around. About a month ago I did a stretch of the PCT by Lancaster and the downed trees made it absolutely miserable!

I am glad I am not the only one in the world who spends too much time on the CDEC site!
I did not see this link listed, so I will post it. It is the Active Snow Depth Sensor Page that lists them all, and is a good jumping off point for those who might be newer to HST. I put the sites of most interest to me in an Excel spreadsheet hyperlinked, and it speeds the process of looking up snow depth/contents.

http://cdec.water.ca.gov/misc/SnowDepth.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

The melt has really begun the last couple days. Yesterday at Agnew Pass the temperature ranged from 31 (low) to 68 (high), and today so far it as been 32 (low) and 64 (high). We are reaching the point where the water can't refreeze at night.

The auto gauge (for what it is worth) shows Agnew Pass going from 73" to 64" of snow depth from 8am to 2pm today alone.

Tomorrow is forecast to be 5 degrees warmer in Bishop than it was today--up to 90. The 10 day forecast shows slight cooling by Sunday then returning to this pattern.

I think it is safe to say that this year is already not shaping up to be another 1998.

Wow! The Blackcap Basin Sensor went berserk this am. Indicates about a 6" increase in water content!

Hope this doesn't indicate an end its value for the remainder of the snowpack season.

mike