[pct-l] Snow situation in the sierra

[Travis Beals]

I was just in Yosemite this weekend, in the Hetch Hetchy region (about  
20 - 30 miles from Tuolumne), and thought I'd add my observations on  
the snow situation.

Small patches of snow on shaded north-facing slopes start at 5500 ft  
elevation. At 6500 ft, there's lots of large snow patches in shaded  
areas, to the extent that travel is a bit slower, but navigation is  
not hindered (i.e., you can usually see trail). Above 7000 ft, north- 
facing slopes are almost completely covered, making navigation  
challenging and travel much slower than normal (I made extensive use  
of topo map, compass, and altimeter). Some trails are muddy,  
particularly in areas that were just snow-covered. Til Til Valley was  
boggy in places.

I was also in the same area two weeks earlier (but only at elevations  
up to 5900 ft), and didn't see too much change in the snow coverage  
between then and now. Keep in mind that all this is visual  
observation, and also that things will have melted a lot by the time  
you get there.

Some good news: almost no bugs.

-Travis