[pct-l] Donahue After a snowstorm

[calliger@xxxxxxxxxxxx (Richard)]

Why'd u stick around, NPI, until there was 2 feet of accumulation?
Been there done that; I started to bogie down at first sign it was
going to be more that an inch. Can u really tell reliabley? Consolidation
of clouds, cloud density/colour/thickness/height, temp, humidity,
 wind, "feel" of the storm,

Anyone getting caught high in 2 feet of snow should seriously re-examine
their sanity and life. <smile> But, it can be fun. At least u had *2* cubes
left. Big tragedy with one left <just kdding!! smile>
My fav place that I got whited-out was Carson Pass..they closed
the whole damn road for 1.5 days (avalanche) ..lucky (not really!!)
that we had several days food in car.


Richard

At 02:43 PM 4/12/03 EDT, Montedodge@aol.com wrote:
>--
>[ Picked text/plain from multipart/alternative ]
> Perhaps Donahue is one of the safer passes compared to Forester and the
>others , BUT ater a two foot dump of fresh snow and being able to see only 50
>ft. ahead , it gets. less safe. We could have stayed put an extra day , but
>with only two beef bouillon cubes left in my pack and less than 20 miles to
>the road, we pushed on. The only maps we had were in our 1973 guide book .
>Luckily, the clouds opened up and we could see the gap where we thought the
>pass was. There were a few rock cairns to follow, but many were covered.
>   From the top of the pass the clouds opened again and we could see the
>trail far below ( Going North) The guy I was hiking with decided to just drop
>straight down off the pass to where he could see the trail. He went maybe 20
>yards before he stepped on a large piece of granite slab and was on his way
>down hill in a hurry.
>   So in this case, Donahue wasn't all that safe. I would say each person's
>experience with the Sierras and the time of year they go bends their
>judgement. If the Sierras were warm and melting out when you went through,
>you may have a harder time picturing them in a 2 foot snowstorm. I remember
>seeing several days that the temp never climbed above freezing even at noon.
>One those days my crampons were worth their weight in gold. ( No chopping
>steps, just walk up like fly paper) Stubi and Cassin both make nice light
>Alum. ultralight crampons. If you leave K.M. before June 15th, these may be a
>nice option.
>    Most folks go without crampons , but most also take an ice axe. I would
>shoot for a long model that fits your hands palms with pick on the ground. (
>This is best of general treking) Don't be sold on those short handle axes .
>They offer less support when you stick their short shaft in the snow and are
>much more likely to " Gore" you in a bad fall than a longer model. The new
>titanuim models and even sveral Alum. are quite light.
>_______________________________________________
>PCT-L mailing list
>PCT-L@mailman.backcountry.net
>http://mailman.backcountry.net/mailman/listinfo/pct-l
>
>