[pct-l] snow pack between Tuolumne Meadows and Lake Tahoe

[Bighummel at aol.com (Bighummel@aol.com)]

Steve, PRECISELY!  You, of course, should not rely upon ANY prediction as a 
set-in-stone timing tool.  You should remain flexible as late Spring storms can 
mix up the timing of your passibility tremendously.

Greg

In a message dated 12/17/2004 6:40:58 PM Pacific Standard Time, 
steve_peterson@sbcglobal.net writes:
Since I haven't been successful in coming up with a way to correlate depth of 
snow on the trail itself with snow pillow readings, my approach is similar to 
NASA's: make a gross initial estimate, then refine it as info becomes 
available. 
NASA doesn't aim for the moon exactly, but starts out approximately on target 
and makes mid-course corrections as the trip progresses. That's what I'm 
planning to do. My first approximation will be based on the April 1 depth. 
That 
will be a go/no-go decision which will be "no go" if it's a really heavy snow 
year. Then toward the end of April, I'll make another decision that affects 
my 
exact start date. Then on May 30, I'll make another decision based on the 
depth 
at that time--I'll delay a few days if the snow is lingering longer than I'd 
like. The final decision (or what I hope will be the final decision) will 
come 
at KM. At any of those points (or at any point along the way, I guess) I'll 
just 
hang out a few extra days if the snow ain't cooperating.

In other words, since a later decision will likely be a more informed 
decision 
(and hence likely to be more accurate), and I have no constraints (like a 
pre-purchased airline ticket) forcing me to make an early decision, I'm 
planning 
to put off the decision as long as possible.