[pct-l] snow conditions Mineral King

[ilja at cs.caltech.edu (Ilja Friedel)]

Hi,

I spent the weekend camping near Franklin Lakes. The ranger was a little 
reluctant to give us permits, as we were the first ones to try to go up. 
Snow patches start at 8000ft and get denser toward 10'000ft. Above that 
one has basically winter conditions. Snowbridges cover the stream 
completely above 10k and the lakes are covered by ice (about 1-2ft deep 
and melting). The southfacing mountain sides are somewhat snow free 
between 10k and 12k, but on all other skiing is quite possible.
The pass looks intimidating but doable.

Glissading the way down was big fun. The weather was strange, as we had 
periodic white-outs in the afternoon: 100ft visibility for 10 minutes 
and then a clear sky again. The snowmelt is strong, but creeks not a big 
problem. No luck with catching trout.


Ilja.