[pct-l] Sierra snow report (firsthand, very long and tedious...:-)

[amr10009 at yahoo.com (alec)]

congrats, dave and michelle!!
thanks for the update and the VERY useful info.
it sounds as if '05 is a "go"
definately looking forward to your next posts.
thanks again.
-alec

--- David Toms <ukstoveman@hotmail.com> wrote:

> Today being ray day seems an appropriate time to be
> posting a conditinos 
> report for the Sierra.
> First, a disclaimer. The conditions will change (the
> report is up to 15 days 
> outdated) and my memory may be incorrect due to
> stupidity, altitude etc. Our 
> equipment and mountaineering experience may be
> different from normal.
> 
> Background
> Michele and I (Dave) entered the sierras on 1 June
> at kennedy meadows, 
> carrying 11 days food and planning to see how far we
> could get. We hiked 
> looselty with freebird until whitney portal where he
> exited to begin a 
> planned flipflop. thereafter we hiked with Mr
> Roboto, who we'd met at KM and 
> all agreed to team up once the snow got significant.
> 
> Summary
> We made it to VVR in 11 days, then 2 days more to
> mammoth after a nero and a 
> zero at VVR (which is an amazing, fantastic place
> that we can't speak highly 
> enough of).  The sierras are therefore passable to
> correctly equiped, 
> skilled parties. The trail was 90% snow free from KM
> to Whitney Portal. 
> Thereafter around 30% snow free until Mammoth. Snow
> conditions are hard/icy 
> until 10-11am (refreezing above 10k FT after 5pm).
> Snow level minimal below 
> 9k FT, near constant above 10k FT annoying in
> between as insufficient for 
> x-country travel but enough to make trail-following
> difficult. Add 1k FT to 
> these heights for S slopes and subtract 1k FT for N
> slopes. The snow softens 
> 10-11am to give frequent postholing in the
> afternoon, There is extensive sun 
> cupping, usually 6-12" deep although up to 3 feet
> deep approaching mammoth.  
> River fords were often on snow bridges above 10k FT,
> others presented no 
> problems. Evolution was mid calf deep only, Bear was
> knee deep. Mono was 
> waist deep but short, silver was waist deep and also
> short.
> 
> Navigation was by major features (mountaineering
> style) above 10k ft, by 
> trail below 9k FT, and by blind luck in between.
> 
> Passes in order of difficulty (hardest first) were
> Mather, Glen, Forrester, 
> Pinchot, Muir, Seldon.
> 
> We were not the first hikers through - Squeaky left
> KM on 23 May arrived in 
> VVR 30 May.
> 
> Equipment: We used 6 point crampons, cassin ghost
> axes, Garmin foretrex GPS 
> preloaded with More-than-a-mile waypoints. We wore
> trail runners rather than 
> boots. We have both suffered some nerve damage
> (minor frostnip) to our toes 
> leading to a loss of sensation. Mr Roboto had instep
> crampons and a real 
> steel headed ice axe which was much better for
> cutting the huge row of steps 
> across forrester. Toll for using these is 1 beer.
> 
> Weather. Days 1-7 were clear and sunny with patchy
> pm clouds. Days 8 & 9 
> were cloudy with light rain/snow (1" fresh snow on
> Seldon). Day 10 was 
> sunny. Temperatures bottomed at 10-15F overnight at
> 12k FT.
> 
> Other comments.
> 1 The sierras were incredibly beautiful and wild. We
> saw only 2 other people 
> - one 2 hrs out of KM, the other at the woods creek
> junction who'd hiked in 
> for a day.
> 2 We had to hiked very long tough days, but it was
> worth it. We averaged 
> around 1.2mph.
> 3 There were absolutely no mosquitoes.
> 4 The conditions were not nearly as bad as people
> speculated in advance. THe 
> postholing was not too bad if you got the snow over
> with in the morning, the 
> passes were not particularly steep (Mather was the
> only one where we'd have 
> roped up if we had it, and then because of soft
> chossy snow), the fords 
> weren't as deep, the navigation not as hard, .... 
> Most importantly, VVR was 
> open (in fact, it now opens in April!).
> 5 The hardest thing was timing tyo get over passes
> before posthole hell 
> started at 11am and to set up the next pass for an
> early ascent the next 
> day. As a result we had 4 nights at over 11.5kFT;
> this is debilitating.
> 6 We used bear canisters the whole way and managed
> to get 20lb of food into 
> each, and carried an additional 10lb for the first 2
> days. BEtween 2 of us 
> we ate 50lb of food and were still hungry.
> 7 Finally, special shanks to Tom Reynolds for his
> immense help in discussing 
> snow and water conditions. Almost everyone else we
> spoke to would spend 
> hours listing the problems. Tom was unusual in
> devoting his efforts to 
> finding solutions. It was largely through his
> influence that we entered so 
> early, in an effort to ensure the fords were all
> manageable. This appeared a 
> successful strategy.
> 
> I'll send a second mail detailing each day and
> route.
> 
> Dave & Michele.
> 
>
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