EISPIRATEN

Ugh. It seems like that rain yesterday was snow above 8000 ft.....

Update from last weekend -- Islip to Burnham on the PCT had some patches. I didn't go as far as Baden Powell but people were saying there was still a bit of snow there. This was Saturday, before it rained again on Sunday.

Side note -- so many people on the PCT right now! It feels like Eaton canyon or something!

Anyone know if there is snow on Wilson at the higher elevations right now? It's been overcast, so I haven't been able to get a good view from my house.

bcrowell wrote: ↑Anyone know if there is snow on Wilson at the higher elevations right now?

It's almost gone from the south face, but I heard they got two feet in the last storm, so the north side should have some for awhile.

I looked at the DPW site today and it says the road is closed at Red Box. I think that means plenty of snow on that side of the hill.
I was hoping to hike San Gabriel on NYD, now I need a different plan. Anyone want to head out then?

I went up the main Wilson trail today. Patches of snow started about half a mile below the bench, and above the bench it became more snow than dirt. (The section above the bench is north-facing.) I turned around at that point because I wasn't properly equipped for those conditions.

There are also lots of fallen trees blocking the trail at the higher elevations, with some awkward detours to get around some of them.

bcrowell wrote: ↑I went up the main Wilson trail today. Patches of snow started about half a mile below the bench, and above the bench it became more snow than dirt. (The section above the bench is north-facing.) I turned around at that point because I wasn't properly equipped for those conditions.

There are also lots of fallen trees blocking the trail at the higher elevations, with some awkward detours to get around some of them.

Are microspikes good enough for that trail or crampons necessary?

JeffH wrote: ↑Are microspikes good enough for that trail or crampons necessary?

I was doing it as a run and was just wearing shorts and a shirt and running shoes. That's why I turned around. Even in winters where we got a lot of snow on the road section and higher parts of the Wilson trail, I've never experienced conditions where crampons or an ice ax would be necessary. But I can't vouch for the conditions on the part of the trail that I didn't get to. In general I'd suggest more focus on the ice ax than on what's on your feet.

I went up the main Wilson trail again on Jan. 8. The snow had completely melted out except for a very short section 50 feet below the top. That section had a good boot track and wasn't too hard to get through with running shoes.

Three volunteers were using chainsaws to clear some of the fallen trees from the switchbacks between the bench and the summit.

The area near the summit that was fire-damaged is now looking a lot nicer. Some of the oaks that burned now have fresh green branches sprouting from the bottom. There is still a fair amount of poodle dog bush crowding in on the trail on the final traverse above the road, but it can be avoided.

Water is available as usual at First Water and the Cosmic Cafe. Small trickles also in a couple of the gullies.

Did Baldy today via the bowl with a couple of friends. We started up trail at 6 am, which worked well, because morning snow conditions in the bowl were extremely firm and easy for climbing. We went up the south-facing slope on climber's right side of the bowl. There was only one good ribbon of snow there, but it worked well for us. Came down via Harwood saddle and the gully above the ski hut, which mostly had nice snow, except for the headwaters of San Antonio Creek right above the hut, where it turned into a loose dirt gully. The left side of the bowl looks like it has excellent snow coverage.

Does anyone know if Baldy actually got snow last weekend? I haven't had a clear view yet from where I live.

I could see clearly from the downtown Pomona train station, snow on Baldy, Ontario and Cucamonga. Big Iron looked dry, although the north sides of all these peaks will likely keep snow all week.

A friend and I did Baldy today via the ski hut trail. The climber's right side of the bowl had almost no snow, and a lot of rock fall, so we went up the snow field on the left side. Conditions were actually pretty enjoyable. The snow was soft, but not deep enough to cause postholing. On the way down, we came down the gully above the ski hut, which was a fun mix of plunge stepping in snow, a little glissading, and some boot glissading through scree.

I did Baldy today, going up Register Ridge and coming down the ski hut trail. There was almost no snow except under the trees on the climber's-left side of the bowl. That area was extremely icy, and the ice was so hard I was slipping around even in microspikes.

Good to know. We need a special name for that notoriously icy stretch.

I did Baldy again yesterday by the same route as on Nov. 26. The ice under the trees is 80% gone. I wore running shoes and brought an ax and micros, and that worked.

I did Baldy yesterday, Jan. 1, going up the ski hut trail and the bowl, and then down the way the summer trail goes, on the climber's-left side of the bowl under the trees. Monday's storm brought snow all the way down to the low elevations. There is a well-worn track up as far as the ski hut. The bowl had about 50% snow coverage. Some areas near the summit and in the trees to the left of the bowl had deep enough snow I was postholing up to my knees. On my way down, there was a line of cars of people trying to get up the mountain to play in the snow that was bumper to bumper all the way to Flat River.

There was a traffic jam at Crystal Lake and lots of cars still heading up Azusa Canyon when I could see the road again three hours later. If you're going to play in the snow, go early!

I took this panorama of the snow around Crystal Lake Recreation Area on January 1, 2021. The view is from the Smith water tank looking eastward toward Hawkins Ridge.

Did Baldy yesterday via Register Ridge and came down the ski hut trail. The picture shows how baffled I was by routefinding with all that snow obscuring familiar landmarks.

There has been quite a bit of avalanche activity. On the way up Register Ridge, we got a clear view of the bowl and saw only one small avalanche tail. However, by the time we were coming down there was a very large one covering the entire part of the bowl at center-right where people normally go up. It reached all the way down to the trees before tapering off as it reached the flat area. This was a little sobering to see, since it had been six days since tha last storm. Presumably it happened due to the sudden rise in temperatures. We passed someone at the hut who was on his way up and said that he saw an aftershock-slide triggered by a skier. We also saw a couple of older-looking avalanche tails along the trail between the ski hut and Manker. One was in a gully that passes through the trail, the other on a slope above the trail.
Conditions were firm enough in the early morning, but by 11 am there were extreme balling conditions on all the south-facing, sun-exposed snow fields. People who started later in the day and didn't have snowshoes seemed sad. We just brought microspikes and crampons, left the snowshoes in the car. There were a couple of icy patches where we were glad to have the crampons.

I went to the South Fork trailhead yesterday by myself and snowshoed up to the Dry Lake area and back. There were a few inches of beautiful fresh powder on the landscape. Water is accessible at South Fork Meadows. There is a very well-defined ski and boot track up toward Charlton, but no track on the ridge where the summer trail leads up toward Dollar Saddle. Make sure to bring a snow shovel if you go this weekend. I was able to get into the parking lot, but snowplows came by and piled up a new wall of snow, and I wouldn't have been able to get back out if I hadn't had the shovel.

I did San Gorgonio yesterday from Vivian Creek. There is still a ton of snow -- full coverage on north-facing slopes, and also on south-facing slopes above the High Creek crossing. Conditions in the early morning were so firm that I sometimes couldn't get the pick of my ax in by swinging it. Of course it got wet and sloppy later in the day. On the north side of the ridge above Halfway Camp, it seems like a bad idea right now to try to follow the route of the summer trail's long switchbacks -- there was no boot track, and not much traction. Probably better just to head straight up the ridge.

Big Draw and the other chutes on the north side of the summit ridge are full of snow, but the weather is supposed to warm up, so I don't know how good conditions will be for climbing on that side.

bcrowell wrote: ↑I did San Gorgonio yesterday from Vivian Creek.

Thanks. How do you stop yourself in a slide if the iceax doesn't grip?

Sean wrote: ↑Thanks. How do you stop yourself in a slide if the iceax doesn't grip?

Self-arresting isn't quite the same thing as swinging the ax to embed the pick, which is what you would do if you were ice climbing or doing a self-belay on a steep slope. If you're trying to self-arrest, the goal is not really to embed the pick like a nail in a piece of wood, it's just to drag it really hard so that it creates a ton of friction and brings you to a stop. You can normally generate quite a bit of stopping force with the pick if you lean your weight into it. Imagine that a sheet of plywood is angled at 45 degrees, and you're in your socks trying to keep from sliding down it. You take a steak knife and drag its blade down the wood, pressing as hard as you can. No way is the knife going to embed itself in the wood like a nail, but you can probably generate a heck of a lot of force with it and stop your slide.

On the 29th, my daughter, her boyfriend, and I did San Jacinto Peak. My daughter soldiered on despite what may have been some mild frostnip on her hands. We did a loop from Idyllwild, which made for a long day in snow, of which there was more than I expected from satellite images. Went up the Deer Springs trail and came back over Wellman Divide and down Devil's Slide. Most of this route had a boot track at the time, but routefinding got a little difficult as we neared the summit in heavy snow and low visibility. This was all before the New Year's Eve storm last night. There should be a ton of snow now at the higher elevations in the San Jacintos.
Upper Bed Springs is running and accessible, but getting a water bottle under it is a little awkward. Wellman Cienega is running.

Nice!

Nearly four feet of snow at Crystal Lake so far! And there's still another day to go.

Reed Timmer goes to the Blue Ridge during this snow storm.

Near May Peak earlier today. About 12-14"

Snow scenes from my trek into Eaton Canyon with Dima...