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plawrence
At what elevation did the snow start?
Approx. 9K was full snow. So about 18 of the 40 miles were walking on snow. (with an additional 6 up Hawksbeak)
But it's still relatively easy to find dry ground to camp on since we only need a 3x8' flat spot for Billy to plop his booty.
First 11-ish were snow free but the trail was a pain in the Aspen in many places
(the Wilderness guy said a trail crew is going in there very soon).
So, Yes, the start was snow free. That was the plan.
It's similar to Robinson Creek as seen in the pix.
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plawrence
And how many creek crossing did you have to do? And were any of those difficult?
If they are difficult you should maybe not do them. Take the time to find a better crossing. Or hit it at the right time to
make your chances better for safety.
You first cross Buckeye Creek 4 miles in. Typical crossing is dug out from horses and whatnot. Would have been well over
the waist going in... coming back out it was probably 4 ft. deep. This is where the group was stymied that we met
coming back down. We crossed JUST upstream of that crossing on way in. Mid-thigh. Not too bad.
I just do the crossing 3 times... and the wife once w/o her pack.
On the way back out I spied a large tree over part of the creek so we used that (there's a picture) for a portion
of the crossing. The creek kinda split in that area which made it fairly simple. (the water was up a foot at least)
Further up you cross one small stream... no biggie... then if going to Buckeye Pass you cross above the
SF/NF Buckeye confluence. North Fork has log over it... S. Fork is dug out again... but easily forded further upstream.
Further to Buckeye Pass you cross the NF twice again... but we used snow bridges on way up... and way
down just stayed on east side entirely.
Everything else up above.. there is so much snow... not an issue (we actually walked right over a couple of ponds in Thompson).
Going in I knew we had to cross Buckeye... but figured worse case we spend one night and go back out foiled
and then go get a permit for some place in Yosemite.
We actually talked at length to the ranger that told us a few years ago when we met him going up Robinson that
we should check out Buckeye. For various reasons Buckeye just isn't used much. It's not written up in the guidebooks for one...
Cows are another...
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plawrence
And did you bring or need snowshoes at the higher elevations?
Garsh no. Haven't used snowshoes in June at all. If you see someone with them on their pack they are
misinformed. Totally a waste of energy. The snow is so packed it doesn't matter how much there is.
(actually it's better if there is more). When we went to Ostrander the ranger said "there's 5ft. of snow"
to which I replied "5ft., 10ft. it really doesn't matter". If xcountry 5 is better than 2. Less chance of
post-holing next to a buried log.
Another reason shoes are useless is the suncups. They just wouldn't work.
We didn't even bring microspikes. They would have helped in the very early morning when the snow
has frozen back up.... but you just wait a bit and it's soft on top.. perfect conditions.
When it gets like that you can hike up and down some steep stuff w/o much issue.
Glad you asked?
I put up a more detailed map with GPS tracks if you want to zoom in and look around...
