Re: Conditions on Dana

Thinking about hiking up Dana in a week or so and was wondering if anyone had any reports on conditions up the standard trail route from the entry station. I know it's early in the season. One of my party has never hiked in snow but I do have ice axes and snowshoes but was hoping it was safely doable for a rookie. She hasn't hiked much and I want her to have a good time. I've been up Dana many times so very familiar with the route.

It was doable when the pass first opened. We did have a storm but I'd expect it's still good.

Haven't seen Dana in a few weeks, but in mid-May it looked reasonable as eeek says:



at a time when the view from the rocks above the much-lower Tuolumne Pass looked like this:

Thanks! This warm weather should help too!

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apeman45
Thanks! This warm weather should help too!

Please post an update after your trip. I want to climb Gibbs or Conness in the next few weeks and would love some updated info on conditions. Thanks!

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edg

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apeman45
Thanks! This warm weather should help too!

Please post an update after your trip. I want to climb Gibbs or Conness in the next few weeks and would love some updated info on conditions. Thanks!

Here's the Conness Area as seen from Johnson Peak last Wednesday....not much snow to be seen, and today's snow will be gone by Thursday.

There's no snow. (I'm serious)

Even if this storm flying thru dumps a foot or more... it will be gone in a day or so.

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Long time reader and first-time contributor (you can skip the potentially boring details for pictures):
I hiked up to mono pass on Saturday June 2nd, to get some easy acclimatization before heading to White Mountain peak in the Inyo National Forest. There is pretty much no snow and the standard route up Dana will be no different now than later in the year. Looking back at my pictures from last year, the snow conditions right now are very similar to August 2011 (where we had some late snow storms if I remember correctly). A potential benefit of going this early is the crowd factor: I was surprised as to how few people were taking advantage of the early Tioga road opening, especially during a week-end. I think early this month is a prime time for hiking/backpacking on the Eastern end of Tioga road, since you essentially get conditions similar to summer and crowds similar to fall.

I don't have a clear/unique/specific shot of Dana, but these might help...
View from Tuolumne Meadow, with Dana on the left, Gibbs at center, and Mammoth on the right:


View of Mount Lewis (similar conditions to Dana):

Thanks for the beta, much appreciated!

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webenji
Long time reader and first-time contributor (you can skip the potentially boring details for pictures):
I hiked up to mono pass on Saturday June 2nd, to get some easy acclimatization before heading to White Mountain peak in the Inyo National Forest.]

How were the Whites?

The conditions on White Mountain were very good on June 3rd, pretty much snow-free until about 13,000 feet. Higher than that, some snow patches I would guess to be 50 feet long at most are present but are definitely not a problem since the trail switchbacks are not steep and the patches can easily be circumvented if needed. They were hard enough on the way up to hold your weight without slipping and soft enough on the descent to provide some pleasant cushioning. Under those conditions, you could climb the peak in tennis shoes... In addition, there were very few people on the mountain (we only saw 5 people total), which I found surprising for a week-end. It was also not very windy (probably 15mph with 25mph gusts). Essentially a perfect day on the mountain! You can judge for yourself with the following pictures.

First clear view of White Mountain:


Looking up the summit ridge:


Looking down the same ridge from the summit:

Thanks for the photos. Looks like there was quite a bit of dust in the air over Owens Valley (or was that just smog?).
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I think it's "just" smog, but not 100% sure. There wasn't a lot of wind that day, so I don't think it would be dust...

Was def. "just" smog. Last weekend the air in the Bay Area was clearer than it was in Owens Valley.
At least to this birds eyes...

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I'll say that I'm sure it is dust. (It is going to be an incredibly dusty summer!) But as for the pic in question...that is Nevada, not the Owens Valley.

Chicky,
Owens def. had smog at the day in question. As for Nevada or whatnot... u da expurt on that.
Never been up that White Mtn myself... just the one in Yose.

Here's the smog from the North Fork. Doesn't look like dust to me... but then again, what is smog?

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Well, chick-on, that looks more like smoke (although the southern portions of the county are more susceptible to smog and haze from the south...especially from China Lake.)

Well... I'm not from LA so I no exspurt...
how about this one:



If that was the Central Valley that I spied from Yosemite... I'd say "yucky smog"... but you be da judge.



Have a nice day

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Yeah, I am originally from L.A. and I would say the same thing about a view like this from Yosemite, but, again, I'd say this is smoke from the George fire in Sequoia. Smoke, dust, smog...anything hampering views is yucky, though.

I've lived here, north of Bishop for 24 years and am used to clear skies the majority of time. If it is hazy (or worse) out, I tend to investigate the cause. This year, we have had so much wind combined with the low precip, so there has been a lot of dust in the air. But the worst culprit for really obscurring views is forest fires and control burns. Sometimes I can't see the White Mountains and on very rare occasions, I can't see the very close Sierra.

Ha...as for the day in question...I wuz in Yosemite Valley, so no first hand observation so I concluded dust, since it has been so bothersome lately.

And as for the original question...the snow from Monday the 4th had melted...I think it would be a fairly clear shot up Dana, although chilly on this last weekend if apeman chose to go then.

webenji...White Mountain got over a foot of snow May 25-26.




edit...the Tuolumne area was much busier on June 9 compared to June 2...I wouldn't want to be near Cathedral Lakes on the 9th. I've never seen so many cars parked at the trailhead. (Porcupine Flat parking was busy too!)



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/11/2012 09:40AM by hikerchick395.