QuoteDavidSenesac The only long term annual snowfall records are for Central Sierra Snow Lab near Donner Summit: http://www.thestormking.com/Weather/Sierra_Snowfall/sierra_snowfall.html Thanks for this great info and commentary! I'm also a bit of a Sierra winter weather buff. I'm anxious to start reading through Mark McLaughlin's books (from 'the storm king' webpage).by jishaq - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion
I still haven't made it to Carson Iceberg but like Emigrant Wilderness, it's been high on my list due to the ease for last-minute permits & planning. Thanks for the photos, they are inspiring, and congratulations on #34. My wife takes some cajoling to be willing to sleep on the dirt in the cold; next time, I'l have to try the nice dinner & bottle of wine trick!by jishaq - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion
Yeah, but I also said I would start saving up for a warmer sleeping bag! The CDEC page with low temps is super handy too. Thank god I finally have some camping gear I can look forward to buying. I've left REI empty-handed at least five times now, because I really didn't need anything. So sad.by jishaq - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion
Quotechick-onYou found out why I try to not sleep in any valley ... Cold air drops down ... when you have a -10 degree bag though...not a big deal ... I love backpacking because I usually learn something practical about nature, like that. Another thing I learned was sleeping bag ratings. My stupid sleeping bag says "Marmot Helium +15F" on it, so I figured 20F would be ok. Nope. Tby jishaq - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion
Quoteplawrence No, there are other locations within Yosemite National Park where one can self-register... Haha sounds like I came in just about the only entrance where you can't self-register! Good to know, thank you.by jishaq - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion
BoF winter use only. Ok got it. My experience at the Visitor's Center was this: - I arrived about 2 minutes after they opened at 9AM - One party walked in the doors right before I did. - The permits & info was directly in the back after walking straight through the door, slightly to the right. - There was only one very talkative ranger behind the permits & info desk, - Thereby jishaq - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion
QuoteQITNLFor Wilderness Permits, check at the park entrances. For instance at Big Oak Flat, the forms are outside the office, unmanned, self-serve. I picked up a few extras so I can fill them out in advance, drop the pink and yellow copies in the box next time I drive in. Thanks! Regarding the permits ... I assume this only applies during the self-register period of what appears to be Novemby jishaq - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion
Quoteoakroscoe I would much rather take my chances splitting lanes going slightly faster than traffic as opposed to sitting in stop and go traffic and crossing my fingers that the driver talking on his cellphone while changing his GPS route in the car behind me sees me in time to stop. Exactly why I never got a motorcycle. I like going fast too much, and the risk of something bad happening toby jishaq - General Discussion
QuotejishaqI'll try to get some pictures and do a little write-up when I get back. As promised, here is a write-up: Trip Report: Yosemite Falls -> Snow Creek on Winter Solstice 2011 In a nutshell: * I ended up car-camping at Upper Pines, but didn't have to pay for it (nobody there to collect my money when I arrived at 10pm, or when I left at 6am). * In the off season, day-of wilderby jishaq - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion
QuoteDavidSenesac... Without the covering layer of insulating snow, ground temperatures gradually drop much lower day by day, the freezing down deeper and deeper. Down to Mr & Mrs Munks inner chamber. Interesting, I never considered that a base layer of snow would actually insulate the ground underneath it. It seems counter-intuitive to me that snow can act as an insulator. Good stuff.by jishaq - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion
Awesome thanks, there's a ton of cool stuff there. I just burned an hour inspecting the flow into Cherry Creek reservoir. It will help me plan my next trip up Kibbie Ridge and down Cherry Creek Canyon; last time, I waited a little too late in the season (mid October I think) and there wasn't quite enough flow, which left a lot of the pools stagnating instead of their usual spectacular clarity.by jishaq - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion
Just wanted to add some data to this thread for those who might be interested for historical purposes; I was on the trail that runs along the west side of Lehamite Creek and saw a green AT&T phone box on the west side of the trail: ... as well as numerous (5-6) places where a thin 1/8" metal cable was exposed smack-dab in the middle of the trail and ran along the trail (no pictuby jishaq - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion
Hey gang, Does anybody know of any weather stations in Yosemite NP that keep historical temperature readings? I found one on weather underground but was wondering if there were any others that folks knew about -- i.e., anything in upper yosemite valley, etc. "Yosemite Village-Visitor Center CA US CARB, Yosemite National Park, CA" (looks like it's about 500 feet east of the Chapeby jishaq - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion
Thanks for all the tips guys. I'm going to head out in a few hours, stay the night in LYV (hoping I can just sneak into the back of my camper shell rather than paying for a piece of dirt at Sunnyside Campground...), and start hiking first thing Tuesday AM. Not sure how far I'll make it; Tenaya would be nice but it depends on how my legs are feeling after a couple of days. I would be happy justby jishaq - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion
Thanks for the info. I found the Indian Canyon thread, but not the one on Basket Dome -> Snow Creek, that was useful. Truthfully, I'll probably just follow the established trails up and down this time to get a lay of the land. I haven't spent much time in YNP proper; I always stick to the wildernesses along its periphery areas because the crowds and resulting quotas and permits in YNP are iby jishaq - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion
Yes, yes, but is there considerable snow on the ground right now. From the trip report, looks like not so much.by jishaq - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion
Thanks Bearproof for the great trip report! I'm trying to throw together a trip early next week, between Sunday Dec 18th -> Thurs 22nd, and this route you describe sounds ideal. Lots of south-facing ridge hiking, and touching on areas I've always meant to check out. Your trip report was dated Dec 5th, which is roughly two weeks ago; I checked weather history and I don't see any precip betby jishaq - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion
Quoteplawrence The Sierra mosquito can be easy enough dealt with good insect repellant and proper hiking or backpacking attire. I agree with this statement, but for me personally, the clouds of mosquitoes you can sometimes encounter pretty much ruin a trip -- and as such, I would be perfectly happy if the Sierras had no mosquitoes whatsoever!by jishaq - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion
I thought this was interesting: Genetically Modified Mosquitos The offspring of this GM mosquito is wingless female who cannot fly (and thus cannot bite), causing a drastic crash in mosquito population. After having to cut short a few Sierra backpacking trips due to ridiculous mosquito situations that I'm sure we have all experienced from time to time, I wouldn't mind seeing these releasedby jishaq - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion
Quotebill-e-g (yes, we hit it at a good time and could cross the creek/river... a week or so earlier... and maybe not so fun... we saw those people the troubles they were having and said.. uh... let's just cross.. def. won't be a problem getting back across up stream). http://picasaweb.google.com/yosemite.chick.on/Cherry#5501001578084358578 (click forward for 4 photos) When we came dby jishaq - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion