Snow in the mountains

[markymark]

Flying from Seattle to San Diego today. Sure is nice to see all the snow in the California mountains. Hope this helps you luxury tax paying folks. You deserve it.

[AJFishin]

Yep we got dumped on again this year and then got hammered with 2 cold late season storms. Still lots of snow in our local mountains too.
This is the time to take a trip to Yosemite to see the falls, the falls are flowing heavy again this year. If anyone plans a trip there, you need reservations now to enter the park and wait times (traffic) at the gates before the park opens is a long wait.

[Fisherdv]

I was just talking about a camping trip to Yosemite but probably hard to get a spot and long waits. I'd like to do a more remote camping trip there, but not all that familiar with the area.

[headduck]

Disposable may have tips... he spends his a lot of time in those woods.

[amazing grace]

The NW conUS has almost no snow pack. Really bad year. Can hope for a wetter and cooler summer but even if that happens it is already bone dry so the fire industry will have another banner year   Lord help  us!

[Tom C]

The NW conUS has almost no snow pack. Really bad year. Can hope for a wetter and cooler summer but even if that happens it is already bone dry so the fire industry will have another banner year   Lord help  us!

That is not really true. We are at about 70 percent of normal snow pack, which sometimes happens, a very long way form "no snow".

Snow is still falling in the mountains with these wet weather systems coming through.

[AJFishin]

I was just talking about a camping trip to Yosemite but probably hard to get a spot and long waits. I'd like to do a more remote camping trip there, but not all that familiar with the area.

My brother has lived up there for decades, knows that area very well, and drove a propane truck in and around the park and the high country for decades.
One place to look into for camping is the Hetch Hetchy area, just as beautiful as Yosemite and with very few people.
There's also the Fresno Done area that has a nice undeveloped campground near the river, I gotta talk to him about the exact spot. We used take our quads back in there and then hike around, lots of of great look out areas.
There's also some spots near Bass Lake where you can take trails to campgrounds, but those are best to get to using a quad since the dirt roads are narrow and half of them are washed away. I'll talk to him and see if he has some better info if you want.

[amazing grace]

The NW conUS has almost no snow pack. Really bad year. Can hope for a wetter and cooler summer but even if that happens it is already bone dry so the fire industry will have another banner year   Lord help  us!

That is not really true. We are at about 70 percent of normal snow pack, which sometimes happens, a very long way form "no snow".

Snow is still falling in the mountains with these wet weather systems coming through.

Tom I have lived my entire life in the NW quadrant of the US. These people saying what percentage of snow pack we have are clueless. I was just in the Olympics. Incredibly dry.   Just drove over all the No. pass' about two weeks ago. Walk my own property as I have done for decades. I can tell you without hesitation this is a very dry year at this point on the calendar regardless of what you hear on the nightly news or get from Noaa or any other governmental outlet.
They go from telling you about how great the snow pack is, to about a week later talking about fire danger and the dire fire outlook.

Wonderful how all that works anymore.

Also, Snow in Nov, Dec and Jan. means something as far as snow pack is concerned. Snow after that, especially after mid Feb means almost nothing in terms of actual snow pack.

[Tom C]

AG - You seem to not realize I am a native of the PNW who does not watch TV news. I get it, it is a dry year, but it's not as dry as you think. Do not drink the kool-aid; science is real.

[amazing grace]

I am not going to argue with you. But My eyes and feet are my science when it comes to the snow pack. And I just saw it in person at the highest pass levels in Wa. Id. and MT. a couple of weeks ago. And the snow pack is as bad as I have seen it, fwiw.
 

[Tom C]

Don't worry, you'll be fine this summer. It will be dry, but it's been this dry before.

Here is some recent data: https://wcc.sc.egov.usda.gov/reports/UpdateReport.html?report=Washington

Here is the view at Hurricane Ridge. Relatively dry, but there is snow on the mountains:

https://www.nps.gov/media/webcam/view.htm?id=81B46251-1DD8-B71B-0B29B9750DE273B5

[Fisherdv]

I was just talking about a camping trip to Yosemite but probably hard to get a spot and long waits. I'd like to do a more remote camping trip there, but not all that familiar with the area.

My brother has lived up there for decades, knows that area very well, and drove a propane truck in and around the park and the high country for decades.
One place to look into for camping is the Hetch Hetchy area, just as beautiful as Yosemite and with very few people.
There's also the Fresno Done area that has a nice undeveloped campground near the river, I gotta talk to him about the exact spot. We used take our quads back in there and then hike around, lots of of great look out areas.
There's also some spots near Bass Lake where you can take trails to campgrounds, but those are best to get to using a quad since the dirt roads are narrow and half of them are washed away. I'll talk to him and see if he has some better info if you want.

I would like to find a spot that I can pull up the truck to. I don't mind being around people, just not right on top of each other. I'm going to probably just get a truck bed tent for the Taco to sleep in just to get off the ground and keep it simple. I'm not looking to spend thousands on a full on "overland" rig.

I really like Fordyce Lake in the Seirras. 7 mile off-road 4x4 road up to the beautiful lake. Also thought about Gold lake, also a mild 4x4 trail to the lake, but have never been there.

[jamaica]

Yep we got dumped on again this year and then got hammered with 2 cold late season storms. Still lots of snow in our local mountains too.
This is the time to take a trip to Yosemite to see the falls, the falls are flowing heavy again this year. If anyone plans a trip there, you need reservations now to enter the park and wait times (traffic) at the gates before the park opens is a long wait.

Do you need a reservation for Yosemite to just pass through the park on Hwy 120 to get to the East side of the Sierras? I got turned around there about a year ago and had to divert to Hwy 108, Sonora Pass, pulling a trailer, it sucked. They should not be allowed to close the Hwy for park reasons.

[AJFishin]

Yep we got dumped on again this year and then got hammered with 2 cold late season storms. Still lots of snow in our local mountains too.
This is the time to take a trip to Yosemite to see the falls, the falls are flowing heavy again this year. If anyone plans a trip there, you need reservations now to enter the park and wait times (traffic) at the gates before the park opens is a long wait.

Do you need a reservation for Yosemite to just pass through the park on Hwy 120 to get to the East side of the Sierras? I got turned around there about a year ago and had to divert to Hwy 108, Sonora Pass, pulling a trailer, it sucked. They should not be allowed to close the Hwy for park reasons.

I'm not 100% sure with hwy 120 to go over to Lee Vining and how it will be effected, I know they keep it closed if the summit has to much snow and they don't want to deal with it.

Reservation are subject to special days, weekends, and months. It does say on the Yosemite's website: "A reservation is required to drive into or through Yosemite National Park."  You can see the link for more information. https://www.nps.gov/yose/planyourvisit/reservations.htm
But they do say this: If you don't have a reservation, you can still visit Yosemite. You must arrive at an entrance station (other than Hetch Hetchy) before 5 am or after 4 pm. If you are planning to visit after peak hours, please do not arrive before 4 pm; vehicles blocking roads will be cited.

This all has to do with their plans on limiting traffic and eventually not having private vehicles enter the park as they want to eventually only bus people into the park. Camping in the valley is still up to debate if they're going to continue drive in camping in the future, but it seems like they are leaning towards hike in (or carry in) camping as the only allowed camping in the valley.
In Oakhurst, in the last couple of years, about 4 major hotels have been built on 41 in anticipation of this, with more in the plans.

I pulled this from Google Earth with the new hotels in Oakhurst.