TR: Snowshoeing in the Eastern Sierra

I love the Eastern Sierras. Leaving again in June for Lone Pine, Bishop, Movie Road, Bridgeport etc.

Very nice. Thanks, again, for sharing.
I have a friend headed that way on the PCT and I suspect that he is going to be in deep ..... soon.

Steve, this is not the year for the PCT -- the trail is under ten feet of icy snow, and the cross-slope portions are very tricky. We saw a lot of fresh avalanche debris.

You guys are amazing! Thanks for the snowy views of some of my favorite spots.

Tiger, don't be misled by the seemingly adventurous photos. This is not mountain climbing -- we just shuffle along slowly on our snowshoes, avoiding anything risky. It is like slow hiking, with lots of stops for photos.

Awesome Dan, Thanks!!

BTW what elevation would you estimate the snow level is at?

Amazing post! I loved seeing the same places in warm fall and cold spring. And the pictures of the tops of road signs sticking out of the snow!

Boon, as of last week, the snow was roughly at the 8000 foot level. But that depends a lot on the conditions -- especially the sun exposure. For example, in McGee Creek, which runs east and west, the slope on the north side of the creek (which faces south) was melted out to about 8500 feet. The flat bottom of the canyon had about four to six feet of snow. The south side of the canyon (which faces north) had ten feet of snow.

profdant139 wrote:
Steve, this is not the year for the PCT -- the trail is under ten feet of icy snow, and the cross-slope portions are very tricky. We saw a lot of fresh avalanche debris.

I know and he probably does too. Unfortunately though, he didn't know this when he applied for the permits last winter. He could skip the southern Sierra's and move north, but it's too early to be on the trail in Oregon and Washington. And if he delays, he is going to be dealing with fall storms in Washington. As of last night, he was at mile 335 (not bad for 21 days on the trail) so he has another 363 miles (~23 days) to go before he gets to Kennedy Meadows (where the Sierra's really start). So we'll just have to see how much melting takes place by then.

Beautiful pictures - as part of a nice adventure.
"Too risky -- one misstep would have ruined our whole day."
Glad to see you keep your priorities in order.