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The 120 stoke reminds me ...
If anyone finds (found) a BD Raven Pro 75 cm axe in Glacier Canyon (Dana), my buddy Nate left it on Monday 5/31 and will happily send you a lot of beer to get it back. Just a brain-lacking-calorie manoeuver when strapping skis to the pack to cross a scree field ...
@AK/SM: I've been all over the Green Creek Road area in my Taco Mama with no problem, but I wouldn't advise a lot of it on anything less than that. Vets' buddy bottomed out in his Suby--to the point where they had to push it uphill and spend a lot of time digging up rocks and boulders for it to get over/around--a few seasons ago on quite a few of the tributary roads I've been on around there. The lower parts of Green Creek Road are totally accessible to "regular" vehicles as they are basically graded dirt roads (quite similar to the lower part of Red Lakes Road that takes you to the meadow way below The Patches), but the off-shoots that take you to some sweet turns are definitely 4X4 only (more akin to the upper part of Forestdale Divide or the bumpy road to Leavitt Lake).
Yummmmmmmmy!
ahhhh. i thought they had pulled off a gem. looked like only a track or 2 in chuteout on sunday so we musta been following your trax b.
how'd you like that entrance? I had to do some cornice shoveling to get in above those rocks
Me'n Vets hit up some stuff offa Ebbetts Pass today around the 8000 ft. marker sign. Easy access laps with a ski-back-to-the-car shuttle action. Snow was full-on Foster's Freeze soft serve.
Highlands Lake Road is still covered with snow up to the Hwy 4 intersection, not sure when that will be open, but not for awhile. Spots along 4 up to the Summit still had 10 feet walls of snow lining the road.
Lottsa goods to be had up there, so I'm sure we'll be returning in the next few weeks.
Anyone going to be out in the next couple of days? May take a walk up Mt. Wood tomorrow.. Wondering if anyone's been up to Bloody lately.. In any case, drop a line people want to hook up.
Is the lake (Kinney?) still completely frozen. or is there a little bit of open water near the shoreline. Might combine a little skiing and fishing.Quote:
Originally Posted by dookey67
lake be muy frozen.
also Carson River is raging.
saw folks fishing at the 88/89 Luthor Pass interchange, though.
last monday 6/7 (?), we made it most the way up bloody couloir before finding a wind slab across the entire slope from the previous days' storm. 'suppose it's settled/consolidated 10 days later. we drove up into the basin and parked at the first snow field. again, 10 days of melt may let you drive quite a bit further. enjoy.
Well anyone planning on skiing Dana & Gaylor lines this weekend should have a lot more tourists to provide an audience. Road opens on Saturday all the way through! Only a few days after last year's opening ... they really pushed the pace this year with charcoal and bombs on Olmstead Pt etc.
FKNA! This will cut major time off my drive to Mammoth with my son this weekend! I guess it worked out well that we can't leave until Saturday. Woohoo!Quote:
Originally Posted by SchralphMacchio
^ plus with all the signage for the "no stopping zones" (snow and rock slide paths!!!) you might actually be able to make it through the park in less than 2 hours :)
Seriously, I only take 120 over 108 when I can do it really early in the morning, or evening and night. If I know I'm going to be going through from mid-morning to the afternoon I just shoot for 108. My favorite thing in the world is when somebody will just stop their car in the middle of 120 and jump out to take photos of bears on the side of the road while there is a 50 car backup waiting behind them ...
I've driven 120 the first weekend it has opened a number of different times. You're right, but on the first weekend, it is great. No RV's, few cars and it flows well. It does help to have a radar detector in the park though. Driving at night you could go much faster since you can see cars coming the other way, but you run a big risk of rounding a corner at high speed to find a bear lumbering across the road. We'll be going through just after lunchtime so hopefully it won't be too bad.
East Side goodness all last week.. It's been said before, but I'll say it again: Long live the Eternal Stoke!!
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2649/...4b9f2663_z.jpg
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2666/...fffec005_z.jpg
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2495/...37ea5e8a_z.jpg
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3061/...83834393_z.jpg
http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5306/...00b84075_z.jpg
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3131/...109e6eb1_z.jpg
A+ shots, particularly that first one.
Absolutely stunning!!
Still no snow in NZ. Those photos are very easy on the eye, yet so hard to look at.
Enjoy, and thanks
An eastside sunset from the weekend of the Mammoth Mini (Friday May 13)
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3073/...e497b99d_b.jpg
Wow - Bloody has a ton of snow still! Great shots Solesides!
Anyone going to be at Mammoth next week?
There we be lots of mags up for closing weekend. Sometime next week a roll call will likely occur.
Looks like I'll be there (if the weird allergic reaction on my heel quiets down).
Still some good snow up on the pass, but its melting quickly.
Attachment 98122
Smooth corn
Attachment 98123
Attachment 98124
Some split boarders did S-chute and said it was firmer than they'd like.
Attachment 98125
Some skier rag-dolled down the big rock lookers right, under the cornice in Ellery Bowl. Apparently lost a ski traversing in. I think he was hurt pretty bad as evidenced by the ambulance I saw going south on 395. Careful out there!
Attachment 98126
family fun week at Mammoth - Tuesday through....
sweet lew and I and our wives and our kiddos will be camping, skiing, biking, skating, hot springing, running, beer swilling, cooking, eating, fire walking, hula hooping, frisbee throwing, fishing, etc
Dang, look at that crown!Quote:
Originally Posted by Nevada29er
Did 2/3rds of an Ellery Lap last Wednesday evening but started hiking at 8pm so I didn't have enough daylight to get all the way up...just booted up to looker's right and followed the boundary on the descent.
Here are some shots...
http://www.tr.slaythegnar.com/Mammy_06_23_11_006.jpg
http://www.tr.slaythegnar.com/Mammy_06_23_11_007.jpg
http://www.tr.slaythegnar.com/Mammy_06_23_11_008.jpg
http://www.tr.slaythegnar.com/Mammy_06_23_11_009.jpg
http://www.tr.slaythegnar.com/Mammy_06_23_11_0010.jpg
Anyone have any beta from the last 2-3 days of how Dana and Solstice are holding up? How much of the glacier canyon exit has melted out/how long on the way in/out would I be hiking rather than skinning? From the looks of the most recent Ellery pics it seems to be melting quickly and not sure how much this storm will change that. Debating a quick stop this Sat despite the junk show that Yosemite is sure to be en route to Tahoe. Thanks.
from yesterday morningQuote:
Originally Posted by CaliKid
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-y...2/IMG_4046.jpg
https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-f...0/IMG_4047.jpg
there were 4 of us looking up ellery and we all bailed,no freeze overnight and suncups and runells galore. it's melted out even more since skier666's pics
Well the upper part still looks fat! Not a very fun hike back up and out though :)
https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-f...0/IMG_4047.jpg
Was also pondering a quick pass thru for Ellery/Dana. Will this current system help or hurt prospects? Doesn't sound good w/ current overnight temps.
looks great on the eastern front
I skied Solstice and Ellery on Saturday. It was super good - dropped into Solstice at 11:15 and wouldn't have wanted to drop in much later. Might even go for earlier with this coming weekend's temps. Skied down to the frozen lake and did a mixture of skiing/booting over to the quick hike up to the plateau... that part probably took 1 hr, skied down Ellery at 1pm at we could've skied much later if need be. It was smooth corn if you avoided the obvious debris. Here are some photos:
view down solstice
https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net...5_690287_n.jpg
skiing
https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net..._2359344_n.jpg
beta on glacier canyon
https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net...31_91448_n.jpg
beta on both couloir on dana
https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net..._4558934_n.jpg
ellery
https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net...0_389517_n.jpg
video
http://vimeo.com/25695463
awesome. any tips for car camping areas? pm if needed.
Thanks for the info on Dana. I was thinking about trying for Solstice this coming Sunday. Is there enough snow still on the west face of Mt. Dana to skin up most of the way from the road, or is the canyon a better approach at this point?
http://www.forestcamping.com/dow/pacficsw/inyo.htm
Any of the lee vining or june lake ones would work for tioga pass but saddle bag lake and sawmill probably aren't accessible yet.
or http://www.recreation.gov/camping/ma...=CampgroundMap
or pick a random dirt road off 395 and drive to a flat, scenic, or convenient spot. Finding one with all three is up to you :wink:
Thanks for the info, looks like still enough coverage to have fun. Gameplan at this point is to drive from the city Friday, carcamp, then ski Solstice or Dana Sat morning.
Skinned all the way to Solstice from the Pass with a few short walking over rocks sections.
Around Tioga Lake I take it? Wow that is still really filled in. I wonder if Eastside will be any less of a zoo than Shasta this weekend! Well done anyway, dropping Solstice any time of year, let alone after the Solstice is a special thing :)Quote:
Originally Posted by h-atlas
@ CaliKid. Hoping to do the same. Leaving SF at noon. Crossing my fingers that we'll get a campsite at either Tioga or Ellery Lake. First one that gets there should grab two spots? We'll be in a gray wago.
@Biggsie - Unfortunately not able to leave the city till 7 or 8pm so probably not worth it. Gonna try to car camp in hotel Explorer for a few hours around Lee Vining. Shoot me a PM