Snow on the pct prior to Kennedy Meadows

[jimbo]

I have viewed the snow graph that postholer.com provides. The "current" trail snow green line shows no snow
in the first 700 miles. Big Bear ski area still has skiing and the pct traverses higher that the runs, so there must be snow there. Mt.Jacinto should also have plenty of snow, so what is the real snow on the first 700 miles?

[postholer]

Each of the 5,200 points in the snow represents an aggregate of SWE over a coverage area of a square kilometer. This sample area may contain a large amount of space that has no snow, though still have snow in some areas. Further, the SWE tends to be much, much lower than a place like the sierra. So even if the chart shows no SWE, you will obviously still find snow.

-postholer

[Gary Schenk]

Presently, there's lots of snow in the San Jacintos, San Bernardinos and San Gabriels. It's been warm so there's been a lot of melting, but there's still plenty for now.

[Miner]

Having just driven back from Joshua Tree NP, I can attest the San Bernardino Mtns are still covered in a lot of snow. From what I could see from the I-10, the snow along Fuller Ridge drops below Black MTN Rd. And we have rain/snow moving in latter today.

[jimbo]

Thank you all! I was going to send my snowshoes to Paradise Cafe, prior to the flank of Mt. Jacinto.
I will definitely be carrying from then on to Mojave..................my snowshoes, that is!

[jimbo]

But it is alittle crazy to brag about postholer.com being a great source for "trail snow" not (snow pack), and
then to have no definitive measurable snow (see graph) on the first 700 miles of the PCT.
If we PCT hikers need a source for this, who is that source?

[postholer]

If we PCT hikers need a source for this, who is that source?

I feel your pain. It would be nice to know what conditions are like every step of the way, around every corner and every rise. The technology simply doesn't exist.

Who is the source for that type of info? You tell me. If a source for that level of detail exists I'd love to hear about it. "Snow pack" charts represent an *entire mountain range* as a *single value* and only for the sierra. The Postholer Snow Charts give you over 5200 points for the entire trail.

If there is something more complete than the Postholer Snow Charts, *please* let me know and I'll continue to improve it!

-postholer

[jimbo]

Thanks, post holder! I called the ranger station on Mt. Jacinto to talk about the Trail closure on the mountain.
I also talked with them about snow depths and they indicated near snow free conditions on the S and Sw sides at 8500 ft. On the N side it was around 8000 ft., so with the Trail closure and reroute, I will forward some of the snow gear down the Trail. Hopefully, some rolling calls to ranger stations in the mountains around Big Bear will give some incite into snow on the Trail through that section.

[Miner]

Though conditions will be improving since the snow will be melting off each day ( and a week of warm weather can make a big difference), here is a report of Fuller Ridge from a few days ago on https://www.whiteblaze.net/forum/showth ... le-178-190.

[dofdear]

Postholer Maps are a great resource for snow information. What I like about the maps over the other graphing tools is that the maps provide context. Please see my write-up from last year at viewtopic.php?t=2847

Thumper aka dofdear

[ManOWar]

I headed up to Kennedy Peak yesterday to bag both Kennedy and Levitt Peaks.... If you are doing the PCT (NOBO or SOBO) you better pack snow travel gear. From K Meadows South to K Meadows N it will be glacier travel through some sections. I've live in the Sierras for 20yrs and this year is gonna be deep icy and snowy all season. 2010 and 11 was bad in the back country but this year... In the words of Roy Schneider - Better bring a bigger boat!