Brr--Postpone your White Mtns. Trip!

[azbackpackr]

It has just not stopped blowing or raining or snowing or something like that up here. Everyone around here (including yours truly) has been doing a lot of whining lately. You hear a lot of this: "Enough of this winter weather, we're done already!" "I already packed my sweaters away, but it won't quit!" and "Are you sure it's May?" and most often heard comment: "My apples are gonna freeze!"

I went to get some stuff for my garden today, but I don't dare put the tomato starts outside--they'd freeze tonight! The irrigation has started, intrepid souls are out there with shovels working their ditches. Not me. I have a good book to read by the fire! Got spoiled in Yuma!

[IGO]

73 today in Vegas. 81 tomorrow.
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"Surely all God's people, however serious or savage, great or small, like to play. Whales and elephants, dancing, humming gnats, and invisibly small mischievous microbes - all are warm with divine radium and must have lots of fun in them." John Muir

[azbackpackr]

Hush, you!

Good news is that next weekend is supposed to be nice.

[PageRob]

We were planning a trip this weekend up to Utah, but there was supposed to be an inch of accumulation. Postponed until...?
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Anywhere is within walking distance if you spend the time.

[ARIZONA GUIDE]

My oldest son (6 years old)and I had a Father and son camp out this weekend North of payson It was blowing very hard the whole time. It was not to cold though. My trailer is in Forest lakes and i thought if it seemed like it was going to be to cold we would just go stay in it, But it was nice enough in the tent for us. We found some great fossils while out there.

[azbackpackr]

I bundled up and went for a short hike yesterday. Got good and warmed up, of course, and took off the jacket and beanie hat. Will ride my bike to work this morning, although it's fairly chilly. At least we don't have the 50 mph winds today! Yet!

[Canyon Dweller]

My wife and I went to Evergreen to visit some friends yesterday. While we were there for about 6 hours, it snowed about 3 inches of really wet and heavy snow. We got back into Denver and it was dry. I've been waiting for the mountians to stop getting so much snow so I can go hiking in the high country. Although the precipitation is nice.
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Mountains are there to be climbed!

"Meaningless! Meaningless," says the teacher, "Utterly Meaningless, Everything is meaningless."-Ecclesiastes 1:2

[Kristyn]

[IGO]

The more snow you get the fatter my river gets down here. I like it.
_________________
"Surely all God's people, however serious or savage, great or small, like to play. Whales and elephants, dancing, humming gnats, and invisibly small mischievous microbes - all are warm with divine radium and must have lots of fun in them." John Muir

[azbackpackr]

Sad thing is in the White Mtns. this year we have drought conditions, again. These storms have not brought much precip. And the snowpack we did have got evaporated by the heat wave in March, they say. Whoever "they" are.

So even though there was probably enough snow on Mt. Baldy for runoff for an ok river season on the Salt, the river only spiked to a little over a thousand for a day or two and then started dropping fast. I was moving back from Yuma at the time so didn't get to go rafting. Rats!

I won't be surprised if the FS closes at least the usual areas in June: Promontory, Greer trails, etc.

[Canyon Dweller]

[azbackpackr]

It does get old after awhile!

[DAB]

azbackpackr - thanks for the weather update for the Whites. We have changed our canyon trip and play on doing the Bear Wallow Wilderness to the black and then into FR25 June 2-4.

Sounds like we are missing all the late weather and should have a great trip. Going to try some fishing too.

I wonder if Monsoon season will hit heavy in early June?
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Douglas

- To those who do... and to those that don't. Cheers!

[azbackpackr]

If you are doing Bear Wallow to the Black River you have to get a tribal permit, as you will be crossing onto the rez down in there. It is not hard to get the permit. Just don't be caught down there without it. I don't know the condition of the Black River corridor below FR 25, so can't advise. You may know the ropes about rez travel better than I do--I avoid the rez.

If you hike down Fish Creek from either Hannagan or one of its lower trailheads it goes to the Black River and doesn't cross into the rez. When you get to the river you're only about 1 and a half miles from FR 25. Also, Bear Wallow is a wilderness area, which means it's well-known and often is crowded, the trails are all beaten into deep ruts by packhorses, etc. Fish Creek has no such designation, which means it's truly wilderness, the trail is faint in places, you will likely see no one. It is very similar to Bear Wallow otherwise. Wilderness designation can be very bad for a place, IMO.

The upper Fish Creek trailhead is just a little south of Hannagan Lodge, in a pull-out, and can also be reached from Hannagan Campground. For the lower trailhead beware: the Forest Service maps have to be changed as they have re-aligned FR 24 away from Bear Creek. Just north of Hannagan Lodge you take 576 to 24 (right turn) to 83A (left turn) very hard to find the first time!

Bear Creek off of FR 24 also goes to the Black River--a short hike of about a mile or so. From there you can hike downstream along the Black River as far as you want.

Also, I don't know how well you know the area, but it's a pretty long hike with a lot of bushwhacking, I've heard, from Bear Wallow Creek, up the Black River to FR 25. I haven't hiked that stretch of the Black, so can't say for sure, I've just heard it's pretty rough down in there. Let us know if you do that one, I'd like a heads up on the conditions compared to how it is upstream from Wildcat Bridge.

You are probably ok as to the usual forest closures after Memorial Day, but check with Alpine RD. They have closed Bear Wallow in June before, but I don't think they will this year unless a fire actually starts. I was down there backpacking in June of 03, I think it was, and a fire started nearby--we could see the planes and helicopters! Thankfully they got it out--it was downstream from us by Gobbler's Point. My boss's husband was in charge of that fire, and when I told him later I had been down in there and saw the planes, he just shook his head and shuddered! But I had notified the ranger we were going to be there, in case of fire. No one came looking for us, though!

[Dean]

It was 92 here in Kennewick (eastern washington) yesterday but look where I was last friday, about two hours away:


We had three thousand feet of snow to get to the top of this 5800 foot peak.

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