C2C ground conditions

[Gregory]

I plan on doing C2C this Sunday and have been talking to the Long Valley ranger (as recently as this morning) about what equipment peak hikers are using. The ranger said that crampons were not necessary but did say that snow shoes would be helpful. The ranger had hiked to the peak last week and experienced a good amount of post holing. She says there is still about 2 feet of snow on most of the route from Round Valley to the Peak. She (the ranger) said that there is water running under the snow which makes it more brittle and subject to post holing. It also makes it easier to get wet when you do post hole. She says about 50% of the peak hikers are taking snow shoes.

If anyone has been up to the peak in the last week or so or just has an opinion, I would love to hear it. The big question is whether or not the security and convenience of having snow shoes avaible is worth the inconvenience of lugging them up from the desert floor. Thanks!

[GoPlayer]

I plan on doing C2C this Sunday and have been talking to the Long Valley ranger (as recently as this morning) about what equipment peak hikers are using. The ranger said that crampons were not necessary but did say that snow shoes would be helpful. The ranger had hiked to the peak last week and experienced a good amount of post holing. She says there is still about 2 feet of snow on most of the route from Round Valley to the Peak. She (the ranger) said that there is water running under the snow which makes it more brittle and subject to post holing. It also makes it easier to get wet when you do post hole. She says about 50% of the peak hikers are taking snow shoes.

If anyone has been up to the peak in the last week or so or just has an opinion, I would love to hear it. The big question is whether or not the security and convenience of having snow shoes avaible is worth the inconvenience of lugging them up from the desert floor. Thanks!

Here is a data point: Between 12pm and 3pm on last Saturday I met about 16 people between Welman's Divide and the peak. 2 were wearing crampons, the rest just hiking boots. My leather boots were quite wet on the outside afterwards, but my feet were dry. I did not post hole a single time.
I can not say anything about the trail from the tram to Welmans Divide as I came from Idyllwild

[bj]

As noted on a 5/15 ascent:
PS to the tram; No snow on trail at all.
Tram to wilderness boundary; No snow on trail at all.
Wilderness boundary to round valley; some patchy snow, but no big deal, one long stretch of snow nearing the meadow.
Round valley to Wellmans; patchy snow near the valley, to 80% coverage near Wellmans.
Wellmans to the summit; about 50% covered with long stretches snow and clear trail.

I made the trip without using any crampons/trax. I had crampons, but it wasn’t worth it to put them on (no danger just slipping around a bit). My partner had trax and used them. It started to ice-up as we left the summit at 3:00 pm, but it was an unusually cold day for May. You might want to bring trax for early or late summit attempts.

[Mtnsummit]

Headed up to do cactus to clouds May 21st with probably 8 others. Any updates on trail condition due to storm today (Tuesday) and expected snow Wednesday appreciated!