Snow (if any)/Trail Conditions

[Newmountaineer]

Does anyone know what the current snow conditions are up there? I was hoping perhaps there was a little more snow from the last couple days.

[Perry]

It was all white but melted very fast today. With the warm temperatures of last week, I'm guessing there's a lot of ice.

[Cy Kaicener]

Hi Rob - I will be taking the 10 o clock tram up after walking up the road. I will bring my car up and give you a ride back to the museum.

[wanderwoman]

is anyone heading out from another trailhead than long valley?

[zippetydude]

Hi Wanderwoman. My brother and I are thinking about going up the PCT, maybe making it to the peak, but quite readily turning around if we run into icy, treacherous conditions.

You could always hit the trail with us. The only drawback would be that the distance may be extreme. If we find ice 20 or 25 miles in that we can't get past, we'll end up running the same distance back down to the car. If you already run ultras, 40-50 miles won't be a big deal for you. If ultras are not your thing, it might not be a great route for you.
As a rule of thumb, figure 8+ hours to the peak on a clear trail (total distance 31 miles, 13,000+ total elevation gain) if we can make it through, otherwise between 30 and 50 miles roundtrip since we'd have to go back out the way we came in.
z

[Cy Kaicener]

Did anyone go up Skyline this last weekend. I would be interested to know if there is any ice at the 7500 ft traverse where the trail is very narrow and down sloping over a steep dropoff.
Rain is predicted for this weekend so I hope i can beat it by going on Friday.
Another weather website predicts rain for Thursday.

[KathyW]

It doesn't look like the rain is supposed to come to Palm Springs until Sunday. I might head up the Skyline trail Saturday morning if the weather looks okay - not sure how high I'll go.

[Cy Kaicener]

I just received the news that Lili (Salmonlov) made it up to Long Valley in five hours. Congratulations. Snow on the trail is spotty and almost gone at Long Valley. There is a slight chance of new snow tomorrow.

[KathyW]

I got up yesterday morning and decided it wasn't going to be my day for the Skyline trail, so I headed to Joshua tree and did the short hike to Mary Peak. I ran into Joe and Sooz about after I had come down about 800 feet from the summit, so I headed back up to the summit with them for a second time.

It was beautiful in JT yesterday - almost hot.

[Rick F]

Cy,

Thanks for steering me to this board. I called the Ranger Station and the report is daytime high temps in the 40's and night-time low temps in 20's. So it is likely that snow melt in the day is re-freezing into ice over night making icy trails in the morning through Long Valley. Based on this limited information, I am concluding that there is deeper snow accumulated higher up on the eastern slope approaching the summit. This warrants bringing crampons.

If anyone has been up there in the last week, it would be great to get some current first-hand reports that give some indication of trail conditions and how deep the snow is.

Thanks,
-Rick