SB Peak snow conditions above 9k'?

[Sally]

Beautiful pictures, Jill! Thanks!

[Jill G]

[Hikin_Jim]

OK, that's pretty cool.

Now, where am I going this weekend?

HJ

[Jill G]

Pyramid Peak Desert Divide

[Jill G]

@Sally: I found this trip report for a xctry snow route to SB Peak you did last April.
http://www.mtsanjacinto.info/viewtopic. ... rdino+peak

Is that route discernible on the map above or can you describe it? We're planning to go up the north ridge.

[zippetydude]

For what it's worth, I've been up almost the exact route that he went, and I can't recall if it was because of brush or not, but I stayed down in the drainage for most of the way as well. If you're hoping for snow travel then there will probably be much more snow in the ravine than there will be out on the ridge. I don't know if it will be consolidated enough for that to make travel fun - could be it's still cold and loosely packed. BTW, It was a good xc route and I prefer it to the trail. Once I even ran into Ellen, who had come the same way, up on top a couple years back.

Beautiful frosty pics!

[Sally]

Jill, I believe we pretty much followed the route that was on the ridge shown on the map rather than the ravine. I'm not all that great at describing routes. Ellen can probably explain it better. The way it works with Ellen and me is like this: Ellen plows ahead and miraculously finds fantastic x-country routes while I try to keep up with her. I usually don't have a clue what we're doing. If we get screwed up I pull out my GPS and then I figure out where we are.

Ellen and I have done the x-country route up to SB peak many times, usually sticking to the ridge on the way up, and using a combo of the ridge and ravine to get back down. There is usually some brush or rocks to get mired in.

Thanks for the link to that old TR. It brings back memories of a great day!

[Jill G]

@Sally: I found a link to your pics of the route.

https://picasaweb.google.com/1009477359 ... 8647986594
I was hoping for similar snow conditions but that seems unlikely. We'll try the ridge up and see how it goes.

@Zippety: TY