C2C Monday May 26th

[Davis2001r6]

I didn't think I would get a chance to head out there until fall and thought it was too late in the season to hike it now. But after checking the forecast for this weekend and the expected cooler temps I quickly found myself with a hotel booked in town.

So I plan to head up from the Musuem around 2AM. Last time I think I made it in around 7 hours to the tram, and i would be happy to do the same again this time.

I'm curious how the warm weather this week has affected the snow up there. My wife will be taking the tram up and then hopefully hiking with me to the top, but she doesn't hike too often, nor would like an icy wet snow/ice accent. So we shall she, hopefully someone will have a good report that goes up this week.

To anyone heading up on Monday, look for a guy wearing a very dirty cubs hat!

-TIM-

[Llamahiker]

We went to the summit for the first time yesterday from the tram and there are some small patches of snow you have to cross over on the switchbacks below Wellman Divide and some pretty good size patches above Wellman Divide. Most of them still 2-3 feet deep at least. It wasn't icy at all just kind of wet and slushy but still firm enough to walk across. Only post-holed 2 or 3 times. That one section of the trail where it turns to the west and goes from the manzanita slopes through the forest is where all the snow is. Very little snow near the top. People were doing it in sneakers. We'd lose the trail here and there in the snow but pick it up again eventually. Look for the pink ribbons on the trees and the little rock cairns that somebody placed.
Mondays are great. Only a handful of people on the trail. Did Skyline 2 weeks ago on a Monday and didn't see anybody all day on the trail. :D

[Davis2001r6]

Thanks for the update, doesn't sound to be a problem at all right now, another week and it will be even better. I don't mind people on the trail, just others enjoying the outdoors too. Plus I'm going solo for the hard part, not worried about anything, but it's always nice to know people are there. It is Memorial Day too so i do figure it to be busier than a normal Monday.

[James]

Llamahiker described it perfectly. The snow in the trees after Wellman's is/was extensive but passable. Just have to find the trail. On Friday, I saw one pink ribbon in a tree but lost the trail anyway having never done that trail before. Each day brings more melt off though so it will be less of an issue. Best of luck!

[Davis2001r6]

Alright, just leaving Phoenix now, staying the night in Palm Springs, hiking up on Monday morning, still planning on about a 2am start as I will have to drive back to phoenix that night. Looking to be a colder one than I initially though.

-TIM-

[Davis2001r6]

Made a stupid move this morning. Lets just say I did a Musuem to Ramon Road Loop

Once I figured it out for sure I didn't feel like backtracking. Had some other things that I wanted to do in town today anyways. It was a great morning for a hike though, I missed a good one. Didn't see another person on the trail 2:30 and 3:30.

I did make it to the picnic tables in 30 minutes though That was even after losing the trail right off the bat at the museum. Beautiful day out today.

-TIM-

[juguetico]

I know you are a little disappointed. We can all learn from your experience. Respect for the Great Outdoors. Dust yourself off and park that nugget of information in the back of your mind. You'll not do that again.

[Llamahiker]

We did the same thing back on the 5th. Walked right past the rock pile but we only got a couple of hundred feet or so when we realized that we were heading South toward Ramon so we only lost about 5 minutes. Got screwed up on the museum trail too where it turns North and starts going downhill. We doubted ourselves and turned back around before figuring it out. Lost another 5 minutes or so there. After that. No problem-o the rest of the way. I was concerned about losing the route up high but it turned out to be a non-issue. Anyone seeing our headlamps from town probably wondered what the heck are those guys doing running around back and forth.
It was our first time up so now we know the route. No more messing around.

[KathyW]

I didn't even make it to the picnic tables this morning - I just couldn't get up early enough; so I went for a trail run in the Big Bear area instead - it was a beautiful up there - cool but nice and sunny.

[pdforeme]

though we failed (heat, cramps) my newly bought GPS was a great time saver....i ignored it briefly (clear trail i thought) and we too wasted 5 min going south

But the track/route saved and uploaded on the other website (sorry, cannot recall the url, its the Geocities one that forces you to take a quiz to get in.) Guy uploaded 2600 coordinates that i then converted, downloaded. Was a beautiful roadmap to follow. (i've resisted these things (i don't get lost per se)...but find the time saving feature is really nice

am using next week on Muir snowfield on Rainier; when foggy you can really get yourself in a pickle when descending...