Looking to head out in the next week and enjoy the clear weather weve been having lately. Anyone know how far up Weaver Bally road you can get? I've got a jeep with snow tires, but I've never been on the road and am looking for a headsup.
Thanks in advance!

Funyan005 wrote:Looking to head out in the next week and enjoy the clear weather weve been having lately. Anyone know how far up Weaver Bally road you can get? I've got a jeep with snow tires, but I've never been on the road and am looking for a headsup.
Thanks in advance!

I don't drive a jeep, nor have I ever had snow specific tires on my 4WD, but I would suggest doing something else. Weaverville is a long drive from most places. The road to Weaver Bally has steep, curvy sections throughout. I doubt you could drive anywhere near the best views. The final stretch is a narrow shelf road along a steep drop.

An active member living in Mt. Shasta City recently posted pics of 4 feet of unmelted snow at his place (not even up in the mountains). The link below gives a general idea of snow depth in the region. It hasn't been stormy the past couple of weeks, but has been cold. As you noted, it is warmer now.

http://cdec.water.ca.gov/cgi-progs/snow/DLYSNOWDP

What do you hope to be able to do besides drive your jeep? There are other spots/peaks you could approach in a jeep (lower or plowed trailheads) and then use snowshoes/skis/crampons. Maybe try Castle Peak (Mt. Shasta area), Granite Peak (Trintity Alps), Mt. Shasta, Brokeoff/Lassen, or head to the Sierra.

Good looking out. I live just outside Arcata in Humboldt so Weaverville is only about 2 hours away. Sierra is definately way too far. Mt Shasta was my first option as its only 4 hours, but I was looking to go somewhere closer, so the trinity alps seemed like a good option.
I was looking to drive as far as I could and slowshoe however far I can and just camp out and head up again in the morning to see how high I can get. Mt shasta may just be a better option though if the last section of that road is just a narrow shelf with a steep drop, that I wont even consider doing.
Granite peak is something I havent looked into, will have to look into that!

Oh, well coming from Arcata instead of Chino Hills, your idea makes more sense. With snowshoes, camping, and not wanting too much time driving, you might try this:

http://www.summitpost.org/canyon-creek-trail/372992

If you want to get up high quickly, Granite might work better, but it would not be as scenic down low, not as ideal for camping, and might get steep for snowshoes (depending on variety) up high. If you do check it out, use this trailhead in winter to avoid a long approach (Stoney Ridge approach is gated off several miles from trailhead): http://www.summitpost.org/granite-peak-trail/375163

Yah I forgot to change my profile city! I've done Canyon Creek so pretty much at this point I'm trying to get up high quickly, for some reason this summer I missed Weaver Bally so wanted to give it a try. Granite peak seems intense with all those switch backs though, I'll do some studying and post up any more questions I have.

Thanks for the help Sean

Yes, Granite Peak would be intense. It might not be a great idea given conditions, especially alone. It's a slightly longer drive, and longer to summit a peak, but I wonder if the road to the Swift Creek Trailhead to Gibson Peak area is gated. The trail and Granite Lake below Gibson Peak are scenic if you haven't been. Reaching the summit would be intense without overnighting at the lake and would again be a bit long and potentially dangerous in these conditions.

I've been up to granite lake and went on up to seven up peak, and that brush up there was killer-if its not covered in snow that might blow. I'm going with my lady and doing it as an overnight so it may work. I'd love to see granite lake in winter, it was spectacular this last August.

When I was hiking in Redding area around New Year's, accumulated snow measured 6-12 inches above 2,000 feet. It tends to be much colder across the divide in the Trinity River basin.

Have fun wherever you end up! Discussing options brought back good memories for me.

http://www.dot.ca.gov/dist2/rwis/sm_oregon.php

If you are not looking to summit a peak, I recommended d the bear lakes. There is minimal eoad approach, the trail starting almost next to the Trinity river. Easy access and a fairly straight forward route make it a good winter option. It is steep though, under the best conditions.

Hey bubba thanks for chiming in, Ive used many of your pages on mountains and routes since I moved up here and began exploring the trinity alps, so thank you!
Bear lakes looks like it may be a little much-but it looks absolutely gorgeous. Plus the 2nd google result shows a squatch encounter! Haha

Not looking for a summit, but am looking for views, with a reasonable approach. Granite lake looks good thus far-providing access to the trailhead is even possible. Still searching tho for that perfect easily approached view area.

Funyan005 wrote:Hey bubba thanks for chiming in, Ive used many of your pages on mountains and routes since I moved up here and began exploring the trinity alps, so thank you.

I am glad the Trinity pages have been useful. I have a few more to such mit when I finally get arouns to them. As far as that area goes right now though, I have not been over there this winter but I would reckon anything with a trailhead above 4,000 feet is going to be tough to get to. You might consider coming out to mount Shasta and doing something on the mountain. Another great option is going to castle lake and heading up to castle peak or mount Bradley. Great views and easy access. (Sorry about typos. Only online on my phone the last few days. Dern autocorrect.)

I am going up on tuesday for a preliminary with no load. If conditions are good I'm going back up with a full load for thurs thru Sun. Walk the road. leave your car in Weaverville. Thurs thru Sunday will be warm at night.

Is there any snow up there at all? I'm going for Monument saddle and beyond in the latter part of the week before an oncoming storm. The nightime temps are predicted to be in the low 30's which is UNBELIEVABLE for 7500 ft. in the Alps from Fri to Sun. I probably won't try the drop into Upper Rush Creek Lake because it will be in the shade and slippery, but I will go for Monument Saddle and East Weaver Lake. It will be like early June up there. Let's party!!!!! I'll be walking all the way up the road so wave and say hi! The road should be easy going but why drive it? Walk up, enjoy the scenery, and lose those extra add on Christmas pounds. I'm looking for a few good women to join me. Where are you, girls?

I was up in that area a couple of weeks ago (Jan 4-5). The forecast was for snow a couple of days after I was up there, but I don't know how much they actually received (CDEC graphs and the Lassen webcam suggest not much) -- so the conditions I experienced may or may not actually be relevant now.

That said, I climbed Little Granite Peak on the 4th, and Monument Peak on the 5th. There was a small amount of snow/ice on the drive in to Canyon Creek, but very little on the trail/peak -- carried snowshoes/axe/crampons and needed none of them. I hiked up Monument from the East Weaverville Campground -- again, remarkably dry, and no snow gear needed. (At the time, Shasta looked like it would be a scree hike).