SummitPost.org

Headed up in a few weeks, camping out at the moraine for a night then climb. Anyone been up recently? Hows the route and snowpack?

So pretty much snow free route? A few years back I was up there in late August and it was still snow from a mile and a half in plus by the time I reached the moraine, it was socked in with fog!! Of course, we had a much higher than average snowfall that year.......

We climbed South Sister on August 6 and there was no snow on the south route then.

Trip report with photos (scroll down past the Mt. Lassen part):
http://www.splattski.com/2013/lassen/index.html

A buddy from the fire dept. and I are going to head up this Friday the 6th in the afternoon and camp at the moraine lake, finish on Saturday.

Holy crap there was a ton of people up there this weekend....... and many who probably shouldn't have been. People dressed for low elevation day hikes with no gear at all, probably passed 100 people on my way down to Moraine Lake. I started out around 5am, made it just to the top of Lewis Glacier around 9500' and hit the wall. Throat was shredded, starting to get a headache, and I'm still having footwear issues (I've tried Merrells, Lowa Renegades, and now Danner Crater Rim boots). My biggest issue right now is my physical conditioning. Since I quit smoking three years ago, I haven't been successful in dropping weight and keeping it off. This is going to be my biggest challenge before I set out on anymore backpacking/climbing trips.

Yes, we also saw loads of people, and on a weekday. Lucky for them it stayed warm and dry.....