Tahoe area and desolation wilderness conditions...?

by **yosemiteforlife67** » Thu Apr 18, 2013 6:53 am

Hello out there, i was thinking of doing some snowshoeing in the Lake Tahoe area or possibly desolation wilderness on April 27th, does anyone have some possible conditions of snow pack in those areas? It seems that the snow is melting fast, i just wanted to know if anyone was out snowshoeing recently , and had an idea of conditions. The information would be very helpful. I was thinking of going up to Carson pass area...or perhaps desolation, through lake aloha and north of there. Thanks in advance.

by **fruitflyman** » Mon Apr 22, 2013 12:35 am

At Carson Pass, Round Top and The Sisters are good right now. Snow all the way from the car. Great conditions for climbing Crescent Moon couloir and the Gunsight Notch on West Sister. The other site, Red Lake Peak and Stevens Peak, look pretty much melted out. Tallac - ridges bare but plenty of snow in the chutes. Crystal Range, Jacks and Dicks Peaks - looks like snow starts around 8000, lower slopes bare. Ralston almost bare. There is more snow in forested areas, so you may find a good hike from Echo Lakes.

by **Garpe** » Mon Apr 22, 2013 6:10 pm

I was in Tahoe this weekend (20th/21st) and did a couple of short hikes. We went up from Fallen Leaf lake on Saturday, past Glenn Alpine Spring (toward Grass Lake) and on Sunday from Emerald Bay past Granite Lake (toward Maggies Peak South). We had only hiking boots so didn't get beyond about 8000 ft, which is where the snow started to become unbroken on the trail and difficult to hike on. Below this, though, you didn't need snow shoes (not on the south-facing slopes anyway). North-facing slopes at these altitudes were more snow-covered, and granite lake had a couple inches of ice on it. Beautiful weather, though :-)

by **Raj217** » Mon Apr 22, 2013 10:34 pm

We did a backpack on April 20th, 21st to Lake Aloha. We could not drive (4WD Subaru outback) all the way to TH (Echo lake chalet). had to park about 0.5 miles from TH. the PCT was mostly snow-free up to upper Echo lake. from there on it was all snow. there was fresh snow (from earlier part of last week) and snowshoes were must especially if you are hiking in later part of the day. some of us did not have snowshoes and with every step they were plunging deep into the snow. PCT was all covered with snow and hence relied on GPS and topo map to guide us. We camped by Lake Aloha which was all snow covered.

But some great scenery.

by **TahoeHiker** » Mon May 20, 2013 8:39 pm

Hi there, was hoping someone would be able to update me on conditions in Desolation; I'm also looking to do a backpacking trip this coming Memorial Day from the Echo Lake TH to Lake Aloha. Snowshoes/GPS still required to navigate the trails?

by **hgrapid** » Tue May 21, 2013 9:25 pm

Still pretty snowy in Desolation as of Saturday May 18. Probably not too much more melt up there in the next week or so.

by **TahoeHiker** » Wed May 22, 2013 1:12 am

Thanks for the response, appreciate it!

by **96avs01** » Wed May 29, 2013 10:24 pm

Bump, conditions on south-facing aspects?

by **matttravel** » Thu Jun 13, 2013 2:09 am

I was in the Desolation wilderness on Jun 1 - still fair amount of snow on Dick's peak above around 8200 ft, but very doable. Southern facing slopes were pretty much dry.

The following user would like to thank matttravel for this post
96avs01

by **fedak** » Thu Jun 13, 2013 2:40 am

It was 90+ here in Tahoe before the cold front hit this past weekend.
Stuff melted out *substantially* last week.

by Ze » Thu Jun 13, 2013 2:42 am

went up Horstail Falls then scrambled up to Pyramid Peak. A bit of snow but mostly avoidable.

The following user would like to thank Ze for this post
96avs01

by **fruitflyman** » Mon Jan 20, 2014 3:59 am

Does anyone know if there's snow in the Cross Couloir on Tallac?

by **fruitflyman** » Wed Feb 18, 2015 7:34 pm

Has anyone been around Maggies Peaks and Eagle Lake Buttress lately? Any ice at all?

Tahoe area and desolation wilderness conditions...?

Tahoe area and desolation wilderness conditions...?

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