Wondering how much snow is left at Gilbert Lake and Kearsarge Pass and beyond? I imagine some more will melt between now and this weekend but I have no idea what is currently there.

Thanks!!

sounds like quite a bit; shoot PellucidWombat a line; he was up there this past w/e

As of 10 days ago, the snow on south facing slopes was largely burned off. In fact, if you stayed on those slopes rather than the trail, you could reach the pass almost entirely without touching snow. North facing slopes were still mostly snow covered. Those slopes and the trail had solid snow in the mornings, but became post hole purgatories in the afternoon. The Kearsarge Lakes were still mostly snowbound.

+1000

sharperblue wrote:sounds like quite a bit; shoot PellucidWombat a line; he was up there this past w/e

PM'd him. For anyone else interested: trail below Gilbert lake was mostly dry yesterday. South and west facing slopes have shallow to no snow, so there's a good chance a lot of it will be gone by this weekend. North facing slopes still have a good amount of snow where snowshoes could be helpful.

Thanks!

Luciano,
Thanks for the post. I'll be heading up Kearsage two weeks from now for a try at University. My plan is to head X-country up past the Kearsage Lakes to University Shoulder, hit the peak, then loop around the opposite side of the Kearsage Pinnacles (JMT) back up to Kearsage Lakes and out. If you head towards any of these areas, I'd greatly appreciate some pics/current conditions.

Thanks in advance,

Gusto

MCGusto wrote:Luciano,
Thanks for the post. I'll be heading up Kearsage two weeks from now for a try at University. My plan is to head X-country up past the Kearsage Lakes to University Shoulder, hit the peak, then loop around the opposite side of the Kearsage Pinnacles (JMT) back up to Kearsage Lakes and out. If you head towards any of these areas, I'd greatly appreciate some pics/current conditions.

Thanks in advance,

Gusto

Sure thing! I'll try to take some good pics. Are you doing the North Face?

No, not doing the North Face. Trying to avoid steep snow, if possible, as my buddy doesn't have any experience with crampons/ice axe. Personally, I like rock a lot more than snow, too. Our "planned" route looks like this....


Our first day would be schlepping over Kearsage Pass with full packs, possibly tag Mt. Gould, then camp at the Kearsage Lakes. The second day we would follow the lakes up to the north western "arm" (University Arm), tag University, then retreat down the south face, around Kearsage Pinnacles, and up around Bullfrog Lake and back to camp, then pack out. My two main concerns are the snowpack heading up from the Kearsage Lakes to University Arm, and the area that ascends to Bullfrog Lake (just south of Bullfrog Lake) in the picture. Both look fairly steep and could be hiding some snow.... ????

Thanks again,

Gusto

I should be able to take some good pics of all the areas in question since we are planning to go all the way to the Bullfrog Lake area.

3Deserts wrote:

Luciano136 wrote:I should be able to take some good pics of all the areas in question since we are planning to go all the way to the Bullfrog Lake area.

Luciano did you go yet? I'm curious about trail conditions up to the pass. I might have a free day Sunday and am vaguely thinking about trying to do a quick run up and down to Gould and maybe Dragon.

Sure did! I should have some pictures later this week. The trail to Gilbert Lake had a few snow patches but nothing of importance. Above Gilbert Lake, there are a few snow fields to cross but with great footing; no crampons needed. Once you get above the tree line, the trail to the pass is completely snow free! Pretty impressive for this time of the year; there was more snow on the trail when I did Gould early July 2011. We were planning on doing Rixford but it looked pretty boring from the pass, so we did Gould again (3x now).

It feels like summer up there! By this weekend, I'm guessing the trail will be pretty much dry to the pass. Gilbert Lake was about 2/3 frozen when we left in the morning; by early afternoon, only half of it was still frozen!

The north facing slopes are still holding snow for now.

butitsadryheat wrote:how are the skeeters? they should be bustin out about now, in force

Not bad at all actually. We camped right at Gilbert Lake; I think I saw one mosquito

Luciano136 wrote:Sure did! I should have some pictures later this week. The trail to Gilbert Lake had a few snow patches but nothing of importance. Above Gilbert Lake, there are a few snow fields to cross but with great footing; no crampons needed. Once you get above the tree line, the trail to the pass is completely snow free! Pretty impressive for this time of the year; there was more snow on the trail when I did Gould early July 2011. We were planning on doing Rixford but it looked pretty boring from the pass, so we did Gould again (3x now).

It feels like summer up there! By this weekend, I'm guessing the trail will be pretty much dry to the pass. Gilbert Lake was about 2/3 frozen when we left in the morning; by early afternoon, only half of it was still frozen!

The north facing slopes are still holding snow for now.

Thanks for the update! What kind of temperatures were you guys getting at night? Debating on weather to bring two pads or not. Did you get a peak over at the Kearsage Lakes from the pass? Mostly still snow covered? I know they sit a little higher than Gilbert.

Thanks again,

Gusto

MCGusto wrote:

Luciano136 wrote:Sure did! I should have some pictures later this week. The trail to Gilbert Lake had a few snow patches but nothing of importance. Above Gilbert Lake, there are a few snow fields to cross but with great footing; no crampons needed. Once you get above the tree line, the trail to the pass is completely snow free! Pretty impressive for this time of the year; there was more snow on the trail when I did Gould early July 2011. We were planning on doing Rixford but it looked pretty boring from the pass, so we did Gould again (3x now).

It feels like summer up there! By this weekend, I'm guessing the trail will be pretty much dry to the pass. Gilbert Lake was about 2/3 frozen when we left in the morning; by early afternoon, only half of it was still frozen!

The north facing slopes are still holding snow for now.

Thanks for the update! What kind of temperatures were you guys getting at night? Debating on weather to bring two pads or not. Did you get a peak over at the Kearsage Lakes from the pass? Mostly still snow covered? I know they sit a little higher than Gilbert.

Thanks again,

Gusto

I'll have a look at my pictures but I believe the lakes were mostly snow covered with the edges starting to melt. Also looked like the back side of University was already bare. Even the route on the north face was mostly snow free. At night the temp dropped just a little below freezing; it was very pleasant.

Luciano136 wrote:

butitsadryheat wrote:how are the skeeters? they should be bustin out about now, in force

Not bad at all actually. We camped right at Gilbert Lake; I think I saw one mosquito

Please tell me you weren't the boneheads firing the gun ....