Personally, I prefer the late Summer and Early Fall. Most humans and skeeters are gone

WHAT!?!?!?! Late summer is when all the humans start going! Majority wait for snow to melt before they start going up high.

Winter is the time when 90% of all visitors every day are in one spot (Lee Vining), and other 9% are in Whintey Portal.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dg-CPsnFqBs[/youtube]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Equinox

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Summer

In North America, summer is often the period from the summer solstice (usually June 20 or 21 in the Northern Hemisphere) to the autumn equinox. (Sept. 22/23)

According to meteorologists, summer extends for the whole months of June, July, and August in the northern hemisphere and the whole months of December, January, and February in the southern hemisphere. Under meteorological definitions, all seasons are arbitrarily set to start at the beginning of a calendar month and end at the end of a month. This meteorological definition of summer also aligns with the commonly viewed notion of summer as the season with the longest (and warmest) days of the year (365 days), in which daylight predominates. The meteorological reckoning of seasons is used in Austria, Denmark and the former USSR; it is also used by many in the United Kingdom, where summer is thought of as extending from mid-May to mid-August. In Ireland, the summer months according to the national meteorological service, Met Éireann, are June, July and August. However, according to the Irish Calendar summer begins 1 May and ends 1 August. School textbooks in Ireland follow the cultural norm of summer commencing on 1 May rather than the meteorological definition of 1 June.

Vitaliy M. wrote:

Personally, I prefer the late Summer and Early Fall. Most humans and skeeters are gone

WHAT!?!?!?! Late summer is when all the humans start going! Majority wait for snow to melt before they start going up high.

Winter is the time when 90% of all visitors every day are in one spot (Lee Vining), and other 9% are in Whintey Portal.

In winter 99% of all visitors are at Mammoth Mtn.

And summer lasts until Sep 21, so I'd concur that late summer most of the human visitors are gone (after Labor Day).

well, i have come upon a good compromise.....i just booked my reservation for permit, for june 27th entry date out of shepherd pass, summit date of july 1st. Hopefully this will be good timing for a great trip.

In winter 99% of all visitors are at Mammoth Mtn.

I was not talking about ski resorts, and was trying to be funny (somewhat). You been in Sierra for a lot longer etc, but in the last 2 years that I been out I have seen a lot more people Aug-mid September, than in June. Just what I observed...

yosemiteforlife67:

Enjoy, glad to hear you nailed down a time frame. Be safe and have fun, regardless the time of season.

Appears this year, being a dry one, will present you with less snow than most have experienced in the past five-six.So far this season reminds me of the 76', 77', 87' and 92' dry winter seasons where the entire Sierra were completely snow free by late June early July. Those were in fact some of the most memorable for me.

Late Winter and early Spring have yet to come though. March and April have been known in the short past to bring some incredible snowfalls. Totals of 23 feet for both months combined have in fact occurred in the past.... 06' ring a bell.

Last night I had a dream that there will be big snow fall in the end of this season...

Did you get wet?

another thought on this route.....has anyone taken the shepherd pass route to whitney, and ventured off the beaten path to mt barnard, or wallace creek up to wallace lake and wales lake?? I would imagine, if the snow isnt too bad, that would be a great side trip. I belive someone had posted something about wallace creek, but i was just curious how far it would be, from the junction of the high sierra trail and jmt, and the terrain involved up the the lake and also barnard?

I've done the route from Williamson Bowl to Mount Barnard. Secor's book says to avoid the ridge from Trojan to Barnard and drop down onto the east side. Don't do it. It's a fantastic ridge and very enjoyable.

Barnard is an easy hike from Wrights Creek and it looks just as easy from Wallace Creek. The beginning of July last year I went over Shepherd Pass, west to the PCT/JMT, south to Wrights Creek, and then east up along the Creek and on to Barnard and then back out the same way. Instead of going all the way down to the PCT/JMT from Shepherd Pass, you can go over Rockwell Pass to drop in the Wrights Creek/Lakes Basin (without snow there is a use trail leading over the pass). If you do that you'll miss Bighorn Plateau, which I though was a really scenic area. Some pics from last year:

http://kathywing.smugmug.com/California ... &k=hRGXRvX

Last year snow in that area was heavy and creek crossings were difficult - the snow level was very similar to how it had been in 2005 when we climbed Williamson the first weekend in July. Every year is different so it's hard to know this far in advance how much snow there will be and how high the creeks will be flowing. Those high creek crossings are the most frightening part of early summer travel in the Sierra for me.

Rockwell Pass is marked by a star in this map:

http://kathywing.smugmug.com/California ... x&lb=1&s=O

wow kathy, those pics are pretty amazing.

another possible option on the shepherd pass route to mt whitney.....of course weather and conditions permitting.....what about a side "jaunt" to wallace lake, mt barnard...AND continue on to mt hale and mt young....then over into the next valley straight over to guitar lake?? Is this really doable? Is this primarily class 1-2, or would this be too difficult? I am talking about with full packs, my pack weight will be around 35+ lbs. I know it is early, but i just wanted to throw some interesting cool possiblities on my journey. Anyone who may have tried this, let me know what you think and if you have done this. Thanks.

yosemiteforlife67 wrote:another possible option on the shepherd pass route to mt whitney.....of course weather and conditions permitting.....what about a side "jaunt" to wallace lake, mt barnard...AND continue on to mt hale and mt young....then over into the next valley straight over to guitar lake?? Is this really doable? Is this primarily class 1-2, or would this be too difficult? I am talking about with full packs, my pack weight will be around 35+ lbs. I know it is early, but i just wanted to throw some interesting cool possiblities on my journey. Anyone who may have tried this, let me know what you think and if you have done this. Thanks.

Hale and Young are easy to get to from the south, and as long as you do Hale first it's not a sandy slog - just a nice hike. The north side looks like it is probably a Class 5+ climb to get up Hale/Young. Maybe there are other nontechnical routes - there are always lots of ways to bag a peak. You could always drop you pack before you get to Guitar Lake on the way out and wander up to Hale and then traverse over to Young before going back down to pick up your pack.

You should be able to get from the Shepherd Pass Trailhead to Shepherd Pass and beyond in one day with an early start. If you plan on camping at the Shepherd Pass trailhead the night before you start out, you might think about backpacking up to the saddle at about 9200' and dry camping in the evening instead of sleeping at the trailhead. It'll only take you a few hours to get up there and that way, you'll be able to sleep in a little in the morning without worrying as much about getting going at dawn or earlier to avoid the heat on the lower section of the trail.

At the other end, you should be able to get from Guitar Lake to Whitney Portal, with a side-trip to the summit of Whitney, in one day. That leaves you three days to play around between Shepherd Pass and Guitar Lake. Of course, the weather, snow conditions, water levels, how heavy the pack is (you might be hauling an axe and crampons in June), what kind of shape you're in....etc. will make a difference on how far you get each day. If you are comfortable with Class 3 scrambling, you could do the short climb up to Mount Muir on the way to/from Whitney.

I've been through the area a few times in different ways. Hopefully these photos will help: Barnard and Trojan from Whitney Portal via Cleaver Col; up Russell and down Wallace Creek. The Arctic Lakes drainage (south of Hale and Young) is a bunch of nasty talus. EDIT: Wallace Creek, however, is beautiful and hikable.