Why low snow year does not mean "NO snow year".

[Mags]

Indian Peaks at 10k-11k ft or so THIS weekend (yesterday!..may 23rd) near the Continental Divide.



This is why many of us who know Colorado say wait a few weeks.

[garlic08]

Nice spring snow shot, Mags. My ski partner Tom said he skied from the summit of James Peak (13,200') all the way to the parking lot (10,000') on continuous snow last week, pretty rare this time of year.

[Mags]

I'd like to credit for it..but it is not my shot. A friend went climbing this weekend up in the Indian Peaks. I stuck to my local haunts in the foothills due to social obligations/not wanting to go above treeline to be in the fog!

[Nean]

The San Juans got a lot of snow late this year. Its probably snowing up there right now. Unless we get some continuous heat and lots of it there will be snow -and lots of it- 'till July.

[Mags]

The San Juans got a lot of snow late this year. Its probably snowing up there right now. Unless we get some continuous heat and lots of it there will be snow -and lots of it- 'till July.

I posted this photo in response the glut of postings on here, CDT-L and Trailforums about hiking the CDT/CT (or nearby) in early June or even MAY (!?!?!).

Nice to see a locals (or recent locals in the case of my two friends above!) back me up. (For those not familiar with the area, the San Juans typically get the most snow in Colorado..and typical do not really open up until early July for most people.)

As I like to say, not that you can't do it..it just may not be fun.

I'm a wus myself and will let Ma Nature do the work for me first before I backpack. ;-)

[Wise Old Owl]

I don't know it looks like a walk in the park provided you can make your own snowshoes from scratch in a pinch... Where is Jeramiah Johnson?

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


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liver-Eating_Johnson (where the story is based) ???

[cmcdonal2001]

While I'm one of the ones that's going to be heading out in early June, I'm agreeing with the snow birds. I hiked up near Kennebec Pass from La Plata Canyon a week or two ago in the San Juans. This is one of the more tame areas in this range, and it was still a chore moving once we got above 10,000'. Some spots were next to bare, but there were other spots where it went beyond post-holing. My friend went in to shoulder height (hidden tree just under the surface) at one point, and it was pretty lucky she wasn't alone. Like everyone's been saying....hiking early isn't impossible, and it can still be very enjoyable, but BE CAREFUL.

[Reid]

that's one wicked picture

[Mags]

BUMP

Starting to get e-mails (well, two) from people planning a Colorado Trail/ CDT hike around their vacation time. One asked about late May..one asked about June 1st.


In an ideal world, vacation time and when the mountains open up would coincide.

In an ideal world, I'd be independently wealthy and able to take off whenever I want without having to worry about paying the bills, too.

[bigcranky]

BUMP


In an ideal world, I'd be independently wealthy and able to take off whenever I want without having to worry about paying the bills, too.

Wait, what? I thought this described you perfectly? All those photos of you skiing with pork roasts and cute skier grrls and all....

[Mags]

Wait, what? I thought this described you perfectly? All those photos of you skiing with pork roasts and cute skier grrls and all....

Shh! I'm aiming for the pity angle!

[Spirit Walker]

In 2006 snow levels in the south San Juans were at 75% of normal. What people didn't realize is that 'normal' is actually very high, so 75% meant that in early June there was still a lot of snow on the trail. A lot of thruhikers left Chama before June 1 and either had to turn back to either Chama or Pagosa Springs, and wait for a couple of weeks for the snow levels to drop or road walk past the worst of the snow. Only a few hiked through the snow, and they had a scary time, according to the journals. I noticed that near Monarch Pass the snow levels were at 100% of normal - which meant that those who road walked through the San Juans, ended up walking into more snow than they were expecting. We took our time crossing NM and still ended up bypassing the snow in two places. Postholing hip deep is not fun.

That's where the "Low snow doesn't mean no snow" came from.

[Toolshed]

Indian Peaks at 10k-11k ft or so THIS weekend (yesterday!..may 23rd) near the Continental Divide.



This is why many of us who know Colorado say wait a few weeks.

Show-off!!!!

[Connie]

Colorado has maybe the all-time best snow and avalanche report websites.

This one is for reference, as well.

[Chaco Taco]

Shh! I'm aiming for the pity angle!

Team Sucketh in tha house!!!

[Dogwood]

For all you Coloradans in the know, how about leap frogging from Chama up to the Great basin area like near Rawlins WY or Big Sandy and hiking SOBO back to Chama on the CDT?

[Dogwood]

Getting to Chama around the first wk of June, taking a couple of days to get up to the GB, and then hiking SOBO.

[Datto]

For all you Coloradans in the know, how about leap frogging from Chama up to the Great basin area like near Rawlins WY or Big Sandy and hiking SOBO back to Chama on the CDT?

There appears to be a summer seasonal airline flight that goes into Riverton, WY (from Albuquerque, NM via Denver), then a fixed route bus that can drive from Riverton, WY to Lander, WY for $25 pp one-way (must call ahead even if it's fixed route) where a person might illegally hitchhike from Lander, WY to South Pass City, WY down a two-lane highway to hook up with the CDT. Expensive way to travel.

Also, there appears to have been a local bus at one time (Shoshone Arapaho Nations Transit Association -- SANTA) that ran up that way toward Lander, WY from Rawlins, WY but I'm not able to find much info about it being in existence anymore nor the route or availability. Rawlins, WY is supposed to have a Greyhound stop but it's not far enough north to make a northbound flip from New Mexico all that worthwhile from my perspective versus just leaving later and waiting at Cuba, NM or Chama, NM (or waiting altogether and going southbound from the Canadian border).

There's also an airline flight into Jackson, WY and a non-scheduled bus (call for reservation -- same people as the bus going from Riverton to Lander) to take you to Lander, WY from Jackson, WY ($100 pp one-way bus or more) that may drive right past South Pass City, WY on the way to Lander, WY from Jackson, WY. Also an expensive way to travel from New Mexico.

I'm not showing anything about that Greyhound bus stop that used to be stopping in Cuba, NM to be in existence anymore. Evidently From what I've been able to gather, Greyhound bought that bus line that once served Cuba, NM, then closed that route down.

There's also a seasonal summer flight into West Yellowstone but on a northbound flip from New Mexico, West Yellowstone would seem to be too far north and may run into considerable snow in the Winds. That's the way I view it anyhow. If the flip had to go that far north, possibly better just to flip up to the Canadian border and start south on July 1st.

If anyone has more options or more info about transport from northern New Mexico up to someplace north of Rawlins, WY please speak up. Thanks.

Datto

[Datto]

Bus service mentioned above going from Riverton, WY and Jackson, WY to Lander, WY:

Wind River Transit Authority
http://www.wrtabuslines.com/

Datto

[oso loco]

Getting to Chama around the first wk of June, taking a couple of days to get up to the GB, and then hiking SOBO.

That'll buy you one week more or less before you're in the snow again.