3/18/12 An unusually cold mid-March snow storm meant record low snow levels for this time of year and great snow conditions. So I decided to take the tram up to Long Valley and do some snowshoeing towards the San Jacinto summit.
1 This was a fairly spontaneous trip to take advantage of the unusually cold snow storm for mid-March. The tram had been closed all day Saturday due to high winds and I didn't make the final decision to make the trip until I was able to get a hold of a human Sunday morning to verify the tram was open.
2 Leaving Long Valley. The tram up was packed with people. Of those people probably only 30% ventured outside the lodge, and of those only a handful ventured out beyond Long Valley (according to the permit logs at the ranger station).
3 The first trail junction and creek crossing. This would be the last time I was anywhere near the real trail. My route for the day would head cross country Northeast towards Jean Peak. A much steeper, but shorter, route than the real trail that heads out towards Wellman's Divide.
4 I was following some well defined tracks that looked to be from cross country skiers. Normally I prefer to break my own trail, but with this much fresh powder, I wouldn't have made it very far.
5 As the elevation started to climb, the storm got heavier, and the powder got deeper. The tracks I was following were already starting to fill. At this point though, I was starting to get really cold. The temperature had been in the 12-14 degree range the entire time, which was causing me all sorts of issues. My trusty Cliff Bloks were solid red ice cubes. My protein shake was frozen solid. And even my insulated water bladder was freezing-up. I tried putting everything down my shirt, which worked moderately well. But I did not end-up eating or drinking much the entire day, which was not good.
6 As I approached Jean Peak, things get steeper, and the powder got deeper. In places, I was post holing knee deep even with snow shoes on. I have never seen powder this dry and airy before in Southern CA (where the snow is normally pretty wet and packs quickly). In a couple spots, I wandered into a snow bank of waist deep powder, couldn't lift the snow shoes out, and had to slowly wade, as if through quick sand, until I reached a shallow spot. Another time, I fell face first into a snow drift and was completely submerged in snow, like being underwater. A new, and rather unerving, experience for me.
7 Just below the Jean Peak ridge, I caught-up to the cross country skiers whose tracks I had been following. They were skiing up and down the slope below the ridge, probably ideal conditions for them. They were pretty surprised to see someone else out here, especially alone. I was dissapointed to find out their tracks stopped here, and I would be breaking trail the rest of the way if I wanted to summit. I knew exactly how to reach the summit from where I was and tried breaking trail for a ways and then finally decided I would call it a day. My fingers were painfully cold.
8 My (partial) 360 video for the day at my turnaround point near Jean Peak above 10,000'.
9 The return trip was tough. In places my tracks had completely covered over and I was squinting finding to find traces of them to follow. Without tracks, I would almost certainly not make it back before dark. The winds would occasionally gust and blow powder around to the point where I couldn't even see my legs. Fortunately they were only temporary gusts. At this point, my camera was freezing (literally) and the lens was fogging-up from the inside. Now I remember why I wanted an all-weather camera.
10 I finally made it back to Long Valley by about 5:15pm. It was a bit warmer and snowing much less here at the lower elevation. My camera was completely fogged-up, so I switched to the iPhone and took some pictures around Long Valley.
11 It's a lot easier to take pictures now that my hands aren't frozen.
12 Nothing like fresh snow in the trees.
13 The barely visible creek winding through Long Valley.
14 Some spots of the creek were completed iced over. Probably don't want to walk across that.
15 Lots of great snow scenery in the valley.
16 And much easier to enjoy now that it's a little warmer and not snowing as hard.
17 The view from the lodge balcony. Definitely not the normal clear view of Palm Springs. After eating a huge dinner in the lodge, I headed back down the tram with another snow day successfully completed.