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Topic: May 13, 2006 Kearsarge Valley, Sierra (Read 705 times)
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Zap
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Posts: 1620
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On Friday evening, we drove west from Independence at 3900 feet up the Onion Valley Road approximately 14 miles to road end at 9200 feet. It was in the 80’s in Independence and in the low 70’s at Onion Valley. Unfortunately a rattlesnake decided to cross the road as we were speeding along – small thump. We passed by the base of Independence Peak’s “S” shaped gully which we skied last year; the bottom was melted out and the snow in the lower third looked rotten. Passed by the last hairpin turn which provides the exit route from Sardine Canyon and it too was melted out. Arrived at the road end and it was bare on south exposures. Disappointing. I saw a photo posted on the web from the previous weekend which showed a lot more snow. The recent above normal temperatures were rapidly melting the snow pack below 9000 feet.
We were up at 6am and the outside temperature was 56 degrees. There were at least 5 different groups starting by 6:45am. We were climbing by 7:15am which is early for us. Jill’s hip was a bit sore so we toured west up towards Kearsarge Pass and the lakes area. The snow was already soft as we started out, and it did not improve for the rest of the tour. We climbed steeply on snow, and then had to cross a melted out shrub area and a rocky area about 50 feet wide. It was obvious that the day would be a photo tour day. We finally reached about 10,500 feet and the views opened up. We climbed a large knob above Flower Lake and had great views west to East Bowl (long tour for mellow turns), Dragon Peak, Mount Gould at 13,005 feet (a ski descent) and University peak at 13,589 feet (a ski descent). Probably the best part of the tour was the beautiful, gnarly Bristlecone pines (we think) standing majestically in a snow and rock landscape. The Bristlecone seems to thrive between 10-11,000 feet and can survive for thousands of years. Here’s a fun fact: just northeast of here is the Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest which has a tree that is over 4700 years old. Jill started using up the memory card on her camera and I kept searching for a firm snow descent. We traveled southeast in hopes of finding skiable terrain. No luck. It was a wet, mushy descent from 11,000 to 9,200. We were back to the camper by noon. We pulled out the lounge chairs and started exchanging beta with some fellow skiers on recent trips, trailhead access and snow depths. A forest service employee returned from skiing the north couloir of University and found good corn in the couloir, but the lower return route was sloppy. The only positive trip report was by 2 guys who left at 6am and returned by 8:30am! The recent heat wave is melting the snow and not allowing an over night freeze. At least the beer is cold.
Zap & Jill
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