2020 Snow Level

General discussions on hiking in Oregon and the Pacific Northwest
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mountainkat
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Re: 2020 Snow Level

Post by mountainkat » November 24th, 2020, 7:19 am

Snow starts around 3200 ft. A couple of feet at the top.
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retired jerry
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Re: 2020 Snow Level

Post by retired jerry » November 24th, 2020, 7:55 am

Mt. Defiance maybe?

I went up Badger Creek and there was general snow cover at 3000 feet, and a lot of down trees, branches, all covered with snow blocking the trail. 5 Miles from trailhead. No one at Bonney Crossing campground

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OneSpeed
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Re: 2020 Snow Level

Post by OneSpeed » December 4th, 2020, 9:38 am

Drove to Lolo Pass yesterday and hiked some PCT miles. The road has a thin sheet of ice and snow, no problem for my Kia Soul. Trail has about a foot of snow at the pass, ~3-4 feet a half mile up.

PCT north gets dodgy quickly because of a steep hillside where all the tracks (and I) stopped. Going south it was easy going with just microspikes well into the switchbacks a little over a mile up. Could have gone further, and others did with similar gear, but I was running out of daylight.

Road towards Ramona Falls is gated at the Sandy River crossing.

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Chip Down
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Re: 2020 Snow Level

Post by Chip Down » December 4th, 2020, 8:28 pm

OneSpeed wrote:
December 4th, 2020, 9:38 am
PCT north gets dodgy quickly because of a steep hillside where all the tracks (and I) stopped.
Indeed, that's a common problem spot, and not easy to get around. If you struggle and get past it, you soon find the trail is cut into a steep rocky slope that's treacherous when icy, so it's heartbreaking to think you have twenty feet to safety, and then discover it's a deadend.

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Don Nelsen
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Re: 2020 Snow Level

Post by Don Nelsen » December 6th, 2020, 7:40 pm

Isn't navigation via your car's computer a wonderful thing! :roll: But hey, now we know what the snow level looks like at 4,300' on road 23.

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"Everything works in the planning stage" - Kelly

"If you don't do it this year, you will be one year older when you do" - Warren Miller

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Chip Down
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Re: 2020 Snow Level

Post by Chip Down » December 6th, 2020, 7:47 pm

I'm packing for an early departure tomorrow, and was pleased to see a report from Don. Sadly, all I learned was that Road 23 isn't advised.
Already knew that. :lol:

"Hi, Enterpise? About that 2020 Toyota SUV you rented us...wondering what the late return penalty might be......................Well, locals are telling us probably around May."

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Don Nelsen
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Re: 2020 Snow Level

Post by Don Nelsen » December 6th, 2020, 9:26 pm

Maybe by May, but it will be crushed by the snow if it's not taken out soon. Hope they got the full insurance coverage, if not, they'll own it. Even then, insurance may not cover something like that. :(

I'm heading out that way tomorrow in the chance the county plowed the road to get the car out. Slim chance, but who knows. In any event, I'll get as far as I can and go for a snowshoe hike.
"Everything works in the planning stage" - Kelly

"If you don't do it this year, you will be one year older when you do" - Warren Miller

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drm
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Re: 2020 Snow Level

Post by drm » December 7th, 2020, 7:56 am

MP 32 would put it a good ways north of the junction to turn off to Taklakh Lake, maybe 7 miles or so. It's probably only a few miles south of where the pavement ends going south. They don't plow anywhere near there but depending on the snow they might be able to pay a large truck to tow that car out. I can't imagine snow would crush it though. Even relatively flimsy kiosks stand through the winter with many feet of snow above them.

I would add that the 23 road gets lots of snowmobilers and so assuming they could hold out for some more days, they might have been found without the search.

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Don Nelsen
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Re: 2020 Snow Level

Post by Don Nelsen » December 7th, 2020, 8:51 am

drm wrote:
December 7th, 2020, 7:56 am
MP 32 would put it a good ways north of the junction to turn off to Taklakh Lake, maybe 7 miles or so.
Hmmm - Well, I'll head up there and see what I can find today. My map shows MP 32 south of the turn to Takhlakh, though, so if the car was going to get removed, it would be from the south. At least, if my map is correct.

Amazing they got so far on that road, too. Reminds me of the 2006 James Kim family mis-adventure on the Galice road in SW OR a few years ago. (aka the Bear Camp Road.) I've driven that road many times and there's a 4' x 8' warning sign - bigger than the sign on the 23 road saying "Road closed by snow". Hard to miss something like that.
"Everything works in the planning stage" - Kelly

"If you don't do it this year, you will be one year older when you do" - Warren Miller

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Don Nelsen
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Re: 2020 Snow Level

Post by Don Nelsen » December 9th, 2020, 11:52 am

How does one miss a sign like this? On road 23, a mile or so north of Trout Lake.
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We checked out road 23 on Monday and got as far as MP 45 without any problems but the ruts were deep and frozen hard and I could see no way to turn around. We had a couple of snow shovels but didn't want to spend all our time digging out a place to U-turn. We put it into reverse and easily got turned around and parked at MP 46.1. The snow is about 18" deep there at 3,300' elev. and well settled.

Pic taken at about MP 45.5:
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The temperature was right at freezing the whole day, but the snow was a little mushy on top but frozen hard down deep.

There were only two snowmobile tracks in the snow and we could see where a large tracked vehicle had gone up and back on the road. Likely the one that had gone up the road to rescue the two misdirected motorists at MP 32 - which, BTW, is about a quarter mile south of the junction of road 23 to Takhlakh Lake. I am amazed those folks got that far.

dn
"Everything works in the planning stage" - Kelly

"If you don't do it this year, you will be one year older when you do" - Warren Miller

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