NOBO Red's Meadow to Happy Isles Early July - Snow?

[Hikester]

Just doing Section 1 NOBO from Red's to Happy Isles with my two sons (16 & 12) starting on July 5. I have microspikes but i don't have them for the boys. Is there typically a lot of snow on the passes early July? If yes, will we need more than microspikes and poles as far as snow gear is concerned?

[DLP]

I have virtually no experience hiking in snow. So, I can't tell you about micro-spikes. Way beyond my skill level.

However... The Tahoe Rim Trail has good snow/trail condition reports as of June 13. Granted the TRT isn't the JMT... but it may give you a guesstimate of how much snow you might encounter, at an even higher elevation, two weeks from now. They are reporting 6 mile stretches of snow on the trail.
https://www.tahoerimtrail.org/index....ail-conditions

The Squaw webcams can also be interesting, to look at snow. Again... not the JMT... but it is still a little view of California Mountain Snow.
http://squawalpine.com/skiing-riding...-tahoe-webcams

I'm going out Rae Lakes loop on Sunday for 5 nights but I'm anticipating that there is still a lot of snow on the pass and I will not want to go over Glen Pass. I'm also not into scary creek crossings... So we'll see.

Will give you an update, if I meet anyone going over the passes. My sister was out there two weeks ago and some PCT thru hikers were getting off trail after scary passes even with microspikes and ice axes. Other hikers were continuing on and comfortable with the snow/ice and passes.

[Hikester]

Thanks for the info! I'm surprised by how little direct info I'm able to find specific to JMT current conditions. I've found a lot of people posting about Rae Lakes and Glen Pass on instagram. If you have an account, it's a good way to sort of suss out what the current conditions are. It does look like Glen Pass has substantial snow but Rae Lakes looks perfect. I wasn't finding much on Donohue Pass but I just search "Donahue" and now I found a couple recent photos that look snowy. I'm hoping another 3 weeks will melt some of it off. I think i'm going to get spikes for everyone just to be safe. We're not experienced enough to go into anything too technical so I'm crossing my fingers that the conditions will be reasonably mild.

I just found this link http://www.hikerly.com/forecasting-w...e-backcountry/ - I haven't tested it out yet but maybe that'll lead to some answers.

Have fun doing Rae Lakes! That's my goal trip for next summer. Looks amazing.

[HooKooDooKu]

Have you seen "Mile... Mile & a Half"?

They set off in a 200% snow year on July 11th. While they did have some traction devices, they never used them. When contacted, they simply recommended sun glasses and water proof boots.

Compare that to the fact that this year has been closer to a 50% to 75% snow year.

So while I don't have any experience with the JMT passes (yet), I'm currently not concerned about snow in July this year.

Check out this web page that tries to show the current snow depth on a map. From what I can see, there is 2" - 10" of snow on the passes, and we still have two weeks before the start of July.

[DLP]

Yeah... Actual Rae lakes is only like 8,000-something elevation (CORRECTION: Rae Lake elevation is 10,000 ft). And it is flat so the sun is shining right on it, so there is no snow. But passes that face North.... not up for that. But we all have different skills and risk tolerances.

I have seen Mile, Mile and a Half and makes me want to not go over icy passes. But, that's me.

[show me the monkey]

If its any help... as of last Thursday, the section between Happy Isles and Tuolumne (topping out at ~9800 ft) had plenty of snow in shady areas, but it was mostly packed down and easily passable.

[Malto]

There is only one pass, Donahue, that will likely have much snow and it is pretty tame. If there is snow then try to time your pass at mid morning allowing the snow to soften a bit first if needed. I would not take any spikes if I were hiking that part in July. the picture below shows the top of Donahue on June 26th, 2011 which was the extremely high snow year referenced in the earlier post. You can see the snow lines on the ridges which were rapidly receding.

image.jpeg

[colorado_rob]

Reds to Happy Isle..... No Donahue pass to cross, that's south.

FWIW: We were in Tuolumne last weekend, saw a zillion PCT NOBO thru hikers at the grill, they had no problems getting through, and they were at the high places a week ago by now.

[Malto]

Reds to Happy Isle..... No Donahue pass to cross, that's south.

FWIW: We were in Tuolumne last weekend, saw a zillion PCT NOBO thru hikers at the grill, they had no problems getting through, and they were at the high places a week ago by now.

No, Donahue is the pass on the border of Yosemite.

[colorado_rob]

No, Donahue is the pass on the border of Yosemite.

oops! Sorry, I was thinking Forester. Again, sorry!

[Malto]

oops! Sorry, I was thinking Forester. Again, sorry!

We'll chalk it up to altitude!!

[Hikester]

i did see it but i wan't focused on the snow issue then. i'll have to go back and rewatch. Thanks for the info!

[Hikester]

awesome, thanks, that does help.

[Hikester]

Reds to Happy Isle..... No Donahue pass to cross, that's south.

FWIW: We were in Tuolumne last weekend, saw a zillion PCT NOBO thru hikers at the grill, they had no problems getting through, and they were at the high places a week ago by now.

That makes me feel much better! Thank you.

[Hikester]

If its any help... as of last Thursday, the section between Happy Isles and Tuolumne (topping out at ~9800 ft) had plenty of snow in shady areas, but it was mostly packed down and easily passable.

Thanks for the info. It definitely helps and eases my stress level!

[DLP]

I talked to half a dozen people who crossed Glen Pass last week.

As you might imagine, I got all different feedback depending on the the snow comfort/discomfort and skill of the individual hiker; time of day; day of the week, etc, etc.

A couple of people used the adverbs, "scary, gnarly, sketchy" to describe walking over the pass.

Two others described it as "easy" with the exception of a number of knee deep post-holes.

And still 2 others described it as easy with no post-holing, as the previous hikers had packed the snow down.

Almost all the thru hikers were carrying micro-spikes. The Rae Lakes weekenders... not so much. We also believe that the majority of the weekenders where not doing the loop and going over Glen Pass. There were no permits available on Sunday afternoon to go into Paradise Valley and do the loop clockwise. Clockwise is the most popular direction. We were going counter-clockwise. We should have seen lots of hikers coming towards us, but didn't.

For example, on Tuesday, we saw 5 people all day. 2 guys who had come over Glen Pass and 3 thru hikers. Wednesday, we saw 25ish PCT thru hikers and 4 people doing the Rae Lakes loop.

Also saw zero younger kids hiking. Saw 2-3 kids who looked to be 17-19. Everybody else was older. Don't know if this matters, or what.

(Typing on my sister's lap top. Akkkk! to get used to a different keyboard.... )

[DLP]

To see various amounts of snow...

Glen Pass from the south.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/509517.../in/datetaken/

https://www.flickr.com/photos/509517.../in/datetaken/

Mt. Bago (?) and (what I believe may be) Forester Pass off in the distance (not 100% sure of this).

https://www.flickr.com/photos/509517.../in/datetaken/

Some mountains and snowy passes. Photo taken from the North-East.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/509517.../in/datetaken/

Of course, YMMV... and given this is hiking, that is pretty much a certainty.