Though not quite perfect weather, the temps were nice for hiking today. It was in the low 70°s, though very humid hiking up 9-11AM. Breaks in the clouds occasionally bathed the snowfield in sunlight, though it was predominantly overcast from 11AM-12:30PM.
July 1st from HoJos
July 1st from Connection
There's about a 200 vertical foot run left on the right side towards Lunch Rocks. The snow only softened up about one inch on top of the hard granular base, and the dirtiest snow was the softest. Without crampons, it would have been very difficult to kick in toe-holds, let alone kick out a platform at the top to put skis on.
Right side above Lunch Rocks
The Waterfall
I was happy after three runs on the right side, and I called it a day. It looks like there may be a 200' run in the center bowl, though it's badly undermined in a couple spots, and has a small crevasse part way across it halfway up. There's no run-out left. The 200' vertical run did not include the last 20'-40', down to the undermined lower edge where the brook runs out from under the snow pack.
The End
Besides myself, three other skiers and two snowboarders had showed up by 1PM. A couple of those had skied July 1st last year, and they say there's significantly more snow now than a year ago. This of course led to speculation about August...!
The Westerly skies above the headwall began to darken considerably by 1PM. As I left Lunch Rocks behind and began hiking down, the first thunder clap was heard at 1:02PM. That thunder was our cue to don rain gear, and sure enough it was raining before I'd made it down to the Connection Cache. The light rain cooled it off to the low 60°s, which made the hike down quite refreshing compared to the sweaty hike up. The only cause for concern was the lightning, especially while my skis sticking up above my pack were still higher than the surrounding trees. The sound of thunder reverberated off the walls of Boote Spur and Lions Head, which gave me more respect for the storm. Once down the Little Headwall and below tree line, hiking down in the light rain was pleasant.
July 1st from HoJos
July 1st from Connection
There's about a 200 vertical foot run left on the right side towards Lunch Rocks. The snow only softened up about one inch on top of the hard granular base, and the dirtiest snow was the softest. Without crampons, it would have been very difficult to kick in toe-holds, let alone kick out a platform at the top to put skis on.
Right side above Lunch Rocks
The Waterfall
I was happy after three runs on the right side, and I called it a day. It looks like there may be a 200' run in the center bowl, though it's badly undermined in a couple spots, and has a small crevasse part way across it halfway up. There's no run-out left. The 200' vertical run did not include the last 20'-40', down to the undermined lower edge where the brook runs out from under the snow pack.
The End
Besides myself, three other skiers and two snowboarders had showed up by 1PM. A couple of those had skied July 1st last year, and they say there's significantly more snow now than a year ago. This of course led to speculation about August...!
The Westerly skies above the headwall began to darken considerably by 1PM. As I left Lunch Rocks behind and began hiking down, the first thunder clap was heard at 1:02PM. That thunder was our cue to don rain gear, and sure enough it was raining before I'd made it down to the Connection Cache. The light rain cooled it off to the low 60°s, which made the hike down quite refreshing compared to the sweaty hike up. The only cause for concern was the lightning, especially while my skis sticking up above my pack were still higher than the surrounding trees. The sound of thunder reverberated off the walls of Boote Spur and Lions Head, which gave me more respect for the storm. Once down the Little Headwall and below tree line, hiking down in the light rain was pleasant.
