We are starting our JMT through hike on August 1st. Here in Reno we can go from unlimited visibility down to 3 mi visibility with-in 4 hrs when the wind shifts and the California wildfire smoke blows back in. Are people experiencing similar conditions on the JMT?

Edited by Conductor on 07/24/2008 11:50:30 MDT.

Don't know about the JMT, but we are seeing the same thing in Boise.

It was like that 3-4 weeks ago in the Lake Tahoe region, was before I got there, and from what I can tell (forum postings, weather service) it's still that way.

The word from the news services is that we (Tahoe, Reno) are getting hit with smoke from the Paradise fire complex, which is just about due west from us. I was hoping that further south they wouldn’t be getting nailed by it. Ultimately, it is what it is.

We have haze all the time, but ours is from the Mexican power plants that were exempted from EPA regs for NAFTA. Thanks again Washington DC. Starts at Big Bend, moves north.

I hiked in Yosemite on the PCT north of Tuolumne Meadows in mid July- haze,smoke was every where. It was hard to see the other side of the canyon. Things have kinda setteled down since then. We need a super wet, snowy winter. I also hiked last weekend in Yoseimte at the Chain Lakes-there was still haze and smoke in the air.

Two weeks ago a friend was camped in Dusy Basin when a fire that had been smouldering for months in a remote part of Kings Canyon NP flared up. The smoke was bad enough to force his group to bug out a couple days earlier than planned.

http://www.fire.ca.gov/downloads/incidents/Statewide_Fires_092408_0700_A.pdf

So it's certainly possible, but depends entirely on day-to-day weather conditions. I was in Emigrant for a few days last week, where it was smoky one day and clear the rest of the time.

p.s. There are a lot of undocumented burned areas from the thousands of fires earlier this season. It's pretty shocking.

Edited by halfturbo on 09/25/2008 16:44:15 MDT.

Rick what part of Emmigrant were you at. I am heading out in a few weeks via Crabtre and down to Gem and looping back through Paradise Valley. How was water and how bad was the haze??? Thanks

Ken,
Just returned from Emigrant. I went in at Crabtree and took the "high" route, past Gem, to Upper Buck Lake. Then a day hike over the hill to Emigrant Lake. Returned by the "low" route, Buck Meadow Creek, Pine Valley. The Lakes are surprisingly full but the streams are really dry. I found water in Piute Creek where the bedrock held pools, 100 yds. down stream of the trail. No water in West Fork Cherry Creek. Below Wood Lake there were pools in bedrock but all inaccessible, due to deep gorge. Found water a quarter mile down stream in Louse Canyon in bedrock again. Horse camps in Louse were full of broken glass. There was water in Grouse Lake if you want it bad enough to wade. The "low" route trail is very badly torn up by horse traffic. The 0.9 mile cut-off from Pine Valley up to the "high" trail has face powder fine dust about 8"/10" deep and I fell twice, stepping on buried rocks. On my way up I passed two riders coming down, that were wearing painter's dust masks.


Upper Buck Lake - Emigrant Wilderness - Sept. 24, 2008


Base Camp - Buck Lake - Emigrant Wilderness - Sept. 24, 2008

Thanks for the report-off to Gem Lake in a few weeks.

Hi Ken,

I went in via West Fork Cherry Creek to Hyatt Lake then back out via Roscosco Lake--a sort of loop involving some XC, with some further exploring while at Hyatt. All the creeks are basically dried up, the result of two badly subnormal snow years. Most of the campsites at Hyatt are gone, burned by fire sometime earlier this summer, although I can't find any incident record on line. The trail in passes through a couple miles of burn area, but from the looks of it, it burned last season.

And yes, grazin' cows wandering through a no-camping restoration area. Multi-(ab)use wilderness lives!

Haze was intermittent and never really a problem, definitely nothing like July!

Edited by halfturbo on 09/28/2008 17:23:59 MDT.

Thanks guys for the reports. Dennis, I to have done that Buck Lakes loop and have hiked back up to Crabtree on that same spur trail. Seems nothing has changed on it over the last 5 years. Good pics and it should be a fun trip!!!!

Jay and Josh it is on!!!!!

Nice!!!! Can't wait. Ken, I am also bringing a friend-hope you don't mind. We will more then likely be leaveing early Saturday morning- I will give you call before hand to work out any details.

Jay the more the better. Let's just hope the weather holds. I have a story about that, from about 3-4 years ago, same weekend same plade....(eyes are rolling and I am laughing!!)

and I cannot spell for the life of me

Ya this is the time of year that storm comes rollen in. And I two am a bad spellur

I was checking the weather, daily, for a week and a half before my trip on the 21st. NOAA said I had a cloudless window for the whole week. Thursday, as I was descending to my last camp in Louse Canyon, there appeared what looked like a cold front, approaching from the northwest. By the time I turned in it had spread across the north and eastern sky. I was prepared to walk out in the rain, but it dawned clear as a bell. No haze at all, last week.

I hope the predicted "chance of thunder showers" evaporates by the time you hit the trail.

Have a great trip.


Clouds on the northeastern horizon from Louse Canyon

Edited by redleader on 09/28/2008 22:06:43 MDT.

Thanks Denis. Should be fun!! Just hope the weather holds and we get a nice sunny weekend to close out the hiking season in the Sierra's for '09.

Snowshoe time is right around the corner though!

Ken,
How was your Emigrant trip?