A while back I started a thread for a Yellowstone trip for next week. As of right now that may not work out. I'm about an hour north of San Fransico at the moment and don't want to drive more than a day (12 hrs or so). I was really hoping to get a mountain trip in but most everything seems snowed under. Anybody have any great ideas?

Have you considered the Snow Mtn Wilderness in the Mendocino National Forest?

Thanks Bruce I don't know much about that wilderness any insider info I should know about?

Its a straight forward hike but to be honest not that thrilling of a area..Check out the Mt Lassen area in Spring. Upper Mill Creek--I will be there on May 22-23.

You can approach from Highway 101 or Highway 5. The road from 101 involves a ford if I recall correctly.

The approach and hike itself is described in detail in Gary Suttle, California County Summits and there are some hikes described on the web and the NFS site.

At one point the pavement ends on the Forest Service road on the Highway 5 side. I encountered a white out two years ago on Memorial Day Weekend which was lot of fun and challenged my navigation skills. If you can make it to one of the NFS offices, they have a topo map of the wilderness.

You have to drive through an off road vehicle recreation area to get to the TH but I found once I was two miles from the trail head, I had the wilderness mostly to myself.

There is often snow through June in the bowl beneath the two Snow Mountain peaks.

Bruce
Thanks for the help. Obviously I'll call the FS but off the top of your head would you expect to be able to climb the mountain or most of it at this time of year or is there too much snow?
Jay
I was assuming the Lassan area would have a lot of snow but I'll check it out.

By the way it may be to early for it but do either of you know anything about the Trinity Alps?

I agree with the post that Lassen is much more interesting but higher and 123 inches right now at the South Entrance according to the web site, although Manzanita Lake is reported free of snow.

The snow collects in the bowl. Cannot say how much is there right now.
Bruce

I have been to the Trinity Alps several times over the years---There is some excellent hiking up there---There is still alot of snow in the Alps--Ken Thompson might chime in on the snow pack..Look in the trip reports under Trinity Alps...We had a BPL group up there this past October....

-Jay

PS Upper Mill Creek is in the foothills--no snow just wild flowers this time of year....

Edited by Creachen on 05/12/2010 23:02:38 MDT.

http://fs.usda.gov/wps/portal/fsinternet/!ut/p/c4/04_SB8K8xLLM9MSSzPy8xBz9CP0os3gDfxMDT8MwRydLA1cj72BTn0AjAwjQL8h2VAQAlanblA!!/?ss=110514&navtype=BROWSEBYSUBJECT&cid=FSE_003741&navid=110000000000000&pnavid=null&position=BROWSEBYSUBJECT&ttype=recmain&pname=Shasta-Trinity%20National%20Forest-%20Recreation


Use the link above and click on trail report

Edited by kthompson on 05/12/2010 23:20:49 MDT.

The last I read the Trinities had 170% of normal snow pack. This might be in the trail report Ken was referencing. The recent storms that came through Northern California had snow levels easily down to 3,000 feet. I suspect all the good trailheads are buried under snow. If snow is your thing then the Trinities will be a blast; otherwise we will have to wait a month or so.

Thanks yall sounds like I need to make some calls to the FS tomorrow. I'm leaning towards Snow Mountain just because its closer and maybe do the Trinity Alps or Lassen at a later date. I'll see if I can call though and find out.

I haven't been to either of these places, but I have done some research on the Yolla Bolly Wilderness just north of the Snow Mountain Wilderness.

In my opinion, the Yolla Bolly seems a little nicer. It's remote, I think it's about a 2 hour drive on fire roads to the trailhead.

I spoke to a ranger last week and the trailheads were covered in snow. But, since the elevations are low, it should melt pretty quick.

You might check it out.

Not sure about snow issues but in a recent NorCal redwood trip we did a quick over-nighter in the siskiyous and I was mightily impressed with the plant, geology, and topography variety found in the area (around Preston Peak--trailheads are off of 199 NW of crescent city). The rock was a variety of colors/minerals and quite different than the typical cascade 'lava' rock I'm use to. Then there are the trees, including some of the largest pine cones in the world (i think), I found it generally open like the east side of the cascades, which I appreciate. And the topography reminded me of the appalachians in size but with way more bare rock, open country, and cliffs than the majority of the appalachians (white mnts, main, areas of gsmnp withstanding)

not sure about snow there but it might be worth checking out. Klamath national forest. definitely not busy, no worry about people.

Thanks for all the ideas yall. I called the FS and ended up going to the Snow Mountain Wilderness. I did one day hike and than came back and did an overnighter. There was still a lot of snow above about 6000 feet but I found a perfect campsite and had a lot of fun. I'll try and post a trip report soon.
Thanks a lot.
Luke

Nice.......look forward to hearing more about that area....