Bah humbug!

For only the second time in the last 20 years Duluth MN and the North Shore (SHT) has no snow to speak of.

I'm trying to find areas within a couple hours drive of Duluth that has enough snow that I need to break out my snowshoes. I'm thinking the U.P. may have some but I have no idea.

How about it all you BPL'ers that are in my area, any snow worthy of a winter backpacking trip near you?

Chad, I'm currently en route to the porkies. Yay iPhone. I'll let you know what the snow is like when I get back.

Try heading a little north and east?

Well north and east of Duluth IS the North Shore. :P

Sadly the map you linked is optimistic of the snow it's showing. I wish the North Shore had 8-20 inches of snow! As it stands right now we have 1-2 inches of snow north of Grand Marrais. The rest of the North Shore and the SHT has nothing. :/

Edited by chadnsc on 12/27/2011 17:25:55 MST.

I really wanted to believe the map. :(

I know, I did too. Dang weather people, always deceiving us. ;)

Yippie! We got snow on the North Shore and the SHT! Sure it's only 2-3 inches but at this point I'm not going to complain!

Say Travis how was your trip and more importantly how was the snow?

Hey Chad,
I just got back yesterday from the Northwoods.

The Porkies were beautiful! We hiked in on the evening of the 27th from Presque Isle. We took the Lake Superior Trail up to Big Carp, then the Cross Trail over to Greenstone Falls. We ended by hiking the Little Carp River Trail back to the Lake Superior Trail and back to Presque Isle on the 29th. We then spent the next few nights at my parent's cabin up in the Chequemagon NF.

As of then, there was hardly any snow. Flurries came down early morning of the 29th, but not a lot. We woke up on the first of the year to about 4-5 inches of new snow.

Edited by T.L. on 01/02/2012 11:14:45 MST.

Glad to hear you had a good trip Travis!

Thanks for the update on the snow as well!

I'm thinking that a trip to the UP is in order so we can play in the snow. Would you be interested?

We have good snow in the Spring Mountains that form the northwestern rim of the Las Vegas valley. Max altitude (Mt. Charleston) 11,990 ft. Notta too bad...

You know if I'm going to drive in that direction I wouldn't waste my time in Vegas. Now Glacier or Yellowstone . . . .

Chad,
Interested, yes! Available....well that's another matter. Part of the reason why I don't get out too often are my busy weekends. Keep me in the loop though. Maybe something will work out.

Well Travis if your weekdays work better for a trip I can swing that too. I'll keep you in the loop as I figure some things out. I'll probably start another thread in in the winter forums for a UP and BWCA trip this winter.