Bogley

tapehoser · Joined: 23 Aug 2005 Posts: 74 Location: Salt Lake Valley

I am planning a hike with some scouts on June 13 to Lake Blanche. The earliest I have ever been to Blanche was mid-July and there were still little patches of snow around.

Is June 13 too early? Will there still be too much snow up there?

Man, I wish someone could post a web trailcam up there or something!

Thanks...

Wasatch · Joined: 08 Mar 2005 Posts: 387 Location: Layton, UT

The earliest I've gone up there was mid April, still some snow, and made it to the lake. With all the snow this year, maybe it might be in the conditions I went up, around May/June, hard to tell. You still should get to around the steep climb up part or to the big boulder, or start of the Aspens, or rock field, lol Have fun.

shaggy125 · Posted: Sun Mar 16, 2008 3:46 am Post subject:

I've been all times of the year, mid winter, mid summer, spring, and fall. Snowshoers and hikers head up there all the time, unless it is storming, you can almost gurantee the trail will have been blazed by plenty of people to pack it down and make it easy to follow. I've never worn snowshoes when I've gone, although sometimes in winter there would be ice on the trail and that would kind of suck to walk on in regualr shoes. Will there be snow at the lake in June? Maybe, but you shouldn't have trouble getting up there, it's too popular of a trail.

stefan · Joined: 09 Jan 2006 Posts: 3836 Location: somewhere

tapehoser wrote: I am planning a hike with some scouts on June 13 to Lake Blanche. The earliest I have ever been to Blanche was mid-July and there were still little patches of snow around.

Is June 13 too early? Will there still be too much snow up there?

:lol8: i have to say it's amusing that you are asking this question THIS particular year. currently in the central wasatch the snow level is very high, and this is the biggest snow year in well over a decade.

i keep snow numbers at alta which i have posted on this thread (these are snowfall totals, i don't indicate "the base"):
http://bogley.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=5044

as far as base: avg. march is 124", alta's currently at 161"

now i'll tell you this, 2004-2005 was a mighty snow year too (2007-2008's currently beating it).

i was backcountry skiing with EASE throughout the month of june 2005 above 8500'. i decided to quit on july 3 because there were more and more patches of dirt/rock i had to walk across, but there was still a considerable amount of snow everywhere.

so there are two factors, how much snow accumulates (and contribute to the base) and how quickly it melts. the latter of course depends on the temperatures, primarily in may and june.

if i had to venture a guess, there is still going to be a ton of snow this particular year when you are interested in going. last year was the opposite of this year, unfortunately.

hope this helps

The Dude · Joined: 03 Oct 2006 Posts: 23 Location: Salt Lake City

My wife and I went on June 5th in 2005. The trail was VERY dry/clear up until a few hundred yards of the lake. From there, there was snow and even somewhat deep snow. However, once we got to the lake, the surrounding rock area was un-covered and made for a nice area to eat lunch.

My guess is that there will be a little more snow there this year than there was then (being that this is one heavy snow year).

stefan · Joined: 09 Jan 2006 Posts: 3836 Location: somewhere

The Dude wrote: My wife and I went on June 5th in 2005. The trail was VERY dry/clear up until a few hundred yards of the lake. From there, there was snow and even somewhat deep snow. However, once we got to the lake, the surrounding rock area was un-covered and made for a nice area to eat lunch.

My guess is that there will be a little more snow there this year than there was then (being that this is one heavy snow year).

ahh ... good information there Dude! it certainly helps that the area is quite exposed to sunlight. although north facing, the benches the lakes sit on extend out a ways from the high peaks above.

thanks for posting