Taking my Youngmens group to the Winds and need a snow report. Has anyone been up there lately? If so could you give me details on snow levels? We were planning on taking the Bears Ears trail into Valentine and Grave Lake areas, but have heard its still very snowy up high. Any info will be great!!! Thanks J
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[#484848]Call the Great Outdoor Shop in Pinedale Wyoming.[/#484848]
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Buggy to partly buggy with a chance of afternoon showers.
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Thanks are they good help? Thanks J
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Thanks Cindy, do you know if you can zoom in and see a less grainy close up? Thanks for posting that for me. We are hiking in, but likely only part way due to heavy snow pack. Did this trip a year ago and its incredible country and the fishing is outstanding as well. Got so tired of catching fish I actually let other guys borrow my fly rod for a while. I might have still had a spinning rod that I fished with in the mean time, but we caught a lot of fish and had a blast. Thanks for the info. J
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I wish!!
Those are about the best level that I know of for recent sat images. That was yesterdays. I am sure there are some out there somewhere, but I don't know where.
By carefully comparing between it and Google Earth, you can usually get a rough idea of where the main snow line is. I would plan some alternate stops and lakes lower down.
It does seem to be melting quickly. Looks like most of the ice is off many of the lakes even in the snow area. Hiking might be dangerous though.
Is your trip soon?
Do you go in through the reservation? Does that require any permits, guides etc, when your actual destination isn't in the res???
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[#484848]Yes ..... The number is 307-367-2440 ....... Ask for Rex, or stop by the store and get all the information and or maps that you will need.[/#484848]
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Thank you that will be great. J
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Out of curiosity I overlayed the image in Google Earth. Here is a close up of your area. It's still indistinct, but may give you more of an idea of the snow line. It looks to me like the snow line is around 10,000 to 10,500 in that area. That doesn't mean that there aren't SIGNIFICANT snow banks to hike over below that, and lakes may be frozen.
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Good to call the local shop.
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I missed your post yesterday, that is incredible that you can match those two fields together so you can tell what is going on, thank you so much that is great info... How did you learn how to do that? Anyway, I talked to an outfitter guide in the area that told us no way will we make the Bears Ears trail this early, so we decided to go back where we went last year at Middle Lake, which is around 10,000', from your map on your other post it looks like the snow will be gone in that area for camping and fishing... We are still kicking around hiking up that canyon past Cathedral lake and over the glacier to the Valentine Lake area, but that will be where the hiking danger kicks in big time... It is very steep and rocky and with a snow cover we aren't sure if that will make it easier or impossible... The boulder hoping was rough last year, but for me with poor tread on my hiking shoes the glacier was worse... However, for the rest of the group with good tread on their shoes the snow was much easier... but it was set up hard so you stayed on top and could move easily..
Anyway yes we do cross the reservation and it does require special permits, they call them fishing permits, but you have to have them even if you don't fish on the reservation. They cost $25 per day plus a $5 one time fee per year or trip I don't remember, but it ends up costing $55 for each adult to cross the reservation lands that takes about half an hour... Sort of a rip off, but this area is so incredible it is worth the crazy fee... Anyway thank you so much for your efforts putting those maps together that really helps me know what to expect... We will be going next week so it's very timely information... Thank you... J
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No problem on the pictures. It's actually quite easy. Just choose overlay in the "add" section and pick you picture. The little bit tricky part is lining up some reference points to get the overlay the right size and position. I put some pins on GE that I knew were visible spots in the sat picture.
You are wise to choose an area that is further down. Still might be a bunch of snow on north sides and under trees. Beautiful area though, and lots of places to explore without going to the top. Good luck on your outing. I would love to know how you do. PM if that is better. I don't get up to the high lakes as often as I used to. Or would like to!
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It's a good thing I get to work with the young men or I wouldn't make it up as much as I do, and I'd really miss it if I didn't get to go... Anyway I'll post up a story about the trip when we return... I'll try to take some better pictures because words don't cut it for a place like this... Might take a camera instead of the phone this trip so I hope that will make better pictures... Last year the Mack's were about 18-20" and the brookies ran as big as 16 -18" and they were fat as a Henry's Lake fish... I could hardly believe high mountain fish that were as big as these were, but since then I've seen lots of nice posts from the Uintas and Boulders that made these look average but at the time I was tickled with them...
This trail is mostly on the sunny side of the ridge so I'm thinking we should be okay for snow, but we may have some wet spots along the bottom of the canyon... I'm hoping the camp spots will be dry, but I'm afraid they might be a little wet this year so we might have to camp on a rock... Thanks again for the help, it's appreciated... Report later J
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