Killer Sunset at The Sisters near Carson Pass
Lake Tahoe to Mount Whitney: Crown Jewel of the Pacific Crest Trail
Need a Map? Lost Al near Lost Keys Lake
Emigrant Wilderness under Tropical Thunderstorm, September.
Round Top Lake
Whitebarks and Grizzly Peak in Emigrant Wilderness under Tropical Clouds during September 2013
Lost Keys Lake
 

Lake Tahoe to Mount Whitney
Trail Guide, Magazine, & High Sierra Backpacker's Trails and Topics Forums


2018

HIGH SIERRA BACKPACKER'S
Calendar


INDEX

 

 

Important Seasonal Happenings, Transitions, Events & Dates
for
High Sierra Backpackers

 

 

EVERY SEASON INSTRUCTS US
What is happening, what could happen, what did happen?

 

Let's Observe
Good observers learn from past experience to anticipate the future and deal with the present.

Below follows a very narrow reflection of Nature's specific range of Characters and Behaviors across and along the High Sierra Crest
during
2018

 

SEND
GENERAL REPORTS

to
Hiker1@TahoetoWhitney.com

Or
POST
TRAIL INFORMATION

in the
HIGH SIERRA TRAILS FORUM

 

Road Conditions, Resupply, Seasonal Transition Concerns, Permit Dates, Weather, Water, and Mosquitoes

 
2018
High Sierra
News
Spring
of
2018
Winter
of
2018
2018
Natural
MELTDOWN
High Sierra
Backpacking
TOPICS
High Sierra
Backpacking
TRAILS
High Sierra
Backpacking
FITNESS
High Sierra
Backpacking
SKILLS

High Sierra
RESUPPLY
High Sierra
PERMITS
High Sierra
WEATHER
High Sierra
Trails
GUIDE
INDEX
High Sierra
Trails
MAPS
INDEX
High Sierra
Trails
MILES
INDEX
Download
FONT


2018
High Sierra Backpacker's Calendar
Index

January         February         March         April         May         June

July         August         September         October         November         December

 

 

2019 Calendar Index

2017 Calendar

 

The Calendar
of
Record

WHY
This calendar is designed for the four-season backpacker. This calendar anticipates important dates in the Sierra Nevada, from the beginning of Winter expectations of decreasing temps and increasing rains evolving into the fierce storms and hopefully deep snowpacks of Winter. Our calendar tracks the backpackers's year through the Spring Thaw into fine Summer conditions.

That's what this calendar is about, about information for proper gear selection and expectations for safety.

We look for the dates when changing conditions determine the density of our gear must increase from Summer into Fall, and finally Winter thickness gives way through the rising temps of Spring to the date we can finally begin stripping down to the thin Gear of Summer.

The points we transition to Fall and into Winter gear has been pushing later into each year just as Spring has started earlier and earlier over the past few decades.
The end result is that Winter has radically shortened.

This changes the dates when our trails and resupply spots open up, and when we can begin our long treks down the Sierra Crestline. It affects when we plan, pack, and send our resupply packages.

These changes up the odds for PCT hikers to finish in one longer and still lengthening Summer season.

But, these changes also up the odds for backpackers to get "caught-out" by unexpected "early" or "late" season" storms that in earlier times (ten-twenty years ago) would have been called, "normal."

Thus these calendars track the difference between "classic" Sierra seasonal conditions and the current conditions on the ground over as many years as I can watch the fun.

We will warn of the power of Nature as it's so beautifully expressed through Sierra Winters, profound Spring Thaws, & fierce Summer thunderstorms, while taking note of both its failures to produce expected precipitation, and the inevitable surprises such a complex system delivers.

We focus all this information on understanding how each year's specific character affects the openings and closing dates of the Sierra for PCT hikers, and everyone else.

 

2014 Calendar      2015 Calendar

2016 Calendar       2017 Calendar

 

2018 Calendar

2019 Calendar Index

If you have any interesting information, observations, or dates of note that should be on the calendar, let me know, and if they are pertinent to backpackers they go up.

Hiker1@TahoetoWhitney.com

Download
FONT

Last Year

 

Top of Page

2018
High Sierra Backpacker's Calendar

January
         February         March         April         May         June

July         August         September         October

         November         December

 

 

 

2014 Calendar          2015 Calendar

2016 Calendar       2017 Calendar

 

2018 Calendar index

2019 Calendar Index

 

Trailhead
 
Contact
Alex Wierbinski

 

top of page

Lake Tahoe to Mount Whitney

Your guide to backpacking the Sierra Crest, including the Tahoe to Yosemite, Pacific Crest, and John Muir Trails

top of page

© 2017 Lake Tahoe to Mount Whitney: Crown Jewel of the Pacific Crest Trail