Enjoying the Snow in So. Calif

“Yesterday afternoon, I headed up the South Fork Trail to Dry Lake in the San Gorgonio Wilderness of Southern California. It was a beautiful day. Not much snow until South Fork Meadows. After that I put my snowshoes on and headed up the wash to Dry Lake (I probably didn't need the snowshoes to get to Dry Lake, but I was tired carrying them). Dry Lake was covered with snow and and so were the surrounding hills and mountains. When the moon came out last night and the lake glowed in the dark.

This morning I woke up to a cold wind, so I put ,fleece layers and my snowshoes before headed over to Lodgepole Springs (covered with snow). From there, I went up the hill between Lake Peak and Mineshaft Saddle and came to a saddle between Lake and Mineshaft Flat. I then headed up to the 10,056 ft peak NE of Mineshaft Saddle to check out the view. After that I went down toward the saddle and headed up the hill west of Mineshaft Saddle. I got tired at about 10,400 feet and traversed some more to the west before heading down. While going down I decided that I wanted to go back the way I came, so I went back up to Mineshaft Saddle and down to the east of peak 10,056. I was really glad to have my snowshoes up above 9,000 feet. The snow above Dry Lake is deep, but there is a layer of ice under the fresh snow, so you have to be really careful - especially around the trees.

There were a lot more tracks in the new snow on my way out and lot's of slush - might make for icy conditions when it freezes.

Here are my pictures:

http://community.webshots.com/album/63879074UJmtsY”

“Now that is where I want to go snowshoe backpacking!

Very cool pictures.

8)”

“Wingding's Pictures”

“This one was my favorite:


Really enjoyed your photos once again. Thanks for posting them.”

“Webshots. LOL.

”

“Great pics! I guess you were all alone up there. You really get around on those snow shoes.

Looking forward to getting up there soon. I hope Lodgepole Spring comes back this year (not very optimistic, however).”

“Nice pics. One of these days I will have to do an overnighter in the snow.”

“Very nice WingDing, and you did it solo. Way to go!”

“Wingding, very nice indeed. I'm heading out tomorrow morning for a day on the 'shoes and an opportunity to play with the new Nikon Coolpix 5000 that Santa brought. Can't wait to get outta Dodge.”

“It was really beautiful up there, and it looks like there might be water in Dry Lake when the snow melts.

I did go up there alone. When I arrived at Dry Lake, there were two other people already there. They headed down in the morning. I didn't see anyone up higher, but I did hear people at one point. On the way out, I met a guy coming down from the Dollar Lake area. He did Charleston Peak. I'm going to head back up again soon and camp at Dollar Lake, then do Charleston Peak like he did. He did it as a long day hike, so that's an option too.

Thanks for checking out my pictures - I really enjoy sharing them.”