The 395 and Owens Valley-Eastern Sierra Region

Sucks.

 

Yesterday I was in the Sequoia NF near Piute Mountain -- the sky was generally clear with the exception of around mid-day for two hours when there was light smoke.

 

Considering a trip up Patterson Peak next weekend.

I don't know smoke/road conditions at this point. Anyone have any tips/advice?

 

Check to be sure the area is open.

 

Yep, just a touch smokey in Independence this morning…

 

aaaaannndd it’s gone!

 

Nope. Still here. You must be confused. It's supposed to get REALLY bad Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Best to stay away. lol

 

Negative.

I know blue skies when I see ‘em!

 

It's pretty gray up on Crowley. But that's because it's gonna dump in an hour or two.

 

Yeah, I heard that too. Smoke is already moving back in.

 

Yeah, no. I jinxed it; can’t see the Inyo’s now…

 

Well it was clear in the high Sierras for a bit yesterday morning...

 

Can't comment on road conditions, as my attempts at Mt. Patterson this year have been thwarted for various reasons. So to be clear, I've literally never been there, and the following advice is probably useless. However, I scoured the internet earlier this summer, and from what I can tell, Mt. Patterson is accessible as a through route to skilled drivers in 4x4 highway vehicles such as Jeeps and Tacomas.

Regarding smoke, or weather in general, you will be able to make an informed decision, but probably not until the night before, and more realistically, on the morning of your adventure. The odds of avoiding smoke near the Sierras are somewhat low right now.

Perhaps the most useful weather forecasting tool I'm aware of is the High-Resolution Rapid Refresh model. It provides remarkably detailed (3 km resolution) forecasts of surface and atmospheric conditions, looking about half a day into the future. Importantly for us connoisseurs of high-mountain vistas and clear night skies, it includes effects of wildfire smoke, as well as cloud cover, fog, haze, and a bunch more that I don't even understand.

Another useful tool is satellite imagery. I particularly like MODIS imagery, accessible here. Remember, satellite imagery shows conditions in the past, not the future or even the present. But it can be really useful for visualizing how thick the smoke plumes are, and how much has collected in the valleys. At the moment, conditions around Mono Lake look pretty okay, at least compared to the past couple weeks. But the weather is changing, so who knows what will happen by this weekend.

As someone who has very limited time off from work to go exploring, here's my advice: be flexible in your destination. If you have an opportunity to hit the back country, plan out 2-3 vastly different destinations. Research each until you are truly excited to pursue any of them -- that way you can choose the most favorable based on real-time conditions and emerging forecasts. I do this with every trip, and although I am frequently disappointed, it is usually because of my poor driving skills or inability to operate my stupid camera, and not because of unexpected weather conditions.

Even then, things don't always work out. Yesterday, after doing all this research, I picked a mountain observatory in southern Arizona as my night's destination. Here's the view from the road closure at its base--as far as I got--with skies obscured by clouds several hours after they were predicted to clear.



Still had a ton of fun, and evidently, helped feed dozens of blood-sucking insects too.



I drove a hundred miles chasing those tantalizing patches of clear skies, never to find one overhead. Perhaps the clouds were in cahoots with the mosquitoes... both were always a step ahead.

 

Thanks for this, its been what I've been searching for. Now I can add smoke/haze to pre-trip weather research (temp, wind, rain, clouds). Spot on about being opportunistic about conditions, none of my trips are firm until the day before.

 

When I was planning my latest trip to Canada, I found that the Canadians have outdone us on the smoke forecasts. The good news is that their system covers all of North America, so we can use it as well. Forecasts a couple days into the future, and is remarkably accurate from my use over about 3 trips and ~15 days now.

 

Late night climbing research in the Habitat, complete with heater.

Bouldering and climbing the June Lake and Hartley Springs area this weekend. Holler if you want to join!

 

Way Lake is way better bouldering then June. The Bachar boulders which are also well worth a visit since your in that area.

 

There's a big Toyota group up in the White's right now. I can now watch from work on webcam others camping where there used to be privacy and not so many people.

Hope they don't trash it. There's no crapper up there. It could be a matter of time before BLM really enforces no camping up there because people can't be responsible outdoors.

Guess webcam coverage has a positive for keeping track in case something does happen.

 

i thought that was NFS not BLM, does looked like they are gathered around the campfire...if they are, i can't say from this distant view, they admit to being a group of clueless convoyers.
those are people who need education, and i'm well aware how the modern individual lacks in a strong traditional education...i have no hope for the future. a bunch of wedge campers...jeez

 

Yep enjoying a solostove type fire. I guess at least they aren't making new fire rings. I wasn't sure if it was BLM or NF. You're probably correct though- Inyo NF. It's gonna be a cold evening up there, forecast to be 36F.

According to this map they are in an area with fire restrictions.