July Weather

[windyscotty]

Everything changed overnight and it rained hard in Bishop Creek Canyon. The roads were wet this morning and had a lot of runoff. There was thunder and lightning, hail and blown down trees. Storm is continuing as we speak and raining in Bishop right now.

[Paradise Guy]

Great. That means all my plants and trees are getting a good watering

[windyscotty]

Back to perfect weather immediately and the mountains are refreshed after the storm. That came at just the right time. Somebody upstairs knows when his plants have to be watered.

Yet, it is a thirsty world we live in and the plants cry out for more. The people cry out, too!

More, we want more action-Jackson!

[windyscotty]

I have never seen such a primo year for hikers in the backcountry. One storm since the season began and pretty much perfect every single day right up to today. And I mean perfect! Heaven on Earth.

I encountered some big smiles on the Tyee Tr. today but the best moment was when I came upon a gentleman silently walking along who looked no more than 70. We stopped to chat, and I learned that he is John Wedberg, the father of mountain climber, Kurt. It was great fun talking to him, and I was blown away when he told me he will be 84.

He had even tripped and fallen banging up his knee. It was a nasty cut, but he did not let it stop him from going fishing up the hill. He was so proud of his son having climbed Everest recently and his mountain guide service.

This guy inspired me to keep on truckin' no matter what. Another cool thing about John is that he is a Jazz Show Host on Sierra Wave radio every Sat. night.

Happy trails!

[Spirit Tree]

FYI The low in TOML was aprox. same as SB.

Record Report
Statement as of 6:11 PM PDT on July 27, 2012

... Record low temperature set at Santa Barbara Airport CA...

a record low temperature of 48 degrees was set at Santa Barbara
Airport CA today. This breaks the old record of 49 set in 2010.

[windyscotty]

Another winner day. The backpackers have to be stoked! There are a lot of them out there, too. The parking lots are filled and the traffic is real bad. I won't even go to North Lake again until after Labor Day. It is insane with guys going real fast on that narrow road. They don't even react when they cause a near collision. It is just straight ahead and screw the other guy! More than a few of those guys are locals.

It is this time of year when I avoid the main trailheads altogether and divert to cross country. Kind of like trying to avoid the ski areas at Christmas time.

Summer is on the wane now, and every step you take is numbered. Don't waste one step.

[SlashTurn]

^Thanks for the updates. Any chance you've been up pine creek lately? Im going up to Royce/french lakes next week and was curious how dry it is and skeeter levels.

[windyscotty]

I would say that Pine Creek is real hot and super dry like everywhere else. That means you want to get an early morning or late afternoon start. We have only had one storm with isolated rain and super strong tree blowdown winds.

You just have to be prepared for any action. For now it couldn't be nicer. Sometimes the Pine Creek trailhead parking area can go zoo on you, but it is like that everywhere right now.

I can't think of a more outstanding area to pack into than Pine Creek. I have been over Italy Pass before and all the way down to the other side. After a rain the Hilgaard Branch was gleaming in the sun. Very exciting! Have fun!

[windyscotty]

Muy perfecto! Come on Cheaps, let's fire it up!

When was there ever a season of more perfect days in the backcountry than this?