First snow of the year in Yosemite’s Clark Range

The snow started around 8PM on Friday. Two inches of graupel left everything frosted in a fine layer of white.

That's our pass in the top right.

Climbing up to Triple Peak Pass on the cross-country portion of our trek.

There were snow flurries on and off all day.

We got a brief patch of blue sky on the climb up to Fernandez Pass.

Then round two on Saturday night… this time, about 4" of fluffy powder. James' Hexamid did an admirable job of keeping him dry despite the weather.

My Trailstar held up just fine too.

Coffee & shortbread cookies for breakfast, cooked under the tarp. The snow continued throughout the morning.

Despite the temptation to hide out under our tarps all morning, we eventually headed out into the white. The clouds socked everything in for the rest of the day.

Upper Chain Lake was beautiful with a fresh coat of snow.

The long drive out on a soaked and muddy Beasore Road in my Camry was no fun, but a hot coffee and the chips & salsa at El Cid's made up for it. Overall it was an awesome weekend and a nice way to cap off a summer full of adventures. Time to dust off the fall/winter gear.

Ah man, that looks nice. Bummed I missed this one. It stormed in the bay area while you were gone.
I'm curious, would you/did you carry microspikes on a shoulder trip like this?

Some beautiful scenery, there! Would love to have some of that snow around here.

Man, do you really pack a hatchet on your backpacking trips? Is it an ultralight hatchet? grin

Great photos and all, BTW.

Sorry you couldn't make it Justin. Seems like everybody is out of vacation time or otherwise indisposed this time of year. Plenty of time left yet for shoulder season trips.

No on the micro spikes. Fresh snow has good traction, it's the compressed older snow you have to worry about.

Paul, the hatchet was a bit of an indulgence and more for fun than necessity… It would have come in handy if we had a fire the second night when everything was wet, but we just got in our tarps and went to bed instead. No live or standing trees were hurt in the production of this trip report. The axe only got used for limbing and splitting a small lodge pole that had gotten blown over in a windstorm.

Andrew, hatchets are great and very effective but I've been finding a folding saw + large fixed blade to be a more weight efficient option for wood processing for backpacking. It's also a simpler to use which is nice when you are tired or cold. Also, you can baton wood in the dark safely while swinging a hatchet in the dark can be risky.

A laplander + a larger fixed blade can get you good capability while keeping it under a pound. Longer/thinner blades are the way to go over short/thick blades.

Looks like fun trip, I'm jealous. James really likes to push the limits of that Hexamid!

Now hopefully there's a lot more snow coming this winter.

"Looks like fun trip, I'm jealous. James really likes to push the limits of that Hexamid!

Now hopefully there's a lot more snow coming this winter."

+1 to both statements. What a great way to start the fall season. My wife finally clamped down on me, so all I can do now is live vicariously thru great TR's like this.

Thanks for posting, Andrew. You guys really got your money's worth on this one.

Very cool–thanks for sharing. Looks like a fun trip. A bit of weather to spice things up, but it's snow–so it's fun.

I'll be Hexamid'ing this coming weekend in SEKI…Forecast looks great, but here's to hoping I push it no more than James did.

Looks awesome! Always wanted to get up in the area. What did you guys do to keep your feet dry while tromping through that snow?

I used bread bags over warm wool socks. James just wore two pairs of socks and let his feet get wet. It wasn't actually that cold, 35-40F, so that worked fine despite a lot of slush.

That's some beautiful scenery! Thanks Andrew. I have been wanting to get back out there and this is a welcome substitute. It looks like you made it through the snow just fine. I appreciate the photos of your shelters, too. Being able to cook in your Trailstar in the snow must be nice.

Awesome pics Anthony!

I just came home from Yosemite. There is still a bit of this new snow lingering in the shaded areas. Mount Gibbs still showed it on the north side, and Mount Dana even more on the north side. It is getting chilly at night.

–B.G.–