JMT 2016 Snow Free Start Date

There is absolutely no way to know this far out when the JMT passes will be free of snow (or if they ever will be). Over the years it varies from never completely snow free all summer to snow free by June or July. Just no way to know. The amount of snow we have had by the end of December tells us nothing about the summer snow pack in the Sierra. I have seen years where it didn’t snow until late January and then it dumped through the end of March giving a higher than average snow pack. But generally, the best month is August or September. Mid to late August typically has the least snow and is after mosquito season. And the days are still pretty long in August; by September the amount of daylight hours starts to drop considerably. However, in drought years like the past couple, August and September can be pretty awful due to smoke from fires. For what it’s worth, I wouldn’t worry about the snow. As long as you don’t start in May or early June, it should be well boot-tracked so no crampons or ice axe required. Just arrange to be going over the steeper/snowier passes in the middle of the day when the snow is soft…. trekking poles are helpful.

billy

If you’ve done the snow thing and it didn’t suit you, OK. If you’ve never done the snow thing, give it a go — it’s not that bad especially with footprints to follow (of which there will be plenty). Your pictures will thank you.

Okay thanks for the feedback guys. I’m comfortable and have hiked over passes when crampons are not needed. So I think I will be aiming to get a permit starting June 20th.

How do you feel about skeeters and thunderstorms? Starting June 20 puts you in the prime time for both. Nice long days and lots of flowers usually , though. I’d be more inclined to start in August to be after the worst of the skeeters. In fact I’d say mid-august would be my top pick as fara sa weather and bugs go. If wanted to have more solitude  I’d start first week of September.

I hate em Paul.

But my priority 1 is to secure a permit and I don’t mind paying extra. So I’l going to start applying to permits early and see what I get. If I get a permit in for Jun 20th and a permit for mid august, then I’ll just cancel out on my June permit and be out 10 bucks. No problem.