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drv8535 Darrick
Joined: 06 Apr 2019 Posts: 19 | TRs | Pics Location: Spokane |
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drv8535
Darrick
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Thu Jul 25, 2019 4:57 pm
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Looking for experience/intel on this area in late fall. I live in Spokane and am fairly new to the area still. Most of my outdoor adventures have been in N Idaho. I have NEVER been to the Cascades. Read a couple trip reports of making a nice loop up Middle Fork Payasten River then east over a pass to Eureka Creek basin, then back down. I’m looking at November 1st for a 3 day trip probably. Is this area totally buried by then? Is it a crap shoot by that time, could be feet of snow or just really cold? I’m not opposed to some snow, but would prefer to not do all 30+ mi in snowshoes either. Any past experiences are appreciated!
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Bedivere Why Do Witches Burn?
Joined: 25 Jul 2008 Posts: 7464 | TRs | Pics Location: The Hermitage |
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Bedivere
Why Do Witches Burn?
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Thu Jul 25, 2019 8:25 pm
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First week of November will be a total crapshoot. There will almost certainly have been some snowfall at higher elevations by then, but whether there is just some patchy, thin snow here and there or a couple feet at key places cannot be predicted with any accuracy.
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texasbb Misplaced Texan
Joined: 30 Mar 2009 Posts: 1153 | TRs | Pics Location: Tri-Cities, WA |
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texasbb
Misplaced Texan
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Thu Jul 25, 2019 8:48 pm
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I've only been there once, in 2011, October 6-7. There was a bit of snow when I headed in, up to 3 or 4 inches deep in the higher spots. This was somewhere on the Boundary Trail:
It dropped another couple inches on me overnight, which scared me into bugging out early. I think I would have been fine, but I'm cautious once it's into October.
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drv8535 Darrick
Joined: 06 Apr 2019 Posts: 19 | TRs | Pics Location: Spokane |
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drv8535
Darrick
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Thu Jul 25, 2019 9:19 pm
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Noted, thanks🤙 Guess I could reach out to the forest service when it gets closer too
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drv8535 Darrick
Joined: 06 Apr 2019 Posts: 19 | TRs | Pics Location: Spokane |
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drv8535
Darrick
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Thu Jul 25, 2019 9:22 pm
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Texasbb, did you bring snowshoes or traction just in case, or were you mostly good in boots?
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RichP Member
Joined: 13 Jul 2006 Posts: 5634 | TRs | Pics Location: here |
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RichP
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Thu Jul 25, 2019 9:41 pm
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I've been up there in late Oct and it was snow-free. Nov is cutting it close though.
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wildernessed viewbagger
Joined: 31 Oct 2004 Posts: 9275 | TRs | Pics Location: Wenatchee |
We did a 3 day Eastern Pasayten Thruhike the end of October last year it was nice but up to a foot of snow on extreme North and West aspects, limited water, and short days had us limiting our itinerary so we could make our 15 mile / days.
Living in the Anthropocene
Living in the Anthropocene
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pcg Member
Joined: 09 Jun 2012 Posts: 334 | TRs | Pics
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pcg
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Fri Jul 26, 2019 7:52 am
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Snowed on me in Horseshoe Basin first week of October last year, but accumulation was less than an inch. I think considerably more fell a few days later. I agree 1st week of November would be a total crapshoot with bad odds if you are averse to snowshoes.
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texasbb Misplaced Texan
Joined: 30 Mar 2009 Posts: 1153 | TRs | Pics Location: Tri-Cities, WA |
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texasbb
Misplaced Texan
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Fri Jul 26, 2019 8:13 am
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drv8535 wrote: | Texasbb, did you bring snowshoes or traction just in case, or were you mostly good in boots? |
Just boots. The forecast said I'd have a window between a couple of systems, which would give me time to make the long traverse on the high plain, then have an easy bug-out option down one of the drainages if the second system got bad. The overnight snow came on one of the days that was supposed to be clear, so I ran.
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drv8535 Darrick
Joined: 06 Apr 2019 Posts: 19 | TRs | Pics Location: Spokane |
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drv8535
Darrick
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Fri Jul 26, 2019 2:40 pm
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Thanks everyone, sounds like maybe it might be too late/risky for this kind of trip. Either that or finally invest in a decent pair of snowshoes🙃
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Randito Snarky Member
Joined: 27 Jul 2008 Posts: 9513 | TRs | Pics Location: Bellevue at the moment. |
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Randito
Snarky Member
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Fri Jul 26, 2019 3:07 pm
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drv8535 wrote: | Either that or finally invest in a decent pair of snowshoes |
IME as a skier that is a bit snow starved at that time of year -- early season snows make travel much more difficult and having skis or snowshoes is less helpful than it is later in season.
Until there have been several storms, the snow isn't compacted enough to support weigh, so skis or snowshoes sink in almost as much as in boots. It's easy to get off trail and then tangled up in brush and tree branch debris that are hidden by the snow -- but not covered enough to be flattened out.
Jamie Moore wrote: | November is the Cruelest Month
November is the cruelest month
Reminiscence forced of things far gone and
Bitter foreshadowing of what is to come
The leaves have lived up to their name
The trees, a shell of what they once were
The grass clings to its last hope
The temperature makes its empty threats
The beauty of Autumn deteriorates
She is haughty and cruel
We were strung along for so long
But like all good things
Her presence is too fleeting
We try to rationalize her departure
We didn’t need her anyway
Her sister is far more beautiful
Autumn was never committed
We will look for someone else
What luck!
Her sister is coming
Her name is winter!
But alas, how could we love
Someone so bitter and cold?
November is the cruelest month
Joy is attacked in a dark alley
Melancholia does the mugging
Bitterness steals the Hope
November tears apart the heart
With a ruthlessness unseen
In any other month.
The days are soon so short and cold
The landscape is so barren
There is a hint of snow
But it is more like rain
It is so unfortunate to see
Nature’s beauty going all to waste
The thirtieth is here
Judgement Day has arrived
It is only possible to conclude
July was great if too hot indeed
January hard but nearer the end
September its usual lovely self
One month stands alone in its horror
November is the cruelest month |
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Bedivere Why Do Witches Burn?
Joined: 25 Jul 2008 Posts: 7464 | TRs | Pics Location: The Hermitage |
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Bedivere
Why Do Witches Burn?
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Sat Jul 27, 2019 5:05 pm
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Well, again, it's a total crapshoot and no one can say what it will be like.
We could have a warm, dry fall and there might be little to no snow at all at that point, or we could have a couple feet up there by then. At that particular time we might have a big high pressure bubble over us and the weather might be fantastic, or it could be stormy, or it could be just unsettled and showery. It's truly impossible to say 'til we get right up to the dates you're talking about. Early November is just really hard to predict.
I'd do a trip into the Pasayten in early November *if* conditions were favorable - little to no snow on the ground and a bulletproof forecast. But, I'd wait right up until the day I wanted to leave to make the decision as the weather is just too variable at that time of year.
As Randy said, the early season snow isn't consolidated and won't bear weight. All it does is obscure the ground and force you to use twice as much effort to go anywhere, all while risking postholing into a gap between rocks or logs and injuring yourself. I definitely would not go if there was snow or any chance of snowfall.
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kiliki Member
Joined: 07 Apr 2003 Posts: 2326 | TRs | Pics Location: Seattle |
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kiliki
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Mon Jul 29, 2019 11:45 am
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Be sure to check hunting seasons (Pasayten is popular with hunters but not sure how long they are out there). Sorry if you are used to living/hiking in northerly latitudes but since you mentioned you were new to WA, be sure to look at daylight hours and be sure you are up for that much time in the dark.
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