Saline Valley Road

[gxceb0t]

The park service says the saline valley road is closed to to recent storm, cutting off Lippincott pass road to racetrack playa.  Has anybody been through there this week?  Wondering how bad it really is.

[TacoLand]

DVNP says the road is closed and you're wondering how bad it really is?

Well ... how good are you in the backcountry when it comes to problem solving & driving? Pry bar? Winch? Chains? Straps? What are we working with, here?

Saline Preservation Association forum reporting they're doing a cat and mouse game right now with rockslides. Apparently they got it cleared on Thursday (1/12) only to have a new rockslide close it again Friday morning (1/13).

I'm guessing it's a sloppy mess and if I tried to head in via South Pass I would do so expecting to spend an entire day trying to get through, only to ultimately be defeated and turn around so as not to be disappointed. Based upon previous experiences I'd venture the North Pass is even worse. It (almost) always is.

[DAW89446]

North Pass has required all four tires on a 4x4 chained up for at least one vehicle. Boulders blocking the road on South Pass. Keep an eye on https://forum.salinepreservation.org/ for 1st person travel reports.

[Beardilocks]

Agree with the rest here. From what I’m hearing from ppl coming out there have been repeated rockslides for almost a week on South Pass. The heavy rain this summer really loosened everything up.

North pass is absolutely chains/winch/don’t ride alone right now.

Weather isn’t getting better either. It’s rained all bloody day today in the southern end of the park and will again on Monday/Tuesday.

[MojaveGeek]

Weather isn’t getting better either. It’s rained all bloody day today in the southern end of the park and will again on Monday/Tuesday.

Have you gotten any sense of where the snow line is? I've been wondering how much of the CA rain has gotten over the Sierra. A friend who lives above Monterey says he has gotten 30 inches year to date!

[Beardilocks]

I’ve heard similar snow reports from the Sierras. I haven’t been up high enough to properly gauge where the snow line is. It’s cold enough at lower elevations this winter. Lol. But the Panamints are snowier than I’ve seen them in the last 5yrs.

[DAW89446]

Have you gotten any sense of where the snow line is?  I've been wondering how much of the CA rain has gotten over the Sierra.  A friend who lives above Monterey says he has gotten 30 inches year to date!

Earlier today Caltrans was requiring chains on US395 from seven miles south of Big Pine north to the Nevada state line.

The web cameras at  ALERTCalifornia - Home for the Owens Valley were showing snow down to about 6,500-7,000 in the Inyo Range in the Lone Pine and Cerro Gordo area. The cameras in the  White Mountains were coated in ice and fog so the valley was invisible. The Great Basin Unified Air Pollution Control District cameras have been dark for some reason.

The Inyo Register is reporting well above average for precipitation in the entire Eastern Sierra region and the Owens Valley floor.

[DAW89446]

Here's a screen capture of the Cerro Gordo #1 camera at 1:41 this afternoon.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1od4xjDR...sp=sharing

[MojaveGeek]

Thanks, DAW, those are great resources!

[DAW89446]

Here's the Alert Wildfire cameras for Nevada, parts of California and other states in the West.

Axis-NOAA | Greater Tahoe | Regions | ALERT Wildfire

With these cameras - some static and some rotating - you can have a playback of up to 12 hours. Super resolution and night vision, even the stars in the sky in great detail.