~9000 feet.

[hooknhunter]

In about 3 weeks, I'm heading out on a hunt where we will be crossing passes in excess of 8500 feet in elevation and perhaps even in excess of about 9000 feet to hunt some of our area. I've done this in late October and early to mid November a couple of times and had a lot of fun. We've killed a few deer, but nothing spectacular, for sure. However, it seems colder this year than in years past and I'm starting to become a bit concerned about how much snow there may be at those elevations. I'd hate to cross over a pass early in the hunt, and then not be able to get back out due to snow being too deep.

Has anyone been up in the Frank Church Wilderness (or anywhere else for that matter) in last few weeks where they may have been up that high? If so, what was the snow depth, temps, etc.

I've been looking at the fire imagery ([url "http://activefiremaps.fs.fed.us/imagery.php?op=fire&passID=196539"]http://activefiremaps.fs.fed.us/imagery.php?op=fire&passID=196539[/url]) and I can see that there is snow, but it is difficult to tell how much from a photo. Snow can go from a few inches deep to a few feet deep in a few hundred feet of elevation gain........

If you've been out, I'd sure be interested in hearing your reports.
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[cpierce]

Besides the sat maps, you can look at the snowtel sites for the areas close to there.


http://www.wcc.nrcs.usda.gov/snotel/Idaho/idaho.html

Also contact the ranger district or who ever has control of the road.
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[hooknhunter]

Good idea, and I checked it. In fact, I was looking at it when I got the email that you had replied to this post. []

The highest one I can find is 8780 at Galena Summit showing 1.3 inches (that is useful info). Do you see one higher that might be relevant? Or something closer to the Frank Church?

I see White Elephant is at 7710 and showing about 4 inches of snow, but that is a very long way from where I'll be.
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[cpierce]

I know that snow amounts are going to vary with different places, but it is good to keep an eye on the highway passes in the area too. Highway cameras are a good way to see what is going on at what elevation.

I also sometimes use the camera at places like Stanley to look at the mountains and see about how far down the snow line is. You can kind of tell in a vague way how heavy it is at some elevations by comparing what you see on the camera with points on Google earth.

[url "http://www.sawtoothcamera.com/"]http://www.sawtoothcamera.com/[/url]

There was a post in Utah about ice fishing on the Uinta pass lakes. Though it is cold enough for 3 inches (scary!) of ice, the roads didn't have that much snow. [url "http://www.bigfishtackle.com/cgi-bin/gforum/gforum.cgi?post=845888;forum_view=forum_view_collapsed;page=unread#unread"]http://www.bigfishtackle.com/...d;page=unread#unread[/url]



make that http://www.sawtoothcamera.com/fullsize.html
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[hooknhunter]

I also see Mill Creek. That info might be useful. I'll check out the links you added.

Thanks.
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[cpierce]

Unfortunately a lot of the Snowtel sites aren't up that high. Your best bet might be the ranger district if it is nat. forest roads.

Looking at the Stanley camera, the mountains shown are southwest of Stanley. Williams Peak is about 10500, the big dle to the right is at about 8500 ft..

It will be a real guessing game for you ... looks like there is going to be snow....but who knows how much, or how much will be in the road cuts. A shaded road in this cold can accumulate a fair amount.

You have some time between now and when you go. A lot could change ... good or bad. Backup plan?
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[hooknhunter]

Back up plan? What's that? []

Actually, the backup plan is to follow the river. It's much lower in elevation, but limits our travel routes and what we can hunt quite a bit.

Last time we hunted this hunt (2 years ago) we ranged from 4,400 to 9,600. At 9.6, the horses were belly deep in snow. We were out from Nov 6-12 on that trip. This time we are going out from the Nov 11-16th. I don't care about cold, it's mainly deep snow I'm concerned about.
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[cpierce]

Guessing from the Sawtooth camera, I don't think you have belly deep stuff yet. If we don't get much in the way of big storms, I would think you would be okay. I would keep checking the Stanley camera to get a feel for what the snow line is doing.

We considered going back to hunting this year, but the wolves have about destroyed the areas we used to go. [:/]

Good hunting!
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[hooknhunter]

[quote cpierce]We considered going back to hunting this year, but the wolves have about destroyed the areas we used to go. [:/]

Good hunting![/quote]

What are you talking about? Wolves "keep the eco-system in check", and "only kill the young and the weak animals". Right? .............Right? [shocked][angelic][mad][mad][mad][mad]
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[hooknhunter]

The current weather pattern isn't boding well for my hunt. Even the backup plan may not work. [:/][frown]
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[hooknhunter]

Thanks for you input. I guess if you can call a hunting trip without any harvest a success, then the hunt was a success. We didn't see even a single doe on the whole trip. I did call in a 5 pt bull to about 40 yards, just by whistling. [] That was pretty cool.

On the upside of the depressing hunting, fishing was pretty good. I caught a 17-18 inch bull trout (the best in size of about 10-12) and a number of cutts (I'd say about 10 or so, up to 16 inches) and a small brookie.

[cpierce]

Bummer on the hunt, but congratulations on the good lookin fish!

I am surprised that you made it up in there and back, with the weather we have been having.
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[Duck-Slayer]

A bad day of hunting/fishing is better than any day of work...... sounds like it was a success too me.....
Matt
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