{"id":24644,"date":"2019-06-01T17:04:00","date_gmt":"2019-06-01T23:04:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.summitdaily.com\/news\/statewide-snowpack-at-517-of-normal-hikers-may-not-enjoy-dry-trails-until-july\/"},"modified":"2019-06-01T17:04:00","modified_gmt":"2019-06-01T23:04:00","slug":"statewide-snowpack-at-517-of-normal-hikers-may-not-enjoy-dry-trails-until-july","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kift\/local-news\/statewide-snowpack-at-517-of-normal-hikers-may-not-enjoy-dry-trails-until-july\/","title":{"rendered":"Statewide snowpack at 517% of normal; hikers may not enjoy dry trails until July"},"content":{"rendered":"
Members of the Summit County Rescue Group atop the approach to Quandary Peak during the rescue of stranded hikers, May 2017. This year’s incredible snowpack means Quandary may not be hikeable until August.<\/strong>
Helen Rowe \/ Courtesy of Summit County Rescue Group<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Summit County said hello to June on Saturday, but not quite yet to summer. The enormous snowpack left over from an historic winter has yet to melt off, leaving higher elevation trails in the area \u2013 especially 14ers \u2013 mostly inaccessible until later in the summer. Quandary Peak, the only 14er within Summit County proper and one of the most popular in the state, may not even be accessible until August.<\/p>\n

According to the latest data from the National Resources Conservation Service, as of June 1 the snow-water equivalent across Colorado is 517% of normal. In Summit County and the rest of the Upper Colorado headwaters, snowpack is at 410% of normal. In the southwest corner of the state, which had been experiencing extreme or exceptional drought for most of last year, snowpack is at an astonishing 786% of normal.<\/p>\n

While most of the snow on the ground is starting to disappear, colder temperatures at higher elevations and continuous moisture mean that it\u2019s still snowing in parts of the Rockies.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe continue to be building snow as opposed to losing snow at higher elevations,\u201d said Summit County Open Space & Trails director Brian Lorch. \u201cNormally, we\u2019d be losing snow at those elevations by now.\u201d<\/p>\n

Near the top of many of the state\u2019s 14ers, conditions remain relatively unchanged as far as snow. Based on historical snowpack data from the early 80s onward, that snowpack is not expected to start melting off until mid- to late July.<\/p>\n

Because on the late season snow and cold temperatures, Michael Connolly, executive director of the Friends of the Dillon Ranger District, predicted that Quandary Peak would not be generally accessible until August. The current conditions appear to support that prediction.<\/p>\n

According to recent reports from hikers going up to Quandary, available at 14er enthusiast website 14ers.com, there\u2019s still enough snow on the ground to make the ascent near impassable without proper gear.<\/p>\n

Weather conditions are also perilous. Users on 14ers.com reported seeing \u201cwind gusts around 50 mph once clear of tree line,\u201d and said that the descent was difficult without snowshoes due to post-holing, but manageable.<\/p>\n

Ground conditions are even worse at Gray\u2019s and Torrey\u2019s with trail users seeing the road to the summer trailhead buried under snow and debris, and impassable until it was cleared.<\/p>\n

Saturday was the American Hiking Society\u2019s National Trails Day. Connolly said that while conditions on Summit\u2019s trails are still too poor to enjoy right now, it was still important to recognize how important the trail and recreation path system is to Summit.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe trails are one of the lifeblood of the community,\u201d Connolly said. \u201cPeople bike \u2019em, hike \u2018em, walk \u2019em, run on \u2019em. It\u2019s very important to recognize trails on National Trails Day, and to implement best practices on the trails so they can be sustained for future generations.\u201d<\/p>\n

FDRD will formally observe trails day and officially kick off the hiking season next Saturday, June 8, with a volunteer trail work project at the Salt Lick trail system in Wildernest. Prospective volunteers can sign up at FDRD.org.<\/p>\n

Hikers are reminded that using muddy trails causes damage, and Lorch urged hikers to hold off using them until they dry out. Connolly said that if hikers must use a muddy section of a trail, go straight through and do not attempt to go around the section, as that creates new disturbance around the trail and diminishes the wilderness they cut through.<\/p>\n

via:: Summit Daily<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Members of the Summit County Rescue Group atop the approach to Quandary Peak during the rescue of stranded hikers, May 2017. This year’s incredible snowpack means Quandary may not be hikeable until August.Helen Rowe \/ Courtesy of Summit County Rescue Group Summit County said hello to June on Saturday, but not quite yet to summer. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[97],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-24644","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-local-news"},"acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-06-11 10:40:14","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"KIFT - The LIFT FM","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kift","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kift\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24644","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kift\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kift\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kift\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kift\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=24644"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kift\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24644\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kift\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=24644"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kift\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=24644"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kift\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=24644"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}