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San Diego Six-Pack hikes next weekend — weather concerns
Hey everyone, I’ve started the San Diego Six-Pack by adding weekends onto my regular work trips to LA, and did Volcan Peak last month without a problem. I’m slated to do Cuyamaca and Corte Madera next weekend (March 5-6) but everyone I know in LA is currently freaking out about the weather. I’m seeing that over the course of this weekend (e.g. a week before my trip) there is forecast to be 1-2 feet of snow above 4500 feet, but that there will be temps in the upper 40s and lower 50s next week (looking at the forecast for Julian) so presumably a lot of it could melt.
None of the elevation is above about 7500 feet, and I am from the Northeast and familiar with hiking in snow, including whiteout conditions. The taller of the peaks (Cuyamaca) has a fire road to the top that I could presumably hike on if the rest of the trail is too slippery. I’m planning to pack spikes and poles, as well as colder weather gear than I would wear otherwise. <font face=”inherit”>Should I pack my snowshoes? Any concerns that it just </font>won’t<font face=”inherit”> be safe? </font>
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4 Replies
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Hey Caroline! Wow! You picked a heckuva time to hit Cuyamaca. Yes, it’s getting a lot of snow. I don’t think snowshoes will be required on March 4th. The utility access road is paved and in addition to being boring, could be slick after multiple thaw/freeze cycles, so micro spikes might be handy.
I’ve attached the 10-day forecast for Cuyamaca Peak from Opensnow. Keep an eye on things over the next week.
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Caroline, the road to there will probably have snow too and the road is curved and a one lane road. When we did it, it snowed all the way there and we used microspikes to hike. If you can wait, I would wait unless you like snow hiking.
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Thanks everyone! I’m more than fine with snow hiking, being from the Northeast and all. Right now the variable is whether my camping reservation (it’s a glamping setup near El Cajon) is going to fall through because of snow or cold weather. In which case I guess I’ll just go ski at Big Bear instead, lol.
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Hey all, wanted to provide an update. I’m going to avoid Cuyamaca on this trip because of concerns not only about the snow but also about the condition of the road getting to the trailhead. I upped my rental car to an SUV but still…
Good news is, I hadn’t even noticed there’s an alternate peak in the San Diego Six-Pack, so I’ll do Woodson instead, keep my plan to do Corte Madera the next day, and keep the whole trip under 5000′.
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