Huge Sierra snowpack throws frozen wrench into campers' plans

Emily and Jeremy Cross from Scotts Valley are planning to travel with their two boys to a family reunion in July at a Sierra Nevada campground. But a big, frozen question hangs over the trip: Will California's near-record snowpack melt in time?

"We’re just going to keep an eye out — we’ll probably call the ranger station and find out updates on what is the status of the snowpack," said Emily Cross, 43, who homeschools her two sons, 6 and 8, while Jeremy teaches elementary school in the South Bay.

Persistent snow around the planned reunion site at Clark Fork south of Lake Tahoe and in the backpacking paradise of Emigrant Wilderness nearby, where the family intends to go after the gathering, could mean a pivot to a Mendocino County coastal getaway and hiking in the Lost Coast south of Eureka, Cross said.

California State Parks’ acting superintendent for the Sierra District, Scott Elliott, who has spent 18 years with the department, said, "I’ve certainly never seen a snowpack this high this late."

While a "Big Melt" is expected to liquefy the massive amounts of Sierra snow, its timing is uncertain, and campers across California are having to weigh their spring and summer options and decide whether to stick with their plans or make new ones. Meanwhile, there's a Big Squeeze underway, with Californians pushed to the coast to camp because their favored mountain playgrounds are unreachable.

At New Brighton State Beach just down the coast from Santa Cruz, Joe Bonander and Susan Kolnes, of Turlock, were RV camping last week on a bluff above the ocean after getting diverted from their usual spring destination in the eastern Sierra for the opening of trout season. "We don't know when we’re going to get in there," said Bonander, 65, retired from sales work in agricultural solar power. "We’re not going to go in there unless the campgrounds are open."

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Chuck Heron, a Silicon Valley computer engineer from Ben Lomond, had been worried about wildfire wrecking his annual camping trip to a fire lookout near Mount Shasta with a group of friends — as happened before — so he decided this year he’d book it for earlier, in June. Now, instead of flames and smoke, it is heavy snow scuttling the trip. "I just got a cancellation notice," said Heron, 57, who has delayed the excursion until October and changed the location to a lookout north of Clear Lake.

Mark Brennecke, another Turlock resident frozen out of the first days of trout season, was camped down the coast from Bonander and Kolnes at Sunset State Beach. He said he’d booked a cabin in his usual Sierra spot for an early June trip with his daughter and her family. He was debating whether to cancel, as a big runoff from the coming Big Melt would likely make rivers too rough for good fishing and close many trails to hiking, he said. But now the resort is reporting that it may not open until the end of June. "It's just one of those years," said Brennecke, 68, a retired hydroelectric engineer. "It's terrible."

Heavier snow at higher elevations means later access for camping — an insurmountable problem at Camp Wamp, which runs four week-long summer camps for physically disabled children near Soda Springs, at nearly 7,000 feet of elevation. "We did have to unfortunately cancel our camp for the summer," said the camp's assistant director Alejandra Bruyere. "We just weren't going to be able to get the camp ready to open up this summer."

The Stephen J. Wampler foundation was planning to bring about 100 kids to the camp this summer from all over the U.S., for kayaking, swimming, fishing, rock climbing, wilderness adventure and nature education. But a visit by snowmobile a month ago revealed buildings snowed in to their roofs, and the camp isn't expected to be accessible by vehicle until July 4, Bruyere said. "It's been really sad. We’re definitely crossing our fingers that next winter will kind of calm down a little bit," she said.

Chuck and Cayenne Heron of Ben Lomond talk about their camping plans for this year on May 9, 2023, while staying at the Sunset State Beach campground in Watsonville, Calif. (Dai Sugano/Bay Area News Group)

Joe Bonander of Turlock talks about his family camping plans for this year on May 9, 2023, while staying at the New Brighton State Beach campground in Capitola, Calif. (Dai Sugano/Bay Area News Group)

RVs and cars are parked at the Sunset State Beach campground in Watsonville, Calif., on May 9, 2023. (Dai Sugano/Bay Area News Group)

Campers ride bycicles at the New Brighton State Beach campground in Capitola, Calif., on May 9, 2023. (Dai Sugano/Bay Area News Group)

California State Parks early this month delayed the opening dates of several popular Sierra campgrounds that typically start operating Memorial Day weekend. Crews are inspecting and fixing up facilities, and warmer temperatures this past weekend were expected to help out, said spokesman Jorge Moreno. So far, the new opening dates are still in place, aside from a possible delay for part of the campground at Donner Memorial State Park near Lake Tahoe, Moreno said. "If it continues to warm up, that's going to cause the snow to melt a little bit faster," he said. "That will allow staff to get in there to make sure that these campgrounds are in good shape on the dates that they are scheduled to reopen." If melting and maintenance allow earlier opening at any campground, new opening dates will appear on the web page for the park.

Campground giant KOA said that compared to last year, it's seen a 6% increase in reservations for its 12 coastal sites in California for this month and next, with slightly higher demand for the five campgrounds in the north part of the state. But demand for camping on the coast has dropped off for July, with reservations lower than in years past, while reservations for the company's mountain campgrounds in July are higher than last year, said KOA spokeswoman Xenique McLeod.

State Parks campgrounds on the coast are usually booked months in advance for the summer, but campers may find openings at locations between the mountains and the ocean, including at Millerton Lake State Recreation Area north of Fresno and Caswell Memorial State Park near Modesto, Moreno said. "There are some beautiful parks that people sometimes forget about in the Central Valley."

Snow piles linger around and on top of the White Wolf Ranger Station in a photo Yosemite National Park posted to Facebook on May 14 to announce there is still no date to reopen the road. Park crews have cleared 11 of 45 and a half miles of road throughout the park's high country as of May 13, 2023. (Courtesy Yosemite National Park)

Snow piled on Tioga Road is blown off to the side in a photo Yosemite National Park posted to Facebook on May 14 to announce there is still no date to reopen the road. Park crews have cleared 11 of 45 and a half miles of road throughout the park's high country as of May 13, 2023. (Courtesy Yosemite National Park)

The entrance to Donner Memorial State Park on Wednesday, May 3, 2023. (© California State Parks, all rights reserved)

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