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Kennedy Meadows (Snow in June in CA)

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  • Trail Report: Kennedy Meadows (Snow in June in CA)

    Jesse (my bro) and I took Tori (my niece) & Charlie (my nephew) camping in Kennedy Meadows this weekend. We headed up Friday after work and got to our campsite just as the sun was setting. We camped at the Troy Meadows overflow. It is a very nice campground with tons of trees. As we were setting up camp we quickly realized it was getting very cold, very quickly. At 7000 foot elevation, it was quite chilly and trying to verify the weather online before going up was quite difficult as nothing is close to where we were camping. Needless to say, we brought warm jackets, but not enough warm stuff. By the time we got the tents up and started a small campfire the kids said they were too cold and wanted to go to bed. So out went the fire and to bed we all went. Jesse & Charlie were in one tent and Tori & I in the other. As soon as we were all tucked in, the kids suddenly woke up and were chatter boxes. Finally they fell asleep. We all tried to sleep amongst the freezing cold weather. Jesse and I didn't get much sleep as we were too cold. The kids were able to get more sleep than us, which was good. At 5:00 am Jesse and I heard the rain hitting the tents...up went Jesse to put a tarp over his Jeep as it was all open. Normally the weather up in Kennedy Meadows is really nice, but this weekend was different. Hearing him out working, got me up and dressed to help him. Turns out it was not rain...it was snow!! We managed to put up the not so easy ez up to provide some shelter for sitting, eating, and cooking. And, then we put up the biggest tarp we had above our tents hanging by the pine trees to somewhat keep the snow off our tents so they would hopefully stay dry. The kids got up about 6:00 am so I started breakfast to get something warm in all of us. It snowed till around 8:00 am and then stopped for a little while. At 8:30 we went over to meet the rest of our group, they were all in motorhomes camped in the backside of the campground...we stayed up front because it had a porta-pot since we were "roughing" it. Finally around 9:00 we headed out to the trail called Sherman Pass. On the way we climbed to 10000 feet and stopped at the Vista Point lookout where it was snowing very hard and the kids had fun throwing snowballs and playing. Then we headed to the trail which turned out to be closed, so Chuck took us to the trail we were supposed to do on Sunday (today) and we did that one. It is called Monache Meadows. Once we got down to that trail the weather was better, with sun here and there, but still chilly. The Kern River was quite chilly and flowing really well. By the time we got back to camp it was 4:00 pm and we were all beat. One of the rangers had told us the weather supposed to bring in more snow overnight and not clear up anytime this weekend. We were quite disappointed as we were hoping it would clear up. So...not wanting to freeze another night, we had dinner and started a fire to keep the kids warm while we packed up camp. We headed home around 8:00 pm and really enjoyed our beds and warm house last night! Overall we had a great time with the unexpected snow in June in California!!

    Charlie, Jesse, & Tori at 6:00 am June 6th trying to stay warm while it was snowing - it wasn't sticking yet...:


    Kodiak Spirit & Desert Jewel at Vista Point enjoying the snow:



    Kids taking a moment for a photo-op then back to snow ball fights:


    Tori & Charlie climbed thru a little hole at the bottom of this old hollowed out tree:


    Monache Meadow trail in the meadow heading to Kern River:


    Rest of pics here:
    http://s239.photobucket.com/albums/f...view=slideshow

  • #2
    Great write-up Julie!

    Looks like you guys made the best of it!
    SBCO Fire Dept. CERT volunteer
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    • #3
      Damn that global warming...

      Anyways, nice pics, thanks for sharing.
      If we aren't supposed to eat animals, then why are they made out of meat?

      http://jeep.matandtiff.com/

      Truth is treason in the empire of lies. -Ron Paul

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      • #4
        Julie nice write up. Jesse your kids sure do look like you! I am glad you guys got back safe! Why does it always snow on your plans when you get a chance to wheel, bud? Oh well.
        Best, Max7
        "Democracy is two wolves and a lamb voting on what to have for lunch. Liberty is a well-armed lamb contesting the vote!" - Benjamin Franklin

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        • #5
          Nice report. The kids look a little cold but it looks like a good weekend.
          Check out .

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          • #6
            Julie, nice report and pics. Sure looks like you all had a good ol' fashion campout,I sure miss that area,have to visit up there soon.

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            • #7
              Thanks for sharing Julie,
              Looks like you guys had a good time considering...

              Scott

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              • #8
                Yes, we did have a great time and made the most of it!! The snow definitely took us off guard.

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                • #9
                  Nice pics.

                  Did you guys cross the Kern up in Monache? or were the flows too high?

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                  • #10
                    Yes we crossed it twice. The flow was good and the river was high, but we all made it thru.

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                    • #11
                      Too darn cool! Snow in JUNE! Excellent.
                      Obviously hard to plan for, but what wonderful stories that you and the kids will have to tell!
                      [COLOR=#ff8c00]MYJEEP(crawls)ROCKS(again).com

                      I have finally stopped drinking for good.
                      Now I drink for evil..... :devil:
                      [/COLOR]

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                      • #12
                        Beautiful country!
                        holes = cowbell

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                        • #13
                          Thanx Max! yeah, I don't know why the Snow likes the Kodiak Spirit so much, I was set up for warm wheelin' ! will get out again soon... need to do the Hairy Crack....
                          :gun: my rifle is not illegal, it's just undocumented... :gun:

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                          • #14
                            Yup hairy crack, I like it!!!
                            Just say when.

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                            • #15
                              Cool pics,
                              Monache Meadows pictures sure bring back old memories!! My dad and I would fly our plane up there and land on a dirt strip, camp out under the wing, go fishing and hike all through the area. Just wondering if there was any sign the old runway? I remember a pile of plane wreckage at the south end too. This was about 30 years ago….Next time you plan a trip up there let me know I’ll bring my two boy’s?

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