So the weather looks SPLITTER down valley this weekend, but I'm afraid everything will still be wet. Anyone know or have had experience with Arch the day after a rain/snow storm? Is it wishful thinking to climb there saturday?

Not sure about Arch, but I've climbed at Pat and Jack the day after it snowed and there were plenty of dry climbs. We also checked out the Cookie that day, but everything over there was wet. So I'd say P&J would be a good alternative if you roll up to Arch Rock and everything is a waterfall. If Sat is sunny and warm like it's supposed to be, then Sun will provide many more options.

You can still see snow on the trees and ground up by the Owl. Submitted By: Bryan G on Feb 8, 2013

anybody been down here recently?? would like to know the status of the boulders throughout the valley... is it worth my time to make the drive down there next weekend?

Gripper tends to dry quickly. New D will have a wet streak in the long flare but it's avoidable. Anticipation will likely have a wet streak. Not sure about Midterm. LM stays pretty dry in the hard parts. Blotto should be dry. TKO is always dry. Seems like it'll be sunny between now and then so I'd say go for it.

Do you guys think Royal Arches will be dry enough by Saturday to climb?

For who?

Look, I haven't been anywhere the RA lately, so I'd head over to supertopo for a current conditions take. Werner would likely post up for you within hours. But my guess is that in the winter, if it's been wet lately, the opening water-polished chimney and the easy trough above are wet, there's a wet streak after the penji, the rotten log corner may be wet, and the (psychological crux) pinestraw slab probably has some wetness. Me, I'd be too nervous to enjoy myself, but that's just me.

EDIT: But 'small river' pretty much describes the penji bit, yes.

I would imagine the first pitch to be somewhat wet and then the polished 5.5 gully that is in the first 400' to have substantial water. When I climbed it in September it had a puddle near the end and looked as though it was the bottom of a waterfall!

still wondering about the bouldering though?

Most of the bouldering on the north side is good to go and pretty much everything on the south side is still snowed in. I was at the Indian Creek boulders today and 100% of them were bone dry. I think places like C4 and the Ahwahnee have some patches of snow here and there, but there should be plenty of problems to choose from.

Edit: I had a quick session at C4 today (Wed), and I'd say probably 80% of the problems are dry right now. There's still a lot of snow down in the campground, but back in the trees there's just infrequent patches. The further up the hillside the better.

The Royal Arches looked like a river when I was there two weeks ago...