Test out FREE Sequoia & Kings Canyon Topos!

It was pointed out that my other thread should have been in the Northern California forum so here it is again

Original Thread: mountainproject.com/v/test-…

I used to draw topos and overlays and stuff for fun (dork) because I'm obsessed with SEKI and this last year I finally stuck some of it on a website.

Basically, go have some fun, and if you notice anything I'd like to hear about additions, corrections, ideas, or any other suggestions to make it better (or worse?).

I usually get a new area posted every month or two and continually make corrections so check back every so often.

sekiclimbing.com/home.html

Shameless plug for a site that makes negative money complete!

Mr. Crab,

The color photos are nice and helpful. Thank you.

Starting Chimney Rocks and got Crystal Wall up.

sekiclimbing.com/chimney-ro…

Nice! Love the site! Great work,

Thanks for all your hard work with these! Can't wait to hear more about the Kings Canyon guidebook or when that comes out! But yes - definitely getting me excited for these more adventurous and off the beaten path areas (i.e. not Yosemite Valley)! Can't wait to try our your topos!

Has anyone been to SEKI recently? Curious about the conditions after the recent snows. Not planning to really climb more hiking (we have a few non climbers this trip).

Where are you going, NJB? The snowline for these past two storms was pretty high so the coverage is variable.

Grants grove is patchy and thin but there's snow on probably 75% of the ground. Down at Hume Lake there are a few patches but it's pretty clear. Wolverton, Big Meadows and Lodgepole have a quite a bit of snow. The highway connecting Giant Forest area to Grant's grove is closed in the middle but it's supposed to open Friday (18th).

It depends on the aspect and sun exposure, but it's generally pretty well covered in snow above 7000ft and patchy or absent below.

Mineral King Road is closed at the park border right below Danland. Highway 180 into Kings Canyon is closed at the turnoff by Princess Meadow.

Hope that helps.

limpingcrab wrote:Where are you going, NJB? The snowline for these past two storms was pretty high so the coverage is variable. Grants grove is patchy and thin but there's snow on probably 75% of the ground. Down at Hume Lake there are a few patches but it's pretty clear. Wolverton, Big Meadows and Lodgepole have a quite a bit of snow. The highway connecting Giant Forest area to Grant's grove is closed in the middle but it's supposed to open Friday (18th). It depends on the aspect and sun exposure, but it's generally pretty well covered in snow above 7000ft and patchy or absent below. Mineral King Road is closed at the park border right below Danland. Highway 180 into Kings Canyon is closed at the turnoff by Princess Meadow. Hope that helps.

Thanks for the information, especially the road conditions, it will help plan our trip. We do not have an plan for SEKI yet (one of our friends is visiting from Costa Rica and really wants to go there).

Out of curiosity is there any trad (5.8 or below) or sport (5.11 or below) single pitch or short multi pitch that is easily accessible right now. I know it is not really the season for it currently. Thanks for the help!

Depends on what you mean by "easily accessible." You can walk the 1.7 mile road to Moro and there are a lot of sport and trad routes at the top of the west face. Just top rope or rap off the rails onto the huge ledge.

Neat Wall shouldn't have much snow on the short walk in and it has a couple 5.8 one pitch trad routes. I've never been down there in the winter so I'm not sure how we it'll be.

A few slogging steps up the snow from the road to the base of Little Baldy (which will be open by this weekend) will get you to a bunch of bolted slab and sport routes. It's a short approach.

Danland has some of everything. The approach is about 40 minutes or less but it might be a detour do drive down to and back up the Mineral King road out of Three Rivers.

Hopital rock is fun and has lots of one and two pitch trad climbing.

Lots of bouldering around Quail Flat (where tenmile creek road meets the general's highway) but it could be snowy around the bases.

Other than that the roads are closed or the approaches would require snowshoes or something. That's all I got off the top of my head, I'll add to this if I think of something else.

limpingcrab wrote:Depends on what you mean by "easily accessible." You can walk the 1.7 mile road to Moro and there are a lot of sport and trad routes at the top of the west face. Just top rope or rap off the rails onto the huge ledge. Neat Wall shouldn't have much snow on the short walk in and it has a couple 5.8 one pitch trad routes. I've never been down there in the winter so I'm not sure how we it'll be. A few slogging steps up the snow from the road to the base of Little Baldy (which will be open by this weekend) will get you to a bunch of bolted slab and sport routes. It's a short approach. Danland has some of everything. The approach is about 40 minutes or less but it might be a detour do drive down to and back up the Mineral King road out of Three Rivers. Hopital rock is fun and has lots of one and two pitch trad climbing. Lots of bouldering around Quail Flat (where tenmile creek road meets the general's highway) but it could be snowy around the bases. Other than that the roads are closed or the approaches would require snowshoes or something. That's all I got off the top of my head, I'll add to this if I think of something else.

Ill have to have a look at Danland and Hospital rock. Thanks for the help!

Limp..... when do the Falcon Closures begin at Chimney??????????????

any closures at Santa Cruz?

how soon does the approach to Santa Cruz becomes reasonable (snow wise)???

how is the fishing in the Marble Fork? up by the WatchTower?

and one more Q. How far is the hike down into the Roaring River basin, from the Generals Hwy? (Buck Rock).... I assume this is the way to go. Right Wrong??

How is the Family?

South Face Moro was very nice today. 3/18/16. No snow on the road, still walked it, should be open very soon. No snow on the approach either. Looked like very little wetness on the West and NW faces of Moro.

Also, the road between Sequoia and Kings is now open.

South and SW facing stuff at 7000' is patchy dirt and little snow. Still 1-4 ft. on the North facing hills at around 7000'

NJB, just a little update, I drove by Little Baldy today and the approach is pretty much clear. Routes further left looked wet but the one pitch stuff on the right looked dry and warm.

Hi Guy! Closures there start April 1st but the road isn't usually even open by then (snow) so unless people want to ski/snowmobile in it's pretty much off-season until August :(

No closures anywhere in SEKI except Moro and Chimney Rocks. Not sure when the approach will be clear to the domes this year. The past couple years myself and others have been up in April with patchy snow in meadows and stuff but mostly open. We'll see what happens this season but I'd guess April/May. I think Chad N is usually more up to date on the snow so maybe he'll chime in.

Lots of fish in the Marble Fork but mostly pretty small. The fishing seems to be better downstream of where Horse Creek comes in. I love fly fishing up there, really pretty little fish!

Closest trailhead to Roaring River is Marvin Pass out past Buck Rock. Something like 10 miles into the heart of Sugarloaf Valley and probably closer to 15 to the ranger station. I want to fish that all the way down into Kings Canyon!

Family is doing great. Kids are still crazy and wife is still letting me play! You need to make another trip back to these parts.

Yo Guy, For Santa Cruz Dome right now..... Id say good to go, but most likely walking on some snow (1-3ft) down in the lower, shadier parts of the valley (around the Twin Lakes trailhead). Probably mostly snow free higher up on that mega-south-facing hillside near the dome. It's melting fast around here lately, and plow crews are out clearing roads. Almost feels like early summer.

Crab is correct about the small fish up near Tokopah Falls. They get much bigger downstream of Lpole or by the Cave bridge. A buddy of mine took a 12"/2.5 lb. german brown out of the Marble Fork (below Wolverton) a few years back. Get em before the campers get em!

edit to add: out at Little Baldy yesterday and it's good to go, but there is 2-5 ft at the base of the right side routes. We just used some rocks and the rope bag to stand on. Left side routes looked mostly dry, very little seepage. Less snow on the left side. The large pullout for parking has some snow but there is room for 1-2 vehicles. Many older bolts and hangers on those right side slabs made the climbing/rappin 'gulp' interesting.

Thank you for the updates....

Thanks for the fishing info..

Santa Cruz domes in a few weeks looks like a "go."

Crab... see you at the Shuteye deal in June.

I managed to get sometime to check out danland last weekend. Was just what I was looking for, super nice crag and great locals. Thanks for the help.

Great! Who did you meet?

What did you use to make your website??

I used a template on the website builder that's free for a year when you use godaddy for your host. After that it's a few bucks a month or something. I've heard some of the other popular ones are better, like squarespace, but it works ok for me and I don't know what I'm doing.

There can be issues with using templates but all I care about is my content so if anything weird ever happens I'll still have my topos and stuff and that's all I care about. Definitely a lot more work to built your own site using code and web design programs.

Excellent job done.

I am very impressed with the amount of info on your site Daniel. Happy to occasionally contribute and climb with you from time to time. The site is a giant positive contribution to the community as a whole.