Winter's Arrival at King Range

The second series of winter storms is now upon us and I feel justified in no longer expecting a long window of great weather in the King Range. Our winter weather if fickle to say the least and, as you plan your winter trip, you should do so with weather and its associates in mind. With weather come downed trees on the trails, difficult or impassable creek crossings, and extreme sea conditions in the tide zones. I hiked the LCT last weekend and none of the creek crossings were unusually difficult. Nearly two inches of rain have fallen on Cooskie Peak in the last twenty-four hours. Conditions today and this weekend may be quite different indeed.

Note in planning your trip that the NOAA website, weather.gov has been providing incorrect wave height predictions this week. Every day it shows "1 foot or less" whereas in reality, yesterday, I saw 14-waves on Black Sands Beach. In the photograph to the left, taken yesterday at Buck Creek, it seems apparent that the tide-zone between Miller Flat and Shipman Creek was nearly impassable three hours after high tide. My hike from Buck to Black Sands was easier, but there were a couple places where larger waves were hitting the bluffs.

This week's storms are dropping a fair amount of rain. If you plan to visit, have a look at the Cooskie Remote Automated Weather Site: http://raws.wrh.noaa.gov/cgi-bin/roman/meso_base.cgi?stn=PTEC1. This is our weather station on top of Cooskie Peak, in the northern part of the King Range. It gives accurate, hourly weather observations within the King Range. If this site receives more than a couple of inches of rain in twenty-four hours, do not plan to cross Cooskie or Four-Mile Creeks. Generally, if Four-Mile is not crossable, the same will be true of Big Flat Creek and Whale Gulch.

As I have said often, do not go into moving water that is greater than knee deep with a pack on. Have a PLAN B and be ready to enact it--even if that means "go back" or "wait it out". The creeks come up quickly and will often recede almost as fast--assuming that it's not still raining up high. Be patient and have a safe trip!