Thinking of the Grand Loop for ’08? Yea, me too. The golden gem of ’07 get’s my attention for another year. Can you say SS?
Last year I did it not once but twice. Since it was a low snow year I figured I’d bust it out early in mid-May. Wow, that turned out to be a real learning experience – that saga is among these posts: http://2-epic.com/?cat=20.
Snowpack this year is an entirely different beast. Just in case your head has been in the sand…it’s BIG. Some facts:
- GL has never been done in a high snowpack year
- 2 weeks prior to race start last year the snow was 10′ deep in the shady parts of the Tab singletrack. Been there done that.
- Snowpack right now is much deeper than at any point last year.
Springtime weather has a lot to do with how much snow remains at 10k’ in late May so it’s a waiting game. But, the alarm has been triggered for this GL hopeful.
Here’s the visual for last years snowpack near the high point on the Tab:
Same place right now:
It’s the blue lines we are concerned with. Getting my drift?
I’ll be keeping things flexible come GLR time this year. Hitting the Tab at the 220 mile marker and being unable to continue last spring was one of those things need not repeat. Mid June this year? Time will tell.
Watching and waiting for sure. Curious as to when the KT will be clear enough as well. For now I’ll just keep playing in the snow and traveling to get to dry dirt.
Interesting indeed. Here in NM we’re approaching 200% of the 30 year average for snow-water equivalent. If you believe the climate gurus, the peak of the snow-melt hydrograph is coming earlier in the year, but this year I expect an extended runoff, and some of our high country trails may not be passable until July.
Not being familiar with the GLR route, if there are many significant stream crossings, one might get stymied from the high flows.
Chris