Update on terrain conditions for the West desert. My son just got home from camping overnight at Big Hollow. The below linked map show B-where my son was at and A-Simpson Springs Campground. While he was about an hour and half away from Simpson Springs, the area he was in is a good indicator of the weather and current terrain of the West desert. The further out from civilization you are there is more snow because you don't have the heat from a city or cars melting it off. The conditions at Simpson Springs would be worse than where my son was at.
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&sou...61,-112.714233&spn=0.526604,0.877533&t=h&z=10
The first thing I asked when my son walked in the door was did he have a good time. He said he wished he had snowshoes. He said in some spots the snow had a hard icy crust on top you could walk on. For the most part he said they sunk into knee to thigh deep snow. He said it was worse the further away from a road you got. I asked him if a search could be conducted out there and how effective it would be. He said snowmobiles and snowshoes would be a must. He said it would be a waste of time because you wouldn't find anything, it's all under snow. I asked him what they were doing wandering out in the snow and he said following coyote tracks. They eventually came across where a coyote had dug up the kill it had previously buried. My son was very excited over that. It must be a guy thing. lol.
I asked about searching in the hills and mountains out there. He looked at me like I was nuts and said no way. The avalanche danger is too high. Below is an article about avalanches in just one area of the state for the month of January. All over the state avalanche danger is high.
http://hjnews.townnews.com/articles/2010/01/30/news/news03-01-30-10.txt
...& snipped...
