Boulder Mail Trail April 2023 Qs

L

LDMP

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Dear fellow hikers, i will be doing the Boulder Mail Trail early April this year. It has been exceptionally wintry and i expect snow and ice, but i wanted to ask if you have been or have heard from anyone who has been out that way recently. I am planning in a winter kit and was curious about ice on the descent to Death Hollow, water levels, and water flow. Any info you can share will help me prepare for the trip, and i appreciate it.
Loren
 
Foresty Forest has a nice Youtube vid on Death Hollow - won't help you with current conditions, but worth watching.
 
Are you crossing Death Hollow or looping back on Death Hollow/Escalante River? If looping back, the depth of the Death Hollow potholes near the ledge scoot can change season to season depending on how much sand has filled the bottom of the pools. You can check on the Escalante River gauge for a rough approximation of flow. I did BMT to Death Hollow last May, and it was a reasonable wade up to a few thigh deep spots with 0.96 ft, 0.18 cfs. It's currently 1.17, 0.95 cfs.

I would give the ranger station a call for the ice situation. In the past they've had a backcountry ranger on staff.
 
Thank you for all the info. I left a msg at the visitor ctr. I am crossing Death Hollow.
 
I have heard…. I am hoping that the winter conditions are an advantage to that poison ivy situation!
 
The stems are also poisonous. Just don't touch any plant in that area.
 
When we were there in April 2018, we had no trouble with poison ivy (and I get bad reactions, so I was looking for it). Hopefully you also won't have any trouble.
 
Drove by Friday afternoon. Anything north of Hwy 12 had snow from last week, especially in the shadows.
With some sun that should all melt, and the descent from BMT/airport side gets sun. Ice will linger in the shadows.
You will probably have sticky, thick mud the first mile and a half after the airport. If by early April you mean you are going next week the forecast is still cold.
If you are just going in and back out again up towards Mamie on the BMT, then one might handle a half dozen crossings for an hour and be out of there warming up in the sun.
If you are going down the full narrows to the Escalante River... Hypothermia is a very real danger.
We were often hiking in coats and neoprene socks last week 40 miles south of the BMT. It has been a cold spring.
 
Ugly said:
Drove by Friday afternoon. Anything north of Hwy 12 had snow from last week, especially in the shadows.
With some sun that should all melt, and the descent from BMT/airport side gets sun. Ice will linger in the shadows.
You will probably have sticky, thick mud the first mile and a half after the airport. If by early April you mean you are going next week the forecast is still cold.
If you are just going in and back out again up towards Mamie on the BMT, then one might handle a half dozen crossings for an hour and be out of there warming up in the sun.
If you are going down the full narrows to the Escalante River... Hypothermia is a very real danger.
We were often hiking in coats and neoprene socks last week 40 miles south of the BMT. It has been a cold spring.
Click to expand...
Thank you for this info.
 
The snow and ice will be in there for quite some time.....Temps are still chilly. I would seriously choose another time. Hypothermia and other serious dangers are very possible. This has been an insane few months of weather!!

Be safe out there!
 
As of this week the poison ivy leaves aren't yet out along the lower sections of the Escalante River. There are still white berries on the bare straight stems, however, so the plants are easy to identify. Temps are wildly fluctuating. It was up to 80F earlier this week.
 
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