I postponed my trip to the eastern Sierra by a few days - avalanche danger is close to extreme.
Now I will spend time in Death Valley (Telescope and Wildrose peaks) before getting to the Sierra late this week. Seems like the whole La Nina extended forecast of brief active periods followed by weeks of calm just turned out to be bogus.
If you're interested - on Wednesday some of us will be hiking Searles Peak, which is the primary peak in the Slate Range, located west and a bit south of the Panamints - Wildrose and Telescope on the northern end of the Panamints. Due west from Searles is Golar Wash, about where Charlie Manson and his gang lived. The access road is about 5 miles north of Trona.
I can't see Telescope very well from my house - mostly obscured by the Argus Range, but I can tell that it has fresh snow. The DV Visitor Center could give you a better guesstimate. You may need snowshoes, especially on Telescope. Crampons are probably in order for Telescope also for the last 1/2 mile pitch up the ridge. Right now it's about 20 degrees colder than normal, and the forecasts are for storms and windy weather for the next several days.
