5" of New Snow
Yes,yes. Always Hike with Food, Water, Flashlight, and Extra Clothes. Something light like a whistle is a good idea as well. You won't ever find me hiking without these Bare essentials. During the winter I always carry a NPS radio too. Bee stings are definitely known to happen while hiking Leconte.
There are A Lot of trees downed on the mountain right now, Some of these require taking your backpack and snow shoes off to climb through.
I had to look up Manchurian Tea, As far as I can tell it's the same as Kombucha, It's the same mushroom culture. Maybe the difference is the use of White Tea instead of Green or Black Tea as in the Kombucha instructions I have? These different names might just be from different parts of the world. I've heard it called Kargasok Tea as well. A cup of this tea in the morning before any food will make your stomach feel very happy.