Kibbie accees road

[SSSdave]

Just phoned a Stanislaus NF person about the Kibbie trailhead and she related the road will remain blocked this summer beyond the Lake Eleanor trailhead. The road was washed out in 2017 and is still queued up for repairs. Thus one cannot reach the Shingle Springs trailhead and if starting at the Lake Eleanor trailhead, that adds 1.5 miles and a significant 800 feet of vertical. In June of 2017 they blocked those roads at the west end of the Cherry Valley Reservoir dam that added another 2.3 miles and 300 feet of vertical so this is an improvement. Note even in June of 2017, forest service vehicles were actually reaching Shingle Springs because they made minimal road repairs to get them across the washouts. At just 5 miles, Kibbie Lake is still one of the best June hiking destination and note the lake and trail have melted out. However Lord Meadow is now a strenuous destination with a one day effort though note parts of that route still show snow above 7.5k.

[tomba]

The trailhead to Kibbie Lake is a bit hard to find. It starts right near the barrier on the road. Follow what looks like it might be the trail and it becomes more well defined.

[MountainMinstrel]

I did it last June and I missed the trail. Ended up walking the road at 3:00 hotter than blazes.

[tomba]

In case the barrier gets moved: the trail starts at the upper end of the upper parking lot (the one without the bear box). See http://www.hillmap.com/m/ag1zfmhpbGxtYX ... IDmoZS9Cgw

[wildhiker]

We just hiked to Kibbie Lake on June 28-29. Everyone was hiking on the road to Shingle Springs. Other hikers I spoke with at the trailhead who seemed to be "regulars" said that the trail to Shingle Springs was in bad shape, so we just used the road. It is annoyingly long (probably 3 miles) but no steep sections. Has anyone hiked the actual trail this year or last? What is the condition?

[SSSdave]

I doubt the trail from a bit north of the Eleanor trailhead is in "bad shape". I hiked it June 2017 and all the post Rim Fire downed trees were alread taken care of. Crews parked at the SS trailhead were working Kibbie Ridge trail areas. There are no sizeable streams crossing that trail so any erosion damage would be trivial. Anyone using the windy road are making a poor decision as it is much longer.

https://caltopo.com/map.html#ll=38.0066 ... =15&b=f16a

What is probably the source of that comment is areas where the trail routes through whitethorn and chinquapin have not been pruned back so those many that unwisely hike in shorts are getting scratched. That is and has always been the situation on lightly used lower forest elevation trails. Those shrubs cover extensive areas of that hot region. And that is why we more experienced hikers don't hike those areas in shorts but rather long pants.

Another possible issue is near the Shingle Springs junction where several use paths vector off towards that area. Like most lightly used trails there are no "TRAIL >" signs along that trail that indicate which is the real trail so people may get off route. Also note how the trail drawn on the above topo shows it going straight into the parking area while my below snipping tool capture of the satellite image shows it actually bends around. That is because the old trail used to route directly towards Shingle Springs however that area in a dense grove of pines eroded out decades ago. Generally there are many incorrectly drawn trails on USGS maps throughout the Sierra Nevada, so hikers beware. Note the Kibbie Ridge trail is indeed in "bad" shape miles further up on the ridge above 6.6k.

ShingleSprings1.jpg

[Mtbski]

When I was a kid the trail to Kibbie started at the dam. It was 8 miles in to Kibbie. An extra mile or two shouldn't kill anyone.