High Sierra Topix

Hey all, new to HST and relatively new to California- so much so that this is my first high snow year here. Curious if anyone has any memory of when Palisade Creek (at Middle Fork Kings) and/or Cartridge Creek (between Simpson meadow and Palisade Creek) subsided in the last snowy year, or if anyone has been through there recently. On the SEKI trail conditions website it still lists those as dangerous (down from impassable!) as of 8/4. We are planning on going that way in a week and a half or so, but could potentially reverse our loop which could give us 2 more weeks (beginning of September) before we have to cross, but I'd have to start planning that around now.

Any info/hazy memories greatly appreciated!
Thanks,
Jake

Jake,
Last I knew, the footbridge on the topo map at that intersection has not been rebuilt. Even in a normal snow year, there can be a LOT of water flowing there, so unless you get a reliable report to the contrary, I'd recommend scratching that crossing off your itinerary. At a minimum, be prepared to head back the way you came in. I have spent hours looking for ways to cross Palisade creek on early season trips, and although I've been successful, I've done it further up the creek (like, Deer Meadow). Cameron

I don't have any current information, but I hiked up the middle fork over July 4th weekend. Cartridge creek has a bridge so it is not an issue. There was a spot on the trail that a creek passed through that was a little sketchy, but it looked worse than it was. Palisade creek looked impassable to me. My attempted crossing was at 7am. I couldn't find any log bridges and it looked like you would have to hike the creek quite a ways through some fairly dense forest to get to a place with a crossing that was maybe doable. I chose to turn around before searching too long because there were some snow bridges I wanted to cross sooner rather than later. Here are some photos:
http://imgur.com/a/tkuLS

Thanks Cameron and slolift. I suppose the sketchy creek on the trail is what is mentioned in the trail conditions as "Dumbell creek." Didn't know Cartridge has a bridge-- haven't been to this particular area before.

Based on what you guys have said I think it sounds like the difference of a week or two wouldn't make that much a difference to Palisade. I think I'll stick with our original plan because the bail out options are easier if it ends up being not passable-- a 1 or 2 day walk back to Copper Creek trailhead versus having to exit via Woods Creek trail if we reversed our route.

Thanks again for the info and Nice Pics!

Hi Slolift,

Welcome to HST! Thank you for providing that info and helping a fellow HST member.
Cool shot of the DW, still looks pretty impressive for July.

Thanks for the input everybody. We have a trip planned starting next Sunday (8/20) and have been anxiously watching reports of conditions. Our trip plan is a large loop out of Roads End going clockwise, so the Palisade Creek Crossing would be early on. I'm increasingly worried that we won't be able to do the water crossings, especially as we're backpacking with our nine year old daughter. We are starting to assess options for backup trips, but that will depend on what permits we can get as walk-ups and if the logistics are feasible (we will have one car, so any one way trips will require arranging transport).

Hey pudgygroundhog. Looks like we might see each other on the trail! Our permit is for the same day going the same direction. Have a pretty conservative schedule set up so we can go off trail or take a long lunchs if we feel like it. If we stick to the schedule we will come to Palisade on the morning of the 23rd. Strength in numbers maybe?

That sounds similar to us - of course pending on how we feel those first few days. We still have to decide if we are going to attempt this route or do something different. If we don't see you - have a great trip!

FWIW I just talked to the wilderness office to try to get a better idea of how Palisade Creek will be. The August 4th report is still the most current they have, but based on the amount of snow left in the Palisades they anticipate it will remain high for quite some time. I asked about the feasibility of paralleling Palisade Creek on the south side heading east until Deer meadow (as suggested by Cameron above) and she seemed to think that was a decent plan. I don't know where you (pudgygroundhod) are headed after but they are also recommending at least microspikes and trekking poles for the entire season.

Just got back from the trip and wanted to update this post (will do a trip report too this weekend). Palisade Creek was a little scary in places but people were getting across. We were probably being over cautious but ended up bushwacking a couple of miles to a meadow and crossing there. I'll link to and include more info for the trip report but if anyone comes across this and needs info quick feel free to PM me.