2021 Conditions Reports

[tomba]

I have met some people on the trail that found my previous water conditions report useful, so here is another one.

Sierra High Route with multiple detours, from Roads End to Lakes Basin and loop back through Cartridge Pass, Arrow Pass and Arrow Peak Descent to Woods Creek.

Copper Creek Trail and Eastern Glacier Lakes - same as in the previous post.
Lake NW of Glacier Lake, over the ridge, W of Grouse Lake Pass - good water but outlet not flowing.
Tarns W of Munger Peak - two of them had water that looked OK. Not flowing.
State Lakes - water was flowing, except the higher of the two lakes on the trail was stagnant.
Horseshoe Lakes - water was flowing in the southern chain, but northern set of lakes had no flow, including Lake at 10515'. Water at that lake was fine.
Tarn on Gray Pass (between Gray Pass S and Gray Pass N, on Windy Ridge) had very little water.
Lake E of Windy ridge at 10236' had no flow, but water was good.
The tarn SW of that lake had water, but no flow.
South Fork of Cartridge Creek had good flow, but the largest lake in that basin was a big surprise.
The chain of three lakes NE of the largest lake in that basin had good water but no flow.
The tarn S of White Pass had good water but no flow.
Marion Lake had outflow and inflow.
The southern chain of lakes in Lakes Basin had flow.
The northern chain had no flow. The second lowest lake there, the one below the lake at 10592' had OK water but somewhat murky.
The lakes S of Cartridge Pass had no flow. Water was fine in the lowest, largest lake.
South Fork Kings River was flowing.
The creek NW of Arrow Peak was flowing all the way up to the meadows with mineral water at almost 3300m.
The largest lake in the basin SE of Arrow Peak had no outflow.
The creek out of the narrow branched lake NW of Pyramid Peak was flowing, but the flow disappeared before reaching the large two lakes in the lowest level of that basin. Water in these lakes was fine.
In the valley W of Window Peak the creeks were not flowing with one small exception: The creek was flowing for a short segment above the last flat area/meadow before the steep descent to Woods Creek.
Woods Creek was flowing.

[terraelise]

Route taken: Silver Lake parking lot (toilet is closed!) > Clark Lakes > Agnew Pass > PCT to Thousand Island Lake > off-trail to Island Pass > cross-country to Weber Lake > back down to Rush Creek, around Gem Lake, back to start



Difficult section encountered:
Sadly, never found the old pack trail from Thousand Island Lk to Island Pass, though did find upper campsites I was looking for, so I kinda just walked up the drainage.
I don't recommend cross-country from Island Pass to Weber Lake for most people 1) too many plants underfoot isn't nice in delicate high alpine areas 2) the ridge just west of the lake could go badly: if you don't come down just right can be cliffed out or end up further south on the lake around a dome and cannot come back to the north bit to catch the use-trials to campsites back to the 'main' trail east side. (I didn't go down to Sullivan, it was too overgrown for me / tired at this point, but Weber is stunning, IMO)


Special equipment needed/used:
Warm, maybe dangerous water: *ALMOST NOTHING IS DRAINING* Even water from Thousand Island tasted stale and too warm to me and in Weber, far north end, had a bit of what I'm sure was toxic algae growth (long area of stringyness on the surface, ranger later agreed and also worried for non-filter-ers for other contaminants). Every single lake I saw was well below drainage, every pre-lake a lone puddle, *no* creeks running. I didn't make any of the small side treks to smaller lakes as it wouldn't be safe or could be dry. Every small lake atop or near Island Pass was drying up fast and looked sad. Either long carry or risk water illness (I did not get sick, BTW, but thought it was sketchy - Gem Lake was the cleanest). Between dam lakes was running, so actual Rush Creek filtering was probably okay aside from Gem - Waugh looked like the dead marshes from Lord of the Rings - the *only* natural creek running was Crest Creek on the north side of Gem (surprising to me). HOT days, near or at freezing at night (aside: lots of fall color already, especially seen north of Gem Lake below Gem Pass). *I didn't visit west of Waugh, so unknown out of Marie or Davis, ditto Emerald/Ruby/Garnet, but I'd guess more of the same: dry outlets and inlets and warm, low water.

This area is really lucky smoke-wise. 395 is hit and miss depending on winds, and I did change to this trip from farther south with wind forecast in mind, but vaguely hazy is as bad as it got anywhere. Friday there was very dark, icky air coming up from the south: North Glacier pass was yuck, Banner Peak started to haze over, ridge to south before Garnet was looking thick (this after a very still, clear morning), only the faintest hint of smoke (no wind to speak of in lakes other than sunset gusts), but north was 100% clear and blue skies. Saturday some haze filtered in south and east late morning so south Gem Lake and Spooky Meadow looked a bit hazy, but no smell on the trail.


Possible alternative routes: wish I'd stayed longer and gone more west, but I forgot my fuel can so that ruled out the dehydrated meals - probably wouldn't have risked the cross-country route to Weber (but maybe might not have visited at all, and that would have been sad) - but walking around the ruin of Waugh didn't seem fun, either. I found most of these trails hot, dry, dusty slogs despite lush forests - so off trail was maybe not nice to do but was nicer to be doing. I was not impressed by Thousand Island: I think low water just doesn't do it justice, ditto most places, but mountains never disappointed, absolutely stunning.

[SDTrojan]

Warm, maybe dangerous water: *ALMOST NOTHING IS DRAINING* Even water from Thousand Island tasted stale and too warm to me and in Weber, far north end, had a bit of what I'm sure was toxic algae growth (long area of stringyness on the surface, ranger later agreed and also worried for non-filter-ers for other contaminants). Every single lake I saw was well below drainage, every pre-lake a lone puddle, *no* creeks running.

Came here to see if there were any recent trip reports from the eastern Sierra and to see how the smoke was.
That's awesome that you didn't have to deal with much smoke/haze, but very concerning about the water.

I have a permit for this weekend to Mt. Agassiz via South Lake, and am on the fence whether to go or not, given the smoke/water situation.

Thanks for the helpful report!

[Harlen]

terraelise wrote:

...Even water from Thousand Island tasted stale and too warm to me and in Weber, far north end, had a bit of what I'm sure was toxic algae growth (long area of stringyness on the surface, ranger later agreed and also worried for non-filter-ers for other contaminants)

What made you sure there was toxic algae growth? Which toxins? Did the ranger give you any details about the "toxic algae?"
While it's good to err on the side of caution, it would be good to know more. Nice route.

p.s. I just read a UC Davis study on algae, and the risks do seem significant:

Poisoning from California mountain water is
not an academic theory, but a current and
very serious threat already affecting to parts
of California. The problems along the Lower
Klamath River in Northern California serve
as the warning of what may occur in the
Sierra Nevada watersheds

and:

When high nutrient conditions coincide with warmer water temperatures, toxic cyanobacteria (a blue green algae) can proliferate. Some species of these algae produce toxins that are harmful to aquatic organisms, animals and humans alike (Falconer 2005). The most common toxins recognized include microcystins, anatoxin, saxitoxin, physteria toxin, and others. Multiple reports of human illness and death have been reported as a result of exposure to waters containing toxic species of algae (Araoz 2009).

I'll provide a link to this article here: https://health.ucdavis.edu/emergency/wi ... -14-09.pdf , and add the following quote addressing the crux of the issue for us Sierra travelers-- the fact that filtering does not necessarily remove some of the most serious toxins:

Algae toxins are not removed by standard
water treatments. Disinfection using
chlorine, hypochlorate (bleach) or iodides
have no effect on algae produced toxins.
Backpack filters do not remove these toxins.
Likewise, simple filtering applied by some
municipal water districts do not remove
these toxins. Ultraviolet light has variable
effects, depending on the toxin.

Thanks for bringing up this important heath topic terraelise, I hope some of us will follow through, and locate the most current findings, and health advisories. The U.C. Davis paper I cited is from 2009. Take care, Harlen

[Sabbat]

Route taken: Devil's Postpile > JMT > Minaret Lake > Unmaintained trail to Icerberg Lake > Rejoin JMT > 1000 Island Lake > Agnew Meadows via PCT high route



Difficult section encountered: The unmaintained trail section past Minaret was almost non-existent, Cecile Lake is just a boulder field. The descent down to Iceberg was more of a scree slide than a trail.



Special equipment needed/used: Minaret, Cecile, Iceberg, and Ediza were all still draining. I filtered water at Minaret, Iceberg, Garnet, and 1000 Island with no issues (and it tasted fine). I was surprised to see flowing water on the PCT; there were no less than 5 narrow but quick flowing creeks across the trail at various points. Nights were below freezing so bring those 3 season bags.



Possible alternative routes: I wouldn't do Iceberg via the unmaintained trail again; given the choice I'd opt for the long route on the JMT via Shadow Lake and up from there.

[terraelise]

@Harlen I mentioned filtering because most lakes were just stale, so I'd be worried about lack of running water / no natural cleansing - you are absolutely right to mention filtering will not remove algae toxins.

Only one lake had noticeable signs that might be toxic: a 30 foot area in a rounded bit on the north side of Weber had growth sitting on the top in long, string-like formation - it looked like every photo I've seen of that type. The bottom was regular green, no worries, but, man, that gave me pause and I was rather shocked at it being at the higher elevation and wondered if it was on the sides of other lakes - I didn't walk fully around most of where I drank. Obviously, I didn't test it (nor disturb it), but with nearby Devil's Postpile confirmation (Rainbow Falls) and a ranger talk after the trip, it's a growing concern. I did filter out of the south side (as far as I could get) and didn't get sick, but the water was strangely warm so I was pretty suspicious but I really needed water at that point (and I drink too little, and extra less on this trip just out of not liking the look of anything). Even Thousand Island was warm, really unsettling.

I asked the ranger if this stuff is killed during a freeze, that seems to be unknown. If warmer, dryer weather is the trend, I am really concerned about being able to filter reliably. eek! I'm sure mostly everyone would be fine, I just wanted to warn to be wary and smart about water choices when all running water is dried up.

EDIT to add that Ruby (the one in little lakes, nearish Rock Creek) was marked as visually suspicious, so just be careful out there! https://www.fs.usda.gov/alerts/inyo/ale ... ?aid=69358

[frozenintime]

before a trip two weeks ago, the tuolumne ranger mentioned that toxic algae is an increasing concern.

we didn't notice anything suspicious on our route (roughly vogelsang > parsons > maclure > lyell canyon) but... sobering.

(he also said that within 40 years, lyell fork will likely be seasonal due to the disappearing glaciers, some of which are technically snow fields and not even glaciers anymore.)

[tomba]

Water conditions:

The numerous small creeks crossing High Trail out of Agnew Meadows (PCT) were flowing.
Badger Lakes were very low, no flow.
No flow out of Thousand Island Lake. The lake was a bit low.
The lakes on Island Pass were quite low. No flow.
There was flow out of Davis Lakes crossing PCT.
No flow out of Rodgers Lakes.
Rush Creek was running well.
No flow in the small creeks east of Donohoue Pass.
Lyell Fork Tuolumne River was flowing where the trail crosses it and there was some flow in the creeks above that point.
Maclure Creek was flowing out of Maclure Lake.
Maclure Glacier was still there. It didn't reach Maclure Lake.
There was some snow below Russell Pass (NE side, at the bottom of final climb) that could be avoided. I chose to walk on it.
There was no flow anywhere on SW side of Russell Pass.
The main Hutchings Creek was flowing somewhat all the way to the highest lakes. Any lakes not on the main flow were quite low.
Half way down Sluggo Pass (SE side) there is a flat area. There is no flow there. But on the meadow just north from there there was a trickle. I got quite sick there. That's why I hiked out Saturday, not Sunday.
In the western chain of lakes in the Lyell Fork valley (below Sluggo Pass) there was no flow.
The main Lyell Fork Merced River in that valley was flowing.
There was no flow out of the lake north of Foerster Creek, and the lake was low.
There was no flow in Foerster Creek except a small flow in a section next to an unnamed lake that sits west of the creek that flows out of Harriet Lake.
No flow out of Harriet Lake.
No flow out of the lakes west of Blue Lake Pass.
Not flow out of the lake above (west of) Blue Lake.
There was a trickle in a creek (not on the map) that enters Blue Lake from north.
No flow out of Blue Lake, even in Bench Canyon below.
There was flow out of the valley below Old Bones Pass and in Bench Canyon beyond that point.
There was a trickle in western branch of the valley SE of Electra Peak but no flow in the biggest lake in that valley.
No flow out of southern Twin Island Lake.
The creek out of northern Twin Island Lake (North Fork San Joaquin River) was flowing and it was easy to cross without making feet wet.
There was flow in the creek that flows out of glacier below between points 3497-T and 3518-T, south of Mt Davis.
There was plenty of flow in the creek that flows from Lake Catherine and from Ritter Lakes.
North of North Glacier Pass there was some flow in the creek once I got out of the talus. The creek was reaching Thousand Island Lake (but there was no out flow from the lake, see above).
Somewhere below the confluence with the creek out of Garnet Lake I noticed that Middle Fork San Joaquin River was flowing.