Questions and reports related to Sierra Nevada current and forecast conditions, as well as general precautions and safety information. Trail conditions, fire/smoke reports, mosquito reports, weather and snow conditions, stream crossing information, and more.
This was just posted on the Inyo social media pages:
July 21, 2021: Pine Creek Pass Trail has been damaged by recent heavy rainfall and there are three major washouts that have been reported as impassable to stock users. The Forest Service will be evaluating the trail for hiker safety and needed repairs.
Based on the info, I assume the washouts are between Upper Pine Lake and the pass. I am planning to be on this trail in mid-August so any updates/intel would be appreciated!
Thanks for the heads up. The initial 4 miles seems like it would be the most prone to washing out (and the hardest area to bypass or rebuild a washout), but the Italy Pass Trail page doesn't mention being affected. I'm supposed to be going over Pine Creek Pass the first week of August, so I hope it's higher on the trail where there are lots of easy xc options.
I just came out on the Pine Creek Pass trail yesterday evening. There were a handful of washouts, all on the switchbacks leading up out of the canyon, only one of which required any kind of effort to get over. The worst was the highest and last washout. That one was taller than me and extended to the drop off. I climbed over and while there was a little shifting of the rocks it didn't feel that unstable. If it is unstable it might be an issue as you are climbing over only a few feet from the drop off.
Slight thread hijack, the last couple times I've been up that trail there was a decent creek flowing down a gully and across the trail about a mile and a half above the trailhead. Was that going yesterday?
I remember their being 3 places where the trail crossed a stream on the way up. They were all flowing much higher on the way out because of the rain and any of them would be good to get some water.
Back on topic, from the Inyo NF Facebook page a couple hours ago:
USFS wrote:Update July 22: The damaged trail area was surveyed by trail crews and is passable for cautious hikers. The damaged area is approximately 2 miles up the trail at 8700 feet in elevation. Drenching rains from earlier this week were funneled down a rock couloir and the resulting rock slide deposited around 6-9 feet of rock/boulders/debris. The slide effects 3 different spots across the Brownstone Mine Road switchbacks. See photos posted in comments.
I don't give out specific route information, my belief is that it takes away from the whole adventure spirit of a trip, if you need every inch planned out, you'll have to get that from someone else.
Have a safer backcountry experience by using the HST ReConn Form 2.0, named after Larry Conn, a HST member:http://reconn.org
