Yesterday I set out from the tram station for Caramba Outlook. I've never hiked the Caramba Trail before, so I called up the Long Valley Ranger Station and asked about conditions. The only information they had was that it had not been maintained since the 2013 Mountain Fire, and they advised me against it.
I turned around shortly after the State Park boundary. Too many trees across the trail, and the prospect of many more to come. From the last two years, I'm accustomed to two across the trail, one shortly before the boundary and one shortly after. But there was quite a bit more. The one that caused me to give up was not the usual log, it was a huge mass of branches resembling a giant tarantula. I would have had to bushwack around it in thorny brush, in my shorts. I am sure it would not have stopped some people, but with a 10:30am start, being out of shape, and facing the prospect of more of the same, I quit.
I saw no one after the junction with the High Trail, and was struck by how dry it was on the other side of the ridge. No green grass, no flowing water, except for one creek crossing. It was like August-October, except for the snow in the distance.