Vivian Creek to Gorgonio

[Zé]

I was up on this trail 6/7. The trail is in fine condition. There are a few snow patches 5 ft long that are not bothersome, and a few fallen trees, but nothing impassable.

[lilbitmo]

Ze thanks for the report. We ended up hitting the trail at 3:50 AM Saturday the 9th, from the Jenks Lake Fire Road. We bypassed Poopout Hill and made it up to Dry Lake by 6:15 AM, then made our way up to the big left turn going up to Mine Shaft Saddle by 6:40 AM. Once there we chose to go up the tallest chute between the Notch just West of the actual San Gorgonio Summit and the notch just East of Jepson Peak. It had the most snow from the base to the ridge line. By 9:05 AM we were sitting on the top eating some grub and choosing which side of that chute we would Glissade down.

The snow was approximately 75 yards wide at the widest spots and 50 yards wide at others. The snow was fairly easy to handle at that early hour but cupped most of the way up. By the time we headed down around 10 AM it was getting plenty of sun and softening up rapidly. We were able to slide most of the way until we ran into cups to deep to keep our feet from getting tangled on. Being near the end of the season for crampons it was great to get one more snow hike in before too many rocks start making it unsafe to slide down.

The depth of the snow on that approach was 3-6 feet in the center of that chute and will be melting fast. If anyone plans on doing a snow hike before it's all gone, do it quickly. There was only patches of snow below Mine Shaft Saddle but plenty in all the chutes facing north.

The fire that was reported last Tuesday did very little damage to an area just below the main trial as it crosses South Fork Meadow. You have to look for it to see it.

This Saturday we are back at it trying to hit the famous 9 peaks of the High Divide Trail, only we are adding Dobbs Peak on the East end as we exit the wilderness. Hope to see some of you out there.

Lilbitmo

[whitneyfan]

I understand the switchbacks above High Creek are heavily damaged -- to the point of being pretty much non existant over some parts of the route.

HJ

Yes, not accounting for snow cover, the switchbacks are pretty unrecognizable in the dry season. They were damaged last sept. 07 after the heavy thunderstorms. I hiked it about a week after the rain and had trouble following the trail, let alone finding it.