May Valley Road hits Hwy 74 just west of Keen Camp Summit.
The road is closed to vehicular traffic.
The road is in good repair and shows signs of recent bulldozing.
Unfortunately, only the road is open. Anything outside the road, like this trail down to Herkey Creek Campground, is off limits.
The Johnson Meadows area didn't seem too badly burned, but then things are fairly dispersed there.
The South Ridge Trail is a little hard to pick up at its lower end where it meets May Valley Road. There are two points where the trail is really not clear and you could go off track if you aren't watching carefully. I have a full write up of the route on my blog if you're interested:
PCT Mountain Fire 2015 Bypass
A lot of the stuff in the burn area, like Antsell Rock, show no signs of having been burned, at least from this angle.
The burn area is however very clearly there.
Tahquitz as always is majestic.
No snow AT ALL until 7500', and then only the smallest of patches.
The views of the San Jacinto High Country from the Lookout are fabulous as always.
Still some significant snow on the N Face of Tahquitz Peak. I felt more comfortable in microspikes. Some people were doing it without spikes and were looking at my spikes enviously.
Slipping here, well, it might not be such a good idea.
Even the N side of Tahquitz Peak didn't have a lot of snow.
Tahquitz Creek was dry.
But there was at least some patches of snow in the creek bed.
And of course a friendly reminder to stay the heck out.
Little Tahquitz Meadow had a little snow, but not much.
Likewise Tahquitz Meadow had very little snow except on the northern margins.
The spring near the 4 way junction was dry.
BIG tree down between the 4 way junction and Saddle Junction. About 4' in diameter maybe? Came up to my sternum, and I'm a six footer.
And of course you can never get enough Tahquitz!
HJ
