Black Mountain Road?

[Hikin_Jim]

Does anyone know the status of Black Mountain Road? Last I heard it had suffered storm damage and therefore probably not driveable by a standard passenger sedan. I'm looking to do a backpacking trip via Fuller Ridge next month. It's a lot of gain to LRV from Hwy 243 (roughly 5,000' gain, starts a bit above 5000', goes up to about 10,000'). If the road isn't driveable, I'll have to pick another trail head.

HJ

[zippetydude]

Hi Jim. I may be out that way in the next couple of weeks, so if I am I'll let you know. After this mildest of all winters, I really doubt that there was any substantial damage to the road that you couldn't easily navigate around. Another solution that I have employed over on Fish Creek road is to just bring a shovel, and to throw a few shovelfuls of dirt into any overly deep holes or ruts, thus making them easily passable. That's always been sufficient for me, even in rainy years, so I'm betting you'll be fine and won't have to miss out on your original plan.

A further question though, has the road already been reopened for spring?

z

[Allison]

I had friends drive it Monday and the one in the 2WD SUV (Lexus) was very unhappy and not at all pleased with the road and would have turned around if not cajoled into continuing by other hikers. I believe the conditions are pretty bad and a 4WD is strongly recommended. I think it took them more than an hour to drive it up. I'll try get further info this afternoon.

[Hikin_Jim]

Thank you, Allison,

That squares with what I recall hearing. Hopefully they'll grade the road before too long. If you hear of any further updates, please let me know.

Thanks,

HJ

[RustyShackleford]

Jim,
I was there this last weekend, and I saw sedans on the road, most notably a Prius. You won't be going super fast, but it's passable. I went max 20 mph in my Xterra (off-road model).

[Hikin_Jim]

Jim,
I was there this last weekend, and I saw sedans on the road, most notably a Prius. You won't be going super fast, but it's passable. I went max 20 mph in my Xterra (off-road model).

Super helpful. Thank you Rusty.

Hopefully it will only be better by the time I get there (well, at least we can be pretty sure it won't rain).

HJ

[natedogg760]

Jim,
I was there this last weekend, and I saw sedans on the road, most notably a Prius. You won't be going super fast, but it's passable. I went max 20 mph in my Xterra (off-road model).

Good to know. I'll be taking my Xterra up there this Thursday with 3 of my buddies. Did you have to put in 4wd? A few years ago we went up in my old Xterra. Was pretty rough and I was proud of how well the X handled it...until I saw a Mini Cooper at the th.

[Allison]

Ok, on further discussion with my friends who drove it last week, once past Black Mtn there were some serious snow banks on the curves that caused a great deal of worry. They're driving up again today to Fuller Ridge to pick up some hikers coming up from Snow Creek - taking 2 Jeeps with tow ropes just in case one car gets stuck.

[Hikin_Jim]

Thanks, Allison,

I'll be interested to hear what they encounter. I'm not too worried about snow right now given that I don't plan to go for another 4+ weeks, but overall conditions are definitely of interest.

HJ

[Allison]

Hi Jim,

The snow was gone, so that was no problem. 4WD also was not necessary but it was heavily rutted so a lot of patience and a high-clearance vehicle is recommended! Good luck with your hike.

Allison