OVERVIEW: This is a lovely hike with lots of rewards but is also demanding of excellent fitness and the gear and skills to cross steep hard snowfields safely. I would advise that anyone doing this trail in the next few weeks to a month would want to carry microspikes and an ice axe plus good boots that allow you to kick steps. Leave yourself 8 hours to complete the hike to the lookout and back before dark.
DETAILS: We arrived at the TH at 8:15 and were ready to start hiking by 8:30. The trail starts out steep and gets steeper! There were a few creeks running at about the 2-3 mile mark, and snow patches began around 4700 feet before the big gully crossing. We crossed the gully a bit below the normal trail crossing because the snow appeared a bit deeper, but it's melting fast there so just watch out for thin snow bridges and test before you step!! The trail from here was intermittent snow and trail, and sometimes we had to follow our Gaia map pretty closely to stay on the trail. Views out over Diablo lake began to open up after this and there were Avalanche Lilies popping up everywhere! There were MANY places where the snow was hard and quite slick with the potential to slip down a little or a lot (all with the potential to break an ankle or something worse), so we used our microspikes and ice axes steadily from the gully on up. After the final switchbacks up to the ridge, the snow was constant and steady, with a couple of steep climbing sections to get to the lookout.
It took us 4.5 hours to get to the top (and we were FAST on the lower snow free part of the trail) then 3.5 hours to get down. We encountered many ill-prepared hikers with minimal packs and running shoes on, passing us mid-afternoon with a long way still to go and asking us "are we close to the lookout?". We advised them how long it was likely to take them to get to the top and back down (which would likely be after dark) and most were surprised. READ YOUR TRIP REPORTS PEOPLE, and come prepared with enough time to get back to the TH before dark!!
Comments
WOW this reviewer pulls no punches! Be prepared folks!
Posted by:
Gary Hess on Jul 02, 2018 09:45 PM