High Sierra Topix

I was last there many score of moons ago, in a 1958 VW beetle, and had no problems clearance wise. I'm now driving an Audi A3, which has similar ground clearance. Has it been turned into a "real" road since the '70's?

It was gorgeous then: there were spots where I was driving over granite, through bushes and trees. It was basically a one-lane affair. I was looking at spending a few nights at Jackass Meadows before hiking out towards Evolution Valley, and the reservation site was mentioning "no vehicle over 40'." I would not have wanted to be in a 40' vehicle( actually, it says 25' ) on the earlier version of the road!

Thx for any info.

Was up that way a few weeks ago, not bad, still one lane in many places, especially the closer you get to the lake. I would not have wanted to take my Civic up there, it is only 6-7" off the ground. Of course we flew over the road, missing an occasional hole and hitting many more. Still paved using the granite as stepping stones.

kgw wrote:I was last there many score of moons ago, in a 1958 VW beetle, and had no problems clearance wise.

Be careful with that 1958 VW. I've heard of people impaling themselves on the stick!

Here is the vdub in question, on the side of Rt. 395 outside Bridgeport, after a great backpack out of Twin Lakes:

kgw wrote:I was last there many score of moons ago, in a 1958 VW beetle, and had no problems clearance wise. I'm now driving an Audi A3, which has similar ground clearance. Has it been turned into a "real" road since the '70's?

It was gorgeous then: there were spots where I was driving over granite, through bushes and trees. It was basically a one-lane affair. I was looking at spending a few nights at Jackass Meadows before hiking out towards Evolution Valley, and the reservation site was mentioning "no vehicle over 40'." I would not have wanted to be in a 40' vehicle( actually, it says 25' ) on the earlier version of the road!

Thx for any info.

I drove it last weekend and a couple of times earlier this year. Mostly, it's the same road you remember. For the first 3-4 miles past Huntington Lake the road is two lane, which may be an improvement since your last visit. Years ago the plan was to improve the road like that all the way to Florence/Edison and build a new reservoir at Blayney Meadows, but those plans were ultimately abandoned. Until last week I would have advised against driving your A3. But the Forest Service has finally started filling in the plethora of potholes - the first repairs they've done to the road in a couple of years. It was the worst I'd seen the road in decades until they started the patchwork. I was told that SoCal Edison pays for the annual road work and the FS provides the labor. But rumor has it Edison was not too happy when the FS decided to use the money for something else last year and let the road go into disrepair. In any case, the road is fine now, and you should be fine driving it in your Audi.

Here's a link you might find useful: http://www.muirtrailranch.com/kprsurvival.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Thanks so much for the current info, Eric. The Audi is a fantastic car, it's just "dirt-road" challenged!

The real road question in those parts is "how is the condition of the jeep road to Bear Diversion Dam". A most disqustingly extra 2.5 mile hot hike to have to start from the paved road. Some years that be reasonable for low wheelbase 4WD but other years one better bring a shovel and pray.

The road's the same as ever. They were up there filling potholes the last week in July (but that may have been only the area before you reach the Florence/Edison junction). I'm kind of glad that the road is what it is: imagine the hordes that would drive up there if it were ever fully repaired and widened.

The road to Bear Dam is another matter. When I bought an elderly Jeep wrangler years ago, the operative question was: will it make it to Bear Dam? It did, nicely, but it's got some current problems (along with the gas guzzling) that now keep it off the road as much as possible. We haven't yet figured out whether to fix it yet again or to try to trade it in as a clunker. (Can't really afford the latter, even with the rebate.) The trail over Bear Ridge from just below the dam at Edison isn't too bad--it does offer pretty good views--but it's an added couple of miles that one doesn't necessarily want to start off with.