Taboose Pass

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Rqal
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Taboose Pass

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Does anyone know how the trail is to Taboose Pass currently? I will be hiking food in for some friends doing the John Muir Trail, any info would be helpfull.

Thanks Rqal :lol:
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fishmonger
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Re: Taboose Pass

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Rqal wrote:Does anyone know how the trail is to Taboose Pass currently? I will be hiking food in for some friends doing the John Muir Trail, any info would be helpfull.

Thanks Rqal :lol:
I know it as of last summer. It was rough, but it never was really any better than that anyway. I've hiked it 20 years ago and could not tell any real change from the conditions back in the 80s. One of my least favorite passes in the Sierra, mostly because the maps and even Secor's book give you the wrong distances and it always felt like we were never getting there. It is really well over 8.5 miles to the top of the pass from the trailhead, and not 5.5 miles as the guide and some maps indicate.

Bring a lot of water for the lower half of the trail - there's only one place between the trailhead and the first crossing of the creek where you can fill up. The trail is pretty hot if you start after sunrise.

Once you get over the pass, the trail cutting across to the JMT intersection near Bench Lake is not very easy to find in the area just west of the pass, because it has been re-routed recently, nor has it been getting a lot of use. In many areas we found grass overgrowing the newly routed trail. Not a huge deal, if you know the general direction you need to head to get to the JMT.

Some maps show a shortcut to the JMT that meets it at the bottom of the valley near the river crossing, but that trail is even harder to find, if it is still usable at all.
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MoonscapeInspector
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Re: Taboose Pass

Post by MoonscapeInspector »

Rqal wrote:Does anyone know how the trail is to Taboose Pass currently? I will be hiking food in for some friends doing the John Muir Trail, any info would be helpfull.

Thanks Rqal :lol:

I went up from the eastern side a few weeks ago, and it was perfectly decent! The trail is well maintained, though it does go on a bit.
-Eric
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