Worst Switchbacks in the Sierras...

[ndwoods]

I had no problem with Copper Creek, they are appropriate to the trail...the most annoying I think are the Yosemite Falls cobblestones....hate those things! Worst switchbacks I have ever hiked were not in the Sierra but in the Marble Mtns....Lake of the Island. My whole family remembers that trip!:)

[hikerchick395]

I, too, am annoyed by the dang rip rap on the Yosemite Falls trail...going down. (They were putting in more steps on the Yosemite Falls trail this summer!)

Not particularly looked forward to...Bear Ridge.

Perception of switchbacks depend on how you remember (or don't remember) them from previous visits. I had a tough time with Glen Pass the last time as I just didn't remember it at all, even though I had been up and over 5 or 6 times previously.

That section of trail between Blue Lake and Dingleberry Lake (across the gully) was constructed in 1989.

[Cross Country]

When encountering switchbacks like the one above Anvil and the one near Barney it appears that lots of people just cut them. I've been up these 2 and 3 times each. It's also true (cutting) of the ones that go to Timber Gap from Mineral King. I can't imagine what the engineer was thinking when he planned the 1st 2.

[ERIC]

ceragold5150......
Are we not insulted here...... ? Boys (girls?)?
You are talking down to ( ) a group of superbly conditioned specimens of the genus: "mountianeous manus" (except for probably me: older, studmuffin, chick-type person). These guys are not weekend warriors. No hanging around, spare-time, couch potatos here. No! These guys can do push-ups with their tongues! (Watch out girls!).
The switchbacks mentioned (and I've been up a LOT of them), heretofore, can kick the a$$ off your average mountian gorrilla.
No forays, up middlin little hills, these. They be big, bad, grunty, dirty, sweaty, rocky, altitudinous, crazy, often pointlessly and poorly designed goat-tracks in the wilderness.
Ah, HA! But what satisfaction one derives from making it to the top (or bottom) of one of these miserable marvels without killing oneself, and seeing what "the bear saw".

HAHAHA!!!! Perfect description of you lot. Post of the year!!

[paul]

Well, I just gotta do it. I gotta be the one to say I like the Bear Ridge switchbacks. I like them because they do not mess around - once you start up it is a steady grade. Plus there's pretty good shade most of the way.

[oldranger]

You've all said everything profound and insightful to say about how we perceive switchbacks. The one I dislike the most is the last switchback going down from the high trail/Isberg Pass trail when I am heading to or from the Red Peak Pass trail. The only time I took the trail is when my daughters rebelled against any more cross country travel after leading them from red Peak Pass to Adair lake and back to the Merced Peak Fork. The other times I just cut across the Triple Peak Fork valley.

But all in all I don't mind switchbacks--they are just part of the game--But I'd hate to head out of Pate Valley in the afternoon in the late summer up toward the Pleasant Valley-Rogers Lake Trail--about 3,600 feet of sw facing slopes some of which is a recent burn and--probably no water. There is a reason why grass grows a foot tall in the middle of the trail!

Mike

[DoyleWDonehoo]

Maybe this discussion could include the topic "The worst Switchbacks I Never Intend To Do With A Pack"! I can think of a few, like:
The Yosemite Falls Trail.
Snow Creek Trail.
Going from Pate Valley to White Wolf.
Going from Pate Valley to Pleasant Valley.
And so on...
Most of the time you plan on a day-hike or only going down them.

Meanwhile about not-so-fun switchbacks:
There was a guy from back east who every year did a sorta lite-pack of the JMT, and absolutely HATED the Tully Hole switchbacks, not because they are hard, just endless for little altitude gain/loss.
Bear Ridge did not seems so bad...after a week on the JMT.
The switchbacks to the High Trail from the Lewis Creek junction, thems some steep switchbacks!
Up the Golden Staircase to Mather Pass, now that took a chunk out our energy load.
And lets face it, just about everything from the east side of the Sierra (that starts low) is just baaaad!
Mentioned before, the excellent stone stairs out of Bubbs Creek to Sphinx Creel/Lakes just about killed my backpack pard.
Even though it gained~4000 feet, the trail out of Tahipite Valley did not seem so bad...after hitting the trail at the crack of dawn. The front of my legs hurt from going DOWN them though.
The Deer Cove switchbacks are long and tiring but well graded.
The first time I did Glenn Pass was a beat-down, but every time thereafter seemed fairly easy. Go figure...
And so on...

[Cross Country]

I agree with giantbrookie about the Sphinx creek switchbacks. They are inspiring. Hi giantbrookie-Ha!

Once, my son Mike and I were hiking down from Baxter Pass and a Solo backpacker with lots of experience said to me "this should be called the "Bastard Pass Trail". To me it was kind of funny. I believe this to be true because we were hiking down, not up.

[calipidder]

I can walk up/down switchbacks all day as long as they aren't those 'sierra steps' or cobblestones that like to twist the ankles or interrupt a good pace. I'm trying to think of the times where those steps or cobblestones have really gotten annoying - Yosemite Falls. Mather Pass. Pate Valley to White Wolf. Black Rock pass from the west, while long and exposed, wasn't really that bad because it's graded in such a way that I could keep a pace and make progress. I've only gone down the Whitney switchbacks and haven't found them to be that bad - it's more the trail below the switchbacks that annoys me. Climbing towards granite park out of pine creek is a bit aggravating, but the first half is pretty well graded so I always think 'it could be worse'. Dunno. Whatever I'm on always seems that hardest when I'm out there.

Edited to add: that stupid stretch of the HST that descends into Kern Canyon from the west. Holy rattlesnakes batman! The first time I passed through there, I remember dealing with knee issues due to the 'sierra steps' plus lots of rattlesnakes. It's a stretch of trail I always dread.

[rlown]

It's not so much how you have to get there. It's more about where you're going and why..