High Sierra Topix

good morning

The snow pack's looking good for early August in SW Yosemite, we've never been on the road to shingle springs and the posts on HST leave me wondering... I've done class 4 roads into the sawtooths but that was a rental AWD car. With our own faithful CRV I'm sure my wife will want a bit more caution. Any info would be greatly appreciated since it's a fair drive from Eugene OR.

thanks

Early last summer ordinary passenger cars could get to the trail head to Kibbie ridge/lake. Rangers at the Groveland ranger station should have more up to date information for this area of Emigrant Wilderness. You could call them.

Last June I drove my 2wd normal suspension Volvo station wagon to the Shingle Springs trailhead. The last mile was very rough, and I scraped bottom a couple of times. However, by driving very very slowly and carefully I made it with no damage.

There is an alternative if you are super nervous. You can stop at any number of places short of the trailhead along the road. Only the last mile is bad. And the road may have been graded (or deteriorated) since then.

thanks for the info.

larry

I was there at the same time as kpeter. The road is kinda funny in that the further you go, the rougher it gets. The last stretch from the last switchback is the worst. Nice big parking lot though. As many times I have been there, I have never been all the way over to the springs itself. This last time, just before the dam, there was a booth and "guard" who checked for a permit. Must be a 'homeland security' thing.