High Sierra Topix

Just got back from a trip from Taboose Pass. The road is worse than I remembered from previous years. I think it got washed out a bit this year. The trailhead as such is miserable. There is little flat ground to camp and it is infested with ants. No facilities- no outhouse, and no bear boxes. It took me 30 minutes to drive from the Taboose Creek campground to the trailhead.

Wandering Daisy - re: Taboose TH. Is the road worse above the "corrals" area? Or is the "corrals" area still the new TH since the 2013 TStorms? (A ranger had said closed beyond the "corrals", but she'd said that right after the storms... So an extra half mile of hoofing it if parking at the "corrals".) Bummer the road is worse now. I'll be driving my Prius very very slowly... And we'd figured we'd be parking at the "corrals" anyway.

(I can still picture the look on people's faces seeing that car parked at the Kibby Lake TH. From Cherry up to Kibby could slip into that "nastiest" category. Uh, not that the road will be usable now for a while since the Rim Fire...)

I think I was at the regular trailhead. It really is not much of a parking lot. Shortly after getting on the trail you pass the sign indicating you are entering the JM Wilderness. Do not plan on camping at the trailhead. It is hot, no shade, infested with ants and hardly a flat non-rocky spot. That is unless you are set up to sleep in your car. It took me half an hour to go from Taboose Campground to the trailhead. I think I averaged 5 mph!

Wandering Daisy wrote:I think I was at the regular trailhead. It really is not much of a parking lot. Shortly after getting on the trail you pass the sign indicating you are entering the JM Wilderness. Do not plan on camping at the trailhead. It is hot, no shade, infested with ants and hardly a flat non-rocky spot. That is unless you are set up to sleep in your car. It took me half an hour to go from Taboose Campground to the trailhead. I think I averaged 5 mph!

5 mph, man you where flying up that road, usually it's quicker to walk it!!!

I agree the road to Horton Lake TH should be included in the list and I rate it a solid 3. Drove to Taboose last year and Shepherd this year in my Subaru Outback AWD, did not find either to be as horrible. I actually managed to scratch the right side of my car by veering too far into the brush, trying to avoid gaping holes and prominent rocks on Horton. My experience served as a dire warning to a friend who chose to wrap his car in huge sheets of plastic to avoid the same fate (he works in construction).

orbitor wrote:I agree the road to Horton Lake TH should be included in the list and I rate it a solid 3. Drove to Taboose last year and Shepherd this year in my Subaru Outback AWD, did not find either to be as horrible. I actually managed to scratch the right side of my car by veering too far into the brush, trying to avoid gaping holes and prominent rocks on Horton. My experience served as a dire warning to a friend who chose to wrap his car in huge sheets of plastic to avoid the same fate (he works in construction).

Ahaaa! Desert Pinstripes!

austex wrote:Ahaaa! Desert Pinstripes!

Not something to be proud about, luckily most came off after some intense cleaning and buffing.

what would the Mineral King road be?

Armstrong Canyon Road - I don't know if I'll ever drive that one again. It's not that the road was in bad condition when I went up it a couple of years ago, but it is just so narrow and it would awful to run into a vehicle going the other way on it. I didn't realize how close I was driving to the edge of that road in places until on the way down. A jeep would be better than a Tacoma. I guess I'd give Armstrong a 3 or 4 due because it's a narrow shelf road with loose rocks in areas that might be pretty tough if you can't go into 4WD low and crawl.

Then there are the various roads to the George Creek - 2 to 3. I guess Foothill is washed out somewhere though; so maybe worse if you drive in that way.

The road to Birch Lake Trailhead - 1 or 2 until near the end and then it becomes a 3 or so, but it doesn't save much to go to the end.

Tobacco Flats Road for the easy route up Morrison. This is a 2 - 3.

Oak Creek Road to Baxter Pass Trailhead - 1

Road to Sawmill Pass Trailhead - 1-2

How would those who have driven the Bear Diversion Dam Road rate it?