Mono Creek Crossing at Third Recess

[mfortun]

Howdy y'all! Has anyone been by/over Mono Creek at the third recess recently? Was the creek crossing do-able? Planning to cross on 7.04.24!

[maverick]

Bob Capistrano on the Sierra Nevada Condition Reports site wrote:

Did a 48-mile partial loop over McGee, Silver and Mono Passes 6/24-29. Some snow left to cross above Big McGee Lake, energy sapping for me (age 74), but a trail runner and his dog easily passed me at 11,000 ft.

Mosquitoes were pesky below Big McGee, along lower McGee Pass Trail, and below (south of) Silver Pass Lake, but surprisingly light along Mono Creek.

There were a couple of easy wet stream crossings on each of the McGee Pass, JMT, and Mono Creek Trails, mostly below the knee and not that cold.

The Mono Creek Trail below Fourth Recess is somewhat rutted from erosion and doesn’t seem to get much traffic; saw no one else on McGee and only a couple of backpackers on lower Mono; but the usual 20+ on the JMT.

Tributary creeks running into Mono are easily crossed. Mono is is faster and swifter. I crossed it closer to Fourth Recess, easy, maybe knee

[RadiantRiddle]

Haven't been up there recently myself, but typically around this time of year, creek crossings in that area can vary. It really depends on how much snowmelt there's been lately. Best bet is to check with recent trail reports or maybe even the ranger station closer to your trip date for the latest conditions.