High Sierra Topix

Here is the bridge at Glen Aulin.

Absolutely no bets placed on any other bridge out there. If you aren't paying attention to PCT thrus on Instagram or Facebook -- they are all struggling and nearly being swept away in waterways everywhere.

This is a bad year to play roulette with your life.

Nice picture, AT! Looks like a snow load failure because of the way it crumpled.

The sad part is, people are posting these pictures on Facebook and other people are all over it expecting rangers to have already been out there to fix them, despite the conditions -- "don't they know there are hikers out there?"

I refer to that as the "DisneyLand" syndrome. Which in this case, this time of year, the wilderness is not really a walk in the park, as most rides are currently broken.

Darwin awards will be handed out, unfortunately.

From backpacker forum -
Re: Grand Canyon of the Tuolumne hopefuls - beware
Postby Vegasbackpacker » Fri Jun 09, 2017 12:13 pm

"Just spoke with a ranger up there. They went out to Glen Aulin 2 days ago. Bridges are gone-destroyed. Water is too high to cross. They have heard mention of a possible 22nd of June Tioga opening."

The bridge before - looks like crossing the Tuolumne there might be a problem for a while.

Wow, the Glen Aulin bridge! That's crazy. I truly appreciate all of your advice, everyone. I've decided to pass on it this year, now I will have to focus on where to go instead. Even places with less snow at lower elevations (i.e. Golden Trout or Domeland) will still have raging rivers. I will have to cast a wider net for locale as I have no flexibility time wise. I imagine the Trinities and Marbles are well covered with snow as well. Perhaps a route could be constructed going over Trail or Cottonwood Pass and avoiding major crossings.

I have been following a few PCT folks that have made it through to at least Mammoth and it does indeed sound more scary than fun. They had the benefit of a few intact snow bridges on the worst crossings at Bear Creek, but it sounds gnarly, and if I recall correctly, north of TM can be the most dangerous crossings on the Sierra PCT. Fascinating year, really hoping for the safety of all those going through right now.

markskor wrote:"Just spoke with a ranger up there. They went out to Glen Aulin 2 days ago. Bridges are gone-destroyed. Water is too high to cross. They have heard mention of a possible 22nd of June Tioga opening."

Umm. there is a "workaround" to the crossings. if coming from TM, you simply turn to your right around the first "bridge", and head straight to the meadow with the bear hair trap in it and down the hill about 30 yds, and you're back on the trail. I see no reason to go there, but ok.. Glen Aulin's water source valves are there as well

Ohh, the things we learn..

Working around the bridges and getting down into the Gorge to find the trail is in the river would be most disappointing.... when I hiked it the river was low, and about 5' down from the trail in places. I'm no gecko to work around that.

Never implied it's a smart move, but It bypasses the bridge issue and dangerous crossings if you're headed North. Works the other way as well. I used to use that route when Virginia had fish.. Total agreement that West of Glen Aulin is bad right now, trail-wise.