High Sierra Topix

@Dave_Ayers - I can't remember where I saw it (in one of the various Facebook groups, I suppose) some folks reported that they tried, but were turned back by dense foliage on that traverse toward the confluence. It wasn't clear how much experience they had with off-trail route-finding, however, so I'd take that with a grain of salt or ten.

People were definitely fording the San J just downstream from the bridge location, however, come late August / early September - so perhaps with a lighter snowpack (in theory) this year, it might be crossable earlier. We shall see!

Here's a decent account from a 2024 PCT hiker who recently took Andrew Skurka's "Up and Over" bypass of the missing middle fork bridge: https://yetihikes.net/wordpress/2024/05 ... lgDXk-efra

In case anyone is still interested, I ran across this comprehensive compilation of alternative routes:

https://caltopo.com/m/CDUQD

For what it is worth, a PCT hiker posted that on July 13, the crossing at Evolution Valley was calm and knee-deep (6ft2in fellow) and the San Joaquin Crossing where the bridge is out, was "not scary" (no details given).

I was in the Evolution Basin on July 17 and 18. Many hikers there told me that the San Joaquin Crossing is currently not an issue: walk across or go over a nearby log. Excellent news.

Jim

FYI if you're heading this way on a trip there is now a temporary bridge.

https://www.reddit.com/r/JMT/comments/1 ... le_bridge/

That is great news!

Mike M.