John M
I don't think that the weather and trail conditions have allowed many trips so far this year.There are not a lot of people that are skilled in winter mountaineering that have made trips so far. As the winter snows recede there will be more TRs accordingly.Until then there will be peripheral discusions on equipment and such.I really don't think it is anything more than that.It is still winter in the Sierras.
The trail reports started to come in the about this time last year. We found they really helped in planning our 5/10-13 trip. However, last winter was very dry and the snow level was low. I expect the volume of reports as the trail gets easier and more folks get the itch to go high.
Don't worry DocRodney sooner rather than later the "where's the water" type questions will populate this board, along with "look at you damn map" responses.