Mt. Whitney Portal Store & Hostel Forums General Mt. Whitney Portal Store Message Board Horseshoe Meadows Road Snowshoe - April 17, 2023

Only made it partway up the 3rd switchback before coming to a snowfield that stopped me. 5 minutes of digging would have allowed another mile, or so... I walked/snowshoed up to where the road drops down...about 10.5 miles round trip.

Here are some photos:














Wanoga Peak and the "trailhead" turnout.



Walt's Point



Road damage



Owen's Lake is a lake again...



Another One Lane section coming soon...

Hey Richard! excellent photos.... It looks like the middle to late June for the opening of the road.

There goes my Memorial Weekend hiking.

On some of the photos, it looks there are tractor tracks.

I'd rather hear from you then ask the rangers st the Visitor's Center. At least you have firsthand knowledge.

Thanks again.

paul

Yeah, I didn't mention it in the post even though I meant to...

I think that was the (?04.01?) snow/water survey team...the tracks carried down the other side...

It did make dealing with the really soft snow in the afternoon a bit easier.

WOW!

Richard, judging from the obvious landmarks the photos appear to be from the crest and then on the way back down, so am I correct in inferring that the landslide is below Walts Point ?, and wondering if that landslide has been cleared yet, and if ICDR would let us up that far even if the campground isn't clear yet, as I'm hoping to launch from Walts Point on Memorial Day, any updates or info would be appreciated

Road has major problems water coming out of slide.Snow about 3-4 feet at the last gate.
The idea of partial opening leads to serious issues ,truck pulling 40 trailer,8 horses on board nowhere to turn around same with motor homes ,you could turn around at Walts point if it wasn't filled with cars.
We have this happen at the Portal the county road goes to 500 feet from the trailhead gate locked now a dead end road no area to turn around,and the one area you can turn a car around most often has a car parked in the road.

http://www.mountwhitneyforum.com/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=105360#Post105360 provides an update on the road conditions I saw up there...

Based on what I saw at Onion Valley a few days ago, the major melt hasn't hit the 9k'+ level yet...so, I don't think HM Rd will be open for Memorial Day (I hope I'm wrong)...there was still at least 3' of snow on the ground at that level...

As Doug states, there's way too much potential for anyone towing a trailer (or in a longer vehicle) to get in trouble and not be able to head back down if the route all the way to to the trailhead isn't clear...so I doubt they'd open to a lower locked gate like they sometimes do on WP Rd...

I do love being up there by myself, so I'll keep riding up there and post reports on what I see...