- Location
- Pittsburg CA
Just got back from my annual trip to Lake Alpine and tried to find out whatever I could about both trails. I wasn't able to talk to any of the Alpine County Sheriffs, so nothing is really official.
As for Slickrock, I met a guy who used to be the trail boss for one of the 4x4 clubs that came up and opened the trail every year. He told me that the cabin owners that are saying that the trail is closed have tried that in the past. But it is actually a county road and the sheriff has always told them they can not close a county road just because they don't want people driving by their property. And I saw no indication of closure for that trail since plenty of people were going in and out from the Alpine side.
As for Deer Valley, I talked to a few different people and the consensus is that it will open probably this week/weekend. Nothing in stone for that though. But running in up to the Stanislaus National Forest border should be good either way. I hiked up a short way (didn't have the heep this time) and took a couple of photos.
I found this only about 40 to 50 yards past the first sharp turn at the bottom of the trail. There is room to squeeze past, but not much for a wider rig.
The large rocks in the middle of the road were right in the middle of the turn 2 years ago but have moved, on their own or with help, making the turn in the back ground much easier.
I didn't get much further to see if there might be more downed trees. There are quite a few downed trees through out the area this year, so there could be more on/across the trail as you get further up. The Hermit Valley camp ground looks the same as always including the restrooms. So no issues there.
Anyway, that's about all I found out. In case I can't make it up there, I hope everyone has fun. :woohoo:
As for Slickrock, I met a guy who used to be the trail boss for one of the 4x4 clubs that came up and opened the trail every year. He told me that the cabin owners that are saying that the trail is closed have tried that in the past. But it is actually a county road and the sheriff has always told them they can not close a county road just because they don't want people driving by their property. And I saw no indication of closure for that trail since plenty of people were going in and out from the Alpine side.
As for Deer Valley, I talked to a few different people and the consensus is that it will open probably this week/weekend. Nothing in stone for that though. But running in up to the Stanislaus National Forest border should be good either way. I hiked up a short way (didn't have the heep this time) and took a couple of photos.
I found this only about 40 to 50 yards past the first sharp turn at the bottom of the trail. There is room to squeeze past, but not much for a wider rig.
The large rocks in the middle of the road were right in the middle of the turn 2 years ago but have moved, on their own or with help, making the turn in the back ground much easier.
I didn't get much further to see if there might be more downed trees. There are quite a few downed trees through out the area this year, so there could be more on/across the trail as you get further up. The Hermit Valley camp ground looks the same as always including the restrooms. So no issues there.
Anyway, that's about all I found out. In case I can't make it up there, I hope everyone has fun. :woohoo:
