Bachus wrote:Thanks for sharing the update from Sunrise to Clouds Rest. We were planning on through hiking from Sunrise to CR to LYV mid next week.
Would you know or be able to find out if your friends were able to make it to the trail junction (ie skip CR) which would allow us to follow the trail to the south of CR following Sunrise Creek and meeting up with the JMT near LYV? (Sounds like it’s time to start contingency planning)
You didn't say when you're planning to go, but if AT's experienced friends that knew the route had problems, I would think that's definitely a good gauge.
I went out with two thing in mind:
1. I wanted to get out and start my season earlier than I might normally for personal reasons.
2. Because I sit here and write about what I only know from past experiences, and thought it would be much more beneficial if I was there and could give current advice on a real-time basis.
So many people here asking questions are specifically asking about that area that, even though that wasn't my destination, I made special note of what I saw. Besides the north aspect of CR, I saw that most open granite in the high-country up there was snow-free from Tenaya Peak to CR, but all the forested areas still had enough coverage that it could be an issue. Upper Sunrise Lake is at ~9400, CR is at ~9900. I was at ~9300, and I was "in" enough snow that it could've very easily turned out badly if I didn't know the trail, didn't know how to navigate in those conditions, or was averse to wandering around and re-finding my way no matter what it took. Honestly, that's not for most people that simply want to hike and have a good time doing it. We had somewhat of an emergency situation, and it's not as though this one trip is a one-and-done. We could afford to write it off, because we'll go out again...soon. Then we'll be back for another trail, another time...many times. If you're not in the same boat, and you're going out soon for a one big trip of the year, you might want to consider that and change gears before you get there.
That said, as much as I love it, and as beautiful as it is, overall, if you remove Sunrise Lakes and Cloud's Rest from your plan because of conditions, it really isn't much more than mediocre hiking up there and getting between point A and B if the two major destinations that are what you're there to see in the first place aren't something you can get to.
Find ErinJ86 here. She was just up there last week. Send her a PM, or better yet, ask her to write up a report on what she found.