Bridge Out on JMT - Kings Canyon National Park - California, USA

[Tom Taylor]

At mile 854.5 from the south.

 

[Sirius Glass]

Thank you for posting.

 

[Tom Taylor]

Here is its location on my Harrison Trail Map (2):

The steel bridge at 1, ~ 3 miles north, crosses Piute Creek which in normal years is a raging river and otherwise not crossable at that location. The trail branching off to the north from Piute Creek climbs for about 17 miles before arriving at Piute Pass. It's 5 miles from Piute Pass to the parking lot at North Lake. Hikers traveling from the south (predominately those hiking the PCT) would encounter the washed out bridge immediately after exiting Evolution Valley and as you can see there is no easy way around regardless of whether you're doing the JMT from the north or the PCT/JMT from the south.

 

[Tom Taylor]

Updated route recommendations from Elizabeth Wenk for those contemplating traveling in the area this season:

From Elizabeth Wenk, JMT guidebook author extraordinaire - see https://www.amazon.com/stores/Elizabeth-Wenk/author/B004R0TMBC

As everyone knows, the middle bridge along Goddard Canyon was damaged this past winter, likely due to heavy, lopsided snow on the bridge. (37.20319ºN, 118.8009ºW; mile 114.8 SOBO; 107.4 NOBO)
The trees to either side of the bridge are identical to those in photos I took in 2021, so it is unlikely to have been an avalanche that caused the damage.
The bridge is still well above the water and it is too early to know exactly what it will look like, but one handrail is clearly badly damaged. Until in-person assessments are made, we have to assume bypasses will be required and lots of suggestions are swirling around the internet – including several I’ve made. I’ve pulled together and edited all the bits and pieces I’ve posted across multiple sites.
Remember as well, that you can use your permit to simply do an out-and-back trip along a piece of the JMT, avoiding the bridge altogether.

And thank you to Inga Aksamit, John Ladd, and the John Muir Trail Wilderness Conservancy for encouraging me to post this.

A. RECOMMENDED ROUTE
Bishop Pass /Piute Pass (JMT in LeConte Canyon to JMT at Piute Bridge/Piute Pass junction)
This is the recommended route for most JMT hikers. The only option to remain entirely on a well-maintained trail is to use Bishop Pass to South Lake and North Lake to Piute Pass to bypass the JMT from LeConte Canyon to the Piute Pass junction.
As of this writing (late April 2023), your Wilderness Permit is invalidated if you leave at one trailhead and re-enter at a different trailhead. Hopefully an exemption will be made for this regulation this year, explicitly for this detour.
This detour is described (with annotated elevation profiles) on 266-269 of the John Muir Trail: The Essential Guide to Hiking America's Most Famous Trail (Wilderness Press; 6th edition); there are elevation profiles on page 96-97 of the accompanying JMT Data Book (2nd edition)
Distance/elevation bypassed along JMT for this section: 26.7 trail miles and +3,000/-4,000 feet.
Distance/elevation of route: 29.2 trail miles + 12.0 road miles (easy to hitch); trail section is +6,190/-6,390 feet; road section is -1,900/+1,300 feet.
Creek crossings:
On the Bishop Pass Trail: the one water crossing of the Dusy Branch can be deep and intimidating; the higher crossing is on a bridge; on the northeast side of the pass, many small creeks need to be waded, but none should be dangerous.
On the Piute Pass Trail: those on the east side have logs/bridges;on the west side, French Canyon creek is broad with multiple channels. It will be a wade, but I don’t think ever impassable; the two Pinnacles Creeks might be tricky and should be crossed early in the day.

​

B. NON-ADVISED ROUTES THAT ARE PLAUSIBLE FOR EXPERIENCED OFF-TRAIL HIKERS​

1. Lamarck Col/Piute Pass (JMT at the north end of Evolution Basin to JMT at Piute Bridge/Piute Pass jct)

For experienced cross-country hikers, this is the easiest of the off-trail routes, with a use trail along much of the distance, but this summer there will be snow cover through July – or beyond. It has the attraction that you miss much less of the JMT, but it takes you over a high pass. It has the advantage that you never leave Wilderness, if that is necessitated.
There are only two “sketchy” sections. The first is a stretch along the second highest Darwin Canyon Lake where you cross mid-large boulders right at the water’s edge; these require some delicate steps and could be scary in soft snow. The second is the first 100 feet down the east side of the pass, which is perpetually snow-covered. It is reasonably steep, but with a safe run-out.
This route is not recommended, especially not snow-covered, if you have never hiked off-trail before.
This detour is described (with annotated elevation profiles) on 266-269 of the John Muir Trail: The Essential Guide to Hiking America's Most Famous Trail (Wilderness Press; 6th edition); there are elevation profiles on page 96-97 of the accompanying JMT Data Book (2nd edition)
Distance/elevation bypassed on JMT: 11. 1 trail miles, -2,560 feet
Distance/elevation for route: 26.1 miles (6.5 off-trail; 19.6 on trail), + 5,300/-7,840 feet
Creek crossings:
On Lamarck Col route: no big crossings
On the Piute Pass Trail: those on the east side have logs/bridges; on the west side, French Canyon creek is broad with multiple channels. It will be a wade, but I don’t think ever impassable; the two Pinnacles Creeks might be tricky and should be crossed early in the day
2. Goddard Canyon junction to northern MTR cut-off junction
This option remains entirely on “trails” and allows you to see all of Evolution Basin and Evolution Valley. It is one of the longest, but least technical detours. The trails are not well defined in some places, and it will be impacted by the snowpack. One important consideration is how to manage resupply and/or pack weight with the additional mileage. There are some moderately large creeks (Boulder Creek, Post Corral Creek), but none has a large enough catchment they should be impassable (or as difficult as the difficult wades on the JMT).
Distance/elevation bypassed onJMT: 7.1 miles; +520/ -600 feet
Distance/elevation for route: 37.8 miles; approximately: +7,830/ -7,910 feet (about 1.7 miles shorter with cut-off trail from Boulder Creek to Florence Lake)
Creek crossings: Post Corral Creek & Boulder Creek can have significant flow, but shouldn’t be impassable
I hiked this in early July 2018, as a loop out of Florence Lake. The trail up Goddard Canyon beyond the JMT was worked on in 2017/2018 and was in excellent condition up to the Hell for Sure Pass junction. It is a beautiful, showy walk! Hell for Sure Pass was in OK condition - there were a few places willows and young lodgepoles were growing on the trail tread, but I believe this has also been worked on in the past 5 years. West side of Hell for Sure Pass is steepish, sandy, but short. I then dropped down to Fleming Creek, then Post Corral Creek. The trail is built to a good standard once at Hell for Sure Lake and it is beautiful walking. Good camping at all the lakes and some spectacular junipers lower down. From Post Corral Creek I headed to Long Meadow, then up Burnt Corral Creek. The junction is indistinct, but the first mile of trail (to the northern Hobler Lake Junction) was good; thereafter the trail became less used and I'd lose it from time to time, especially between 9,400-9,600 feet, below Burnt Corral Meadow. Thompson Pass is easy, low angle on both sides with some nice views from the ridge just north of the pass. Thompson Lake has camping. The trail was decent up to Boulder Creek, but thereafter was again faint from dis-use. Someone had put pink flagging tape on branches which helped a little, but there were sections where I struggled to find a trail. I followed the northwestern fork toward Florence's outlet, while the cut-off trail parallel to Boulder Creek that leads to Florence's inlet looked even less used, but the terrain should have made for easy walking. The cut-off route was one of the historic trails through the area, so it must have been well built at some point.
Reddy's Hole option: I've seen that route marked on some maps, but it doesn’t appear on any historic maps. I’ve looked back over old USGS maps to the 1912 Goddard map (https://ngmdb.usgs.gov/topoview/viewer/#15/37.1956/-118.8665). The line as drawn doesn’t make sense as an exact route, so I don’t know where it came from. I haven't explored that area, but there are no junctions at either end that indicate the start/end of the trail, so I'm guessing it is in even worse condition than the "low route" I took. In 2018 I climbed up Fleming Mountain, visited Rae Lake, and walked up to Mosquito Pass and searched for, but didn’t find, any obvious spurs. But I did camp in Long Meadow with a hiker who has explored this area for decades and he talked about how wonderful the area around Reddy's Hole and Red Rock Basin is - and indicated that "old" trails went through the area. If the terrain is snow covered, I'd stay high, because it is shorter and nicer snow-walking out of trees, but if dropping down got me to dry trail, I'd probably take that this year.

3. McClure Meadow to damaged bridge, via south side Glacier Divide
This would bypass just 5 miles of the JMT, from McClure Meadow to the damaged bridge along the South Fork San Joaquin and should be a reasonable route for EXPERIENCED CROSS-COUNTRY HIKERS ONLY. That said, I’ve never followed part of it, so I’m basing this on staring at maps and Google Earth. Doing this also bypasses the Evolution Creek wade.
You’d climb from McClure Meadow to the 10,800-contour line below Lake 11092 (through forest, easy, but steep cross-country; I’ve done this part); then traverse at about this contour past Knob 10,809 feet, slowly climbing through forest to Knob 11,084 feet. Continue due west, continuing to the first creek gully, intersecting it at 10,200 or continue to the second creek gully. I have followed the second mapped creek up/down from Aspen Meadow and there were a few stretches of slabs, but nothing steep or sketchy – although they will be harder when snow-covered. I can’t be sure if the more southern creek can be followed down – there is one steep section between 9,000 and 9,200 feet.
Since this route is entirely south-facing or west-facing it will be slushy snow, but melt earlier in the season than other options.

C. ROUTES THAT ARE NOT ADVISABLE

1. Tyee Lakes

As a partial alternative to the South Lake to North Lake Road, you can cut over the Tyee Lakes and Table Mountain from the South Lake Road to Lake Sabrina. You still exit Wilderness, so this doesn’t solve the Wilderness Permit problem and adds +1,600 elevation gain. The distance is 7.7 trail miles (some relatively rough and steep) + 4.8 road miles, so it is a somewhat longer route. I wouldn’t suggest this – not only is it longer and harder than following the road, but it would mean entering and leaving Wilderness twice, so it wouldn’t be viewed favorably by Inyo NF rangers.
2. Crossing the Glacier Divide: the Keyhole, Alpine Col, & Snow Tongue Pass
These are all mountaineering passes for experienced back-country hikers and I don’t recommend any of them to people who don’t have significant off-trail experience on talus and snow with a full pack. For all of them it is most efficient to depart from the JMT at the Lamarck Pass junction – and regain the JMT at the Piute Pass junction.
The Keyhole is likely to be snow-filled this year. There are steep gullies on both the east and west sides that might be icy. If the snow melts, there is a third class section on the west side of the keyhole – it isn’t awful, but many people won’t like the climb and narrow ledge traverse. The lakes on the west side are quite easy walking, while the Lost Lakes on the east side can be tedious – maybe less so in the snow.
Alpine Col is relatively easy on its south side – a sandy (or snowy) slope without any cliff bands. On the north side there are some truly gigantic talus blocks. It is far more pleasant in the snow than without it – I did not enjoy clambering over many car to RV-sized boulders with a full pack. Skiing it was wonderful. If the snow is very soft, I’d worry about dropping into air pockets between boulders.
Snow Tongue Pass is easy on its south side. On the north side there is a steep section of either snow (this year) or loose rock (last year). Alpine Col is considerably less steep, but Snow Tongue doesn’t have any giant talus blocks.
3. Wanda Lake to Davis Lakes and Goddard Canyon
I don’t see the attraction in this as a bypass route – it doesn’t bypass the damaged bridge. It is a somewhat shorter route to reach the Hell for Sure Trail junction, but certainly harder than staying on the JMT to Goddard Canyon. But mainly, you’ll likely have to detour most of the way south to Martha Lake to ford the South Fork San Joaquin. In June 2000, a moderate snow year, I came down the North Fork Goddard Canyon and walked upstream for several miles before I was willing to ford the river. In July 2018 there was a log to cross on, but that may well have vanished this year.
4. Follow east side of South Fork San Joaquin once at the base of Evolution Valley / in Goddard Canyon.
I do not recommend this option until well into August this year, because it requires wading Evolution Creek just where it flows into the South Fork San Joaquin. I've looked at lots of photos in GoogleEarth and except for very late season, there is "white water" along the entire length, including in low snow years. There are crossings I balk at that are not turbulent enough to be "white" and I know this will have a lot of water. (I do think that the east side traverse from the damaged bridge to Evolution Creek will go. It is talus with aspens and manzanita, so it will be slow, but I've looked at it before and thought it looked "OK". )

 

[Tom Taylor]

Video of CalTrans plowing 120 just West of 395: Video

 

[Tom Taylor]

The official detours for this section of the PCT/JMT have been decided upon: Trail & Map

 

[Tom Taylor]

Photos of the bridge from the ground are now posted:

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"Its important to understand exactly what you are looking at here. That deck is twisted to a downward slope of about about 70 degrees near the middle. That is steeper than the Half-Dome cables route. Walking this plank is not a friction move. Anyone attempting to cross would be not so much standing on the deck as hanging from that upstream railing. That is the weight of hiker and pack supported by the arms for a 100 foot traverse. Directly below the steepest point is a gap of about ten feet between cross members. Best case scenario in case of a fall is impact on one of those steel members, driven by pack weigh with a force sufficient to break any bone you care to name. At that point the down stream side, which should be vertical, is bent down about 60 degrees, or 15 degrees below horizontal. The anchors at each end apparently held just enough during the winter so that the bridge twisted instead of rolling over, but now are pulling out of the rock and concrete to which they were fastened.

Preliminary examination by a structural engineer among us is that it is worse than it appears."

 

[MattKing]

Preliminary examination by a structural engineer among us is that it is worse than it appears."

Kind of difficult to see how it could be worse than it appears!

 

[Sirius Glass]

Kind of difficult to see how it could be worse than it appears!

Just walk on it and it will become apparent soon enough.

 

[glbeas]

Looks like a tree in the river rammed it.

 

[Tom Taylor]

A PCT hiker crossing the bridge a few days ago:

 

[DREW WILEY]

All that was almost literally my old back yard. I grew up with the folks who own what is now called the Muir Trail Ranch just downriver from that crossing, along with the ferry service across Florence Lk. The PCT/JMT is what we called the "Freeway", and tended to attract a lot of people who insist on getting from Point A to Point B on a fixed schedule, and often aren't very experienced concerning mountain risks. I won't relate my idea of a shortcut; but most of the recommended ones aren't short at all - up to a 40 mile detour, and potentially involve steep high passes requiring ice axes on a high snowfall year like this. I've always preferred the "scenic routes" myself, rather than the PCT/JMT. But upriver from that bridge it goes through splendid Evolution Valley. Speed hiker types are generally so exhausted they often don't even see the beauty, just want the "bragging rights" for having done the JMT. Pitiful.

And believe me, it can be a LOT worse that it appears, Matt. The water level was twice as high a month ago. And it might briefly be again for awhile, as the incoming tropical storm strips a lot of that excess of snow higher up. This bridge is at one of the low points along that particular system, around 7,000 ft. But it is surrounded by peaks up to twice that altitude.

As the movie saying goes, "Stupid is as stupid does".

 

[Tom Taylor]

UPDATE:

The bridge has been completely disassembled on both sides of the river. Thru-bound hikers are fording the river which is knee/calf high. The Bighorn sheep population has been "decimated."

 

[Sirius Glass]

UPDATE:

The bridge has been completely disassembled on both sides of the river. Thru-bound hikers are fording the river which is knee/calf high. The Bighorn sheep population has been "decimated."

Thank you for posting the article about the Sierra bighorn sheep.

 

[DREW WILEY]

I suspect the declining Williamson herd is why a couple of sizable plots of land further down, between Foothill Rd at the foot of the Range, yet slightly uphill from Manzanar, are being designated as Wilderness Study Areas - to keep domestic livestock fenced out, and allow the bighorn more winter forage range lower down, where it would be easier to keep track of the lions too.

It's difficult to monitor the lions under severe conditions. Only a single tracker on horseback is involved, along with his hounds. But wildlife official will accompany him for sake of darting and putting radio collars on select lions. By monitoring where these lions go, they can pretty well assess whether they are hunting deer or bighorn. If a particular lion prefers bighorn, they'll track it down, tranquilize it, and relocate it. But the past winter has been exceptional, with most of the herd being forced further down than ideal, where they're especially susceptible to lions as well as domestic sheep diseases.

As far as the SJ River Bridge being out, I talked to a fellow a couple weeks ago who opted for high col routes instead; but he had along an ice axe etc in Aug, and was highly experienced. It was really a pleasure to talk to someone who has been to so many of the same high places as me, both in the Sierra and in the Wind River Range in Wyoming.

 

[Tom Taylor]

UPDATE

 

[Tom Taylor]

UPDATE

A Temporary bridge is now up: