Mt Whitney Zone Forums General Discussion TR Monache Meadows

I returned yesterday (Wed, the 6th), from leading a trail maintenance crew of about 20, working the PCT in Monache Meadow and Beck Meadow in the South Sierra Wilderness.

This is an area I'd never been to before. Breath takingly beautiful. This area was accessed via the Monache Jeep Road, an adventurous 4x4 road.

Folks, this is a gem of a place, which is not often visited. We worked on the trail for about a week, and saw one group of 4 hikers. Amazingly, the trail had not been worked in 11 years, and on one day, we spent 2 hours FINDING the trail. Unbelievable growth of brush.

Cool.
I tried to get back there earlier this year but too much snow again because I Was too early. They said we could go but if I got the truck stuck in the snow the tow out is $1000.

I like heading back there to fish the golden trout on the fly rod. Bringing my rod with me to Whitney next week just in case.

As I understand it, the road was totally trashed early in the season and unpassable, and everyone had to wait for it to be repaired to the point of being usable.

I'd never been on it before, and although I understand it is rated as easy, I got the sense that it is deteriorating and suffering from lack of maintenance. If I hadn't been fleeing snow, I'd have taken a chainsaw to a bunch of trees on the way out to enhance maneuvering.