Some photos from a hike up Horseshoe Meadows Road to Mulkey Pass, then around to Trail Pass and back down to the bike...

I didn't get any higher than last time (about 8600') because of the major damage to one of the switchbacks...

A lot less snow up there...



This is the switchback that has a major landslide...



Walt's Point...



Wanoga Peak "Trailhead" turnout...



The Crossover to the west...



On the west side of the Crossover...



Heading for Mulkey Pass...



Up near Mulkey Pass...



Down at the Meadows...



Stream is starting to show...



Cottonwood/Trail Passes Trailhead...

Great job Richard!!!

I like that loop, but most of the time I drop down to Mulkey Meadows and back up Trail Pass....BUT not in the snow like you. I am too old for what you do.

So, how far were you able to ride to?

Any evidence of road work? From your perspective, when do you think the road might be open?

Your photos are always beautiful, mine, not so much.

Paul

Because of the nature of the "landslide," I think it's an Operator Safety issue...probably waiting on Engineering...they have "punched" into the landslide, but obviously, backed off...

There is a Blade and a Front Loader staged a little ways down the road...

Once an Operator can get to the West Side, I don't think it will take much time to get the snow cleared off of the road...then there's the issue of patching the damage pavement, or just signage (and maybe a few speed bumps up the road)...

BTW: I did come down the Mulkey Pass Trail last summer...it's so damaged that if I ever do it again, it'll be X-C, rather than trying to stay on the trail...NATIONAL TRAILS DAY CANDIDATE???

Last year I descended the Mulkey Pass Trail to Horseshoe Meadows early in the season. Then after the monsoon in August, there was no trail. The same happened when I descended the south side to Mulkey Meadows. Trail, then no trail. The descent on the trail was lost until the bottom. I did figured out where I needed to go and eventually came upon the cabin that is a good reference point.

After that, it was avoiding the cattle roaming the area.

paul

Cattle? Interesting...they have an area "below" the Mulkey Trailhead that is marked No Trespassing with something about a Restoration Area...

I was looking at Inyo County Roads and found nothing on Road Closures, but did see this in one of their docs:

Cattle aplenty!!

Last year as I descended via Mulkey Pass, I ran into cattle around the cabin and until I picked up the Trail Pass trail.

Back in 2014, about midway through the meadow going toward Tunnel, I encountered a couple bulls on my left, mooing at me (I was a little nervous not knowing what they might do). And then on the right was a large herd of females WITH calves. As I approached, the formed up into a group with one cow at the head coming towards me. I quickly picked up my pace and got out of there.

Last year I talked to a ranger on Trail Pass, and she said that about a herd of about 100 cows were back there at that time. She also mentioned that occasionally, one cow gets left behind when they move the cattle out.

I have no idea how they got there, or how they moved them out.

paul