I've had several people ask me about this. The first main creek crossing of Lone Pine North Fork is often the one that overflows and is large enough to give people concern. It is currently overflowing and covering the rocks at times of the day. I've had one person tell me they slipped on the creek crossing going up and quit their whole camping trip, and another person told me they turned around at night going up when they saw the creek.
Anyway, many people know the old Cutoff trail at the top of the Portal parking lot meets up with Main trail just past that creek crossing but many people also don't know. I generally don't recommend that trail to anyone because it's not maintained, doesn't have views, and just isn't that great.
However, it seems like during high flow season it's potentially better for people nervous about the creek to take the cutoff. I don't like to lead people off on old unmaintained trails, but in this case it actually could be more safe for some.
Because several people asked me, I made a little video with clips and map shots for reference. Figured I'd share here as well in case it's helpful to anyone planning a trip?
That was the main trail until the avalanche 1969-70 and the main trail now was the pack trail back to the pack station.(Portal Store now)
What we call the old trail is very rough not maintained, also very rocky and narrow, steeper than the main trail , It does bypass the north fork crossing but at full run off flood stage the north fork looks fierce but since it is somewhat wide it can be walked through without using the rocks. Walking through the creek not using the rock hop often reduces the risk of falling in. Bring an extra pair of socks enjoy the experience.
The old trail now shows switchback cutting and since the entrance and exit isn't clear false trail are appearing, If not clear on the start you can end up on a very old trail and do damage to that area.
This brings up a problem on the North Fork we are seeing flagging being used to mark out certain areas , the ledges for example , but the flagging has directed to a fatal fall zone if followed.
We experience lost hikers often and sending hikers down old trails often adds to the search. Example hikers taking the trail down to Lone Pine Lake coming down or missing the trail out of Trail camp at night.
I recall making 2 trips to Lone Pine Lake one night with a climbing buddy looking for a father that had fallen on the trail we didn't know which trail he had fallen, So we split up and took both trails, his son was very distraught thought his dad had passed, returning the second trip I see a gentleman sitting in a car and ask him if he had seen a person laying on the trail he said no he had cramped up and fallen , his son ran off and he was waiting for his son to come down, his son was in the store with Earlene , waiting for S&R .
This brings up a problem on the North Fork we are seeing flagging being used to mark out certain areas , the ledges for example , but the flagging has directed to a fatal fall zone if followed.
Maybe it's time to bring back the 8-foot cairn craze of years past. (Also wrong directions, but it was more fun to blame the UFOs...)
My wife and I take this route up ever since Doug Sr. showed it to us. It's a lot nicer than people claim, we usually start up late at night and the .4 saved is worth it, it's only a 387 foot gain which is great to get that engine running, you get to the sign and it's a lot more pleasant (for a bit).
Downhill is a different story. With tired legs, it seems all the crap that was easy to avoid stepping on suddenly is getting in the way. The only advantage of doing that at the end is we have an uninterrupted descent down since the trail is often packed with day hikers as we near the finish line.
Another fun thing to do when you're just wanting some leg work is to do the old to new loop, go up the old, down the "official" route. Point to point it's 1.4 miles so three laps around can get you over 1k of gain and a quick 4 miles.
That's interesting to hear that the route the main trail takes now was the packer route. That makes sense with the mellow grade and big switchback. I knew the old trail was the main hiking trail up until some point but haven't heard exactly how and why it all changed.
I understand why people going up North Fork use it since their whole route isn't a manicured trail anyway. But I generally dissuade people doing a bucketlist main trail hike from using it since it's not a particularly pleasant or scenic way to start or end the hike. There's some utility for bypassing the creek if you don't want to get wet though so it seemed worth sharing since people ask.
For those interested in the Old Trail, take a look at the August 1966 collection of photos (A Hike to Lone Pine Lake) in the Bob R section in the WPSMB Photo Albums Link on this website. The photos detail a family outing to Lone Pine Lake for a picnic lunch. In 1966, at the TH stands a large wooden sign. As one heads up the Old Trail, a subsequent photo shows the giant rock that many of us are familiar with and use as a landmark.
Various mileages are posted on the Old TH sign. For example, it notes that it is 4 miles to Mirror Lake. This correlates with the current deteriorating 4 MILE marker at Mirror Lake. Today, starting from the current TH (former corral next to the Store) the hike is longer than 4 miles to the Mirror Lake 4 MILE marker. Same with the 5 MILE marker at Trailside Meadow, etc
