Trail report from MK: On May 17, I headed up the Pine River Trail for a 4 day trip. Read on for trail conditions and see the link at the end for photos. The trail was clear of deadfall until a couple miles past the Lake Fork intersection. After that, there are 3 large trees that make the trail impassable for stock animals. There was no snow and minimal mud up to Flint Creek. The Flint Creek trail appeared to have patches of snow from the get go. On the 17th, Flint creek was easy to cross, but by the eve of the 19th, it had come up quite a bit to where I wondered how my dogs and I might get across on the morning of the 20th. By the time we had to cross, it had come down to a manageable level, but I still had to ferry my dogs across one by one due to the rapid flow and the small area for safe crossing. The Pine River Trail was essentially in good shape for a mile or so past Flint. There, the beavers had been busy! It’s a crosscut sawyers hay day. There looks to be at least a dozen large aspens down. Plus, the beavers dammed the side creek there and the trail is part of their new “pond”. Between there and the Divide lakes turn off, there is some mud and snow but nothing too annoying. We crossed Los Piños River on Divide Lakes trail on the 18th. It was fast flowing and deep despite the flat meanders through the willows. The next day it was even deeper and we had to find a different spot for crossing. The dogs were less than thrilled. They don’t like swimming and it was cold! The trail to Divide Lakes was very snowy at first. The deep snow was hollow due to the stream of snowmelt running in the trail underneath. Fortunately that section was short and I arrived at the lakes to find many dry camp spots. No other human had been dumb enough to try to get there yet this spring. I pondered heading past the lakes up along the Weminuche trail, but the east end of the Divide Lakes Trail is north facing and immediately disappeared into deep snow. After heading back from Divide Lakes, I scoped the Granite Lake trail (snowed in at 1/3 of a mile where it headed up the hill) and wandered farther up the Pine River Trail (large patches of snow and then flooded as far as I cared to see less than ½ a mile north of the Divide lakes turn off). Sadly, the beetle kill in Los Piños River drainage is glaringly obvious north of Flint, and starting even farther south on the east side of the river. On the trail register, many had planned to go to Emerald Lake or beyond, but no one had written in any confirmation of conditions. Click here (https://flickr/photos/mountainmk/sets/72157644757279441/) for pictures and bear in mind that these pics are from the whole trip, not just trail conditions. Hope you like dogs.
Posted on: Fri, 23 May 2014 20:23:56 +0000
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