[pct-l] Theodore Solomons Trail

[mardav at charter.net]

We have been studying alternative trails to the PCT/JMT for the summer, 
since we must consider the possibility that the high passes will be 
snowbound through August, and llamas don't wear crampons or use an ice 
ax.  I am thinking back on experiences we have had with trails that 
weren't the PCT.  We get spoiled by the amazing maintenance and 
condition of the PCT.  When you step off it onto other trails,  it can 
be a rude awakening.
Years ago we hiked all over the area between Granite Stairway (west of 
Mammoth) and Wawona.  The trails were all in fine shape and we had a 
great time.  Then the Hoover Fire came along.  We went back, trying to 
do the same trip a couple years after that fire, and the trail was 
completely wiped out.  Similarly, we found only ancient traces of a 
trail between Arch Rock Pass and Fish Creek Trail.  That was a 7 mile 
adventure, finding our way down.  Also, we hiked north of Grand Canyon 
of Tuolumne and west of the PCT and found nearly every trail out there 
to be only the most faint vestige of trail.  At lower elevations, where 
the plants grow fast and many trees fall, the trail can disappear 
quickly,
much faster than it does above timberline.
Marion