Rockslides!!! Trail ...

We hiked to Rainbow View this last week on account wanted to check out the new
rockslide just east of Rainbow View. If you are considering backpacking it ..
um... yeah... have fun... made it but hey, YMMV ... it's a xc route imo...
Could be more ahead ... only went to Rainbow View ... and there are lots of downed
trees further on (they were there last year) (and year before) (and...)
Anyway, imo (obliviously) the park shouldn't have it as a TH anymore...
I see Rockslides in full for July 2nd. ... um, ok...
Anyway...

What it looks like from afar:


What it used to look like:


Up close and personal:



(note persun in peekchure)

Anyway, have fun
If it doesn't look like much... go look from Tunnel View

Really wondering what Hetchy Switchers look like... but I gotz stuff to dooz in SEKI

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Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/27/2017 03:08PM by chick-on.

I could barely see myself in the pic!

Uh yah. Rockslides not a good idea with a full pack at all, imo. I won't do. Not for a while, anyway. Maybe never. That new slide area, on top of the minor changes to the old stuff. And the old stuff isn't easy with pack either. I wasn't carrying anything and I didn't want to continue. Too hairy for me with all the tree debris mixed in with fresh dirt and rocks. Not stable. Too ikky for my taste. So close to Rainbow view, but I waited. Actually walked back a fair bit to sit on solid rock in the sun. Watching Chick-on work his way through the debris wasn't fun.

Sigh...sounds like another classic section of old road moves onto the endangered species list.

Quote
DavidK42
Sigh...sounds like another classic section of old road moves onto the endangered species list.

If coming up you've navigated many slides and up the rocks if you cut the big switchbacks...
So... it may stabilize ... and be not a big deal. It's impressive now imo...
I just "had" to see it up close after seeing it prior weekend from Old Inspiration...

Road over yonder:

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So is Rainbow View (even with the downed trees) easier to access via the west (either from Tamarack Creek (or the Old Big Oak Flat Road) trailheads? Or has it become very inaccessible from that direction too?

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Leave No Trace

I haven't done the entire road in years..

I believe Chick-on said the deadfall had gotten worse in the section between Cascade creek and Rainbow View over time. That was annoying enough..

The concern is it may have gotten even worse over the past few months, based on what we have seen in the area.

And seeing the way Fireplace Bluffs falls was going... I've been wondering how that section of trail has survived this winter.. we have seen some impressive water damage.. and Basilbop commented that the culvert was already clogged up.. so we think water must be flowing over the road...

Yeah, hard to say without going and doing.
Last went down to Rainbow View was Thanksgiving 2015...

Camped here:


Dayhiked to Rainbow View and back:


Then over to Dancefloor via not the trail:




Haven't even been on all the trails out the valley this year... yet...
(hehehe)

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plawrence,
I have hiked both ways in 2017. The hike from Tamarack Flat Campground to Rainbow View is easier and safer, but the hike is much longer (12 miles 6 hours).
The hike from V7 to Rainbow View is now very dangerous. My hiking buddy Juan made it to Rainbow View, but I stopped at the last new slide. Keep in mind, I have hiked the Rockslides Trail many times. I just could not muster the courage to cross that final stretch. It looks like the whole hillside is about to go. I stopped about a football field before Rainbow View. I could hear my buddy yelling at me from the railing. I was that close and stopped.
Looking forward to posting. This is my first post. I have learned a lot from all of the veterans on this site.

cjh

9 Hikes in Yosemite in 2017 including Clouds Rest

Quote
Humpal
plawrence,
I have hiked both ways in 2017. The hike from Tamarack Flat Campground to Rainbow View is easier and safer, but the hike is much longer (12 miles 6 hours).
The hike from V7 to Rainbow View is now very dangerous. My hiking buddy Juan made it to Rainbow View, but I stopped at the last new slide. Keep in mind, I have hiked the Rockslides Trail many times. I just could not muster the courage to cross that final stretch. It looks like the whole hillside is about to go. I stopped about a football field before Rainbow View. I could hear my buddy yelling at me from the railing. I was that close and stopped.
Looking forward to posting. This is my first post. I have learned a lot from all of the veterans on this site.

cjh

9 Hikes in Yosemite in 2017 including Clouds Rest

Thanks for the updated information.

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Leave No Trace