Any first hand or second hand or educated guess hand knowledge of current conditions up to Big McGee Lake or McGee Pass ?

Much appreciated.

I'm also interested in the answer to this question. In addition to snow conditions, how are the creek crossings? The satellite imagery shows what might be logs at the crossings near 8900 ft and 9200 ft. Good guess? Wishful thinking? If so, do they get washed away each year?

Thanks!

The trail has been clear to the beaver pond above the first crossing for most of the winter. Beyond that, my guess is that snow covers the trail up near the pass as the recent storms have blanketed Mt Baldwin several times.

The first crossing is a log crossing that was broken and moved downstream by an avalanche a few years back. It can be sketchy when icy, especially when carrying a pack. The second crossing is not a problem.

Thanks Greg, appreciate the info.

If you're still interested, I packed in yesterday, and climbed Red Slate and packed out today. No snow on the trail to the intersection with the trail to Steelhead Lake. The two crossings of McGee Creek have good logs and were fine, as Greg said. Any snow on the trail above the intersection is either avoidable or boot tracked until about 10,300 ft, where the snow becomes more continuous and, at this time, was mostly consolidated, even later in the day. Bare ground to camp on is rare right now above about 10,300. This is below Big McGee Lake. Both Big and Little McGee Lakes are still frozen over. No bugs.

The valley above Little McGee Lake to the plateau below Red Slate was full of point release avalanches and rockfall; wouldn't want to be there later in the day.

Snow becomes more continuous:



Big McGee Lake:



Little McGee Lake:



Valley above Little McGee Lake and Red Slate: