I'm planning a long dayhike over Taboose Pass to climb Arrow Peak on August 13.

How bad is the road to the trailhead? Will I have any trouble getting my Acura RSX (basically an overpriced Honda Civic) up there without damaging anything? I also have a diesel 4x4, but it uses twice as much fuel as the Acura and is a whole lot less fun to drive.

I haven't been over Taboose Pass in nearly 20 years, so I don't remember anything about stream crossings, etc. Will I have any trouble doing the lower part in the dark? Can anyone tell me about recent snow conditions? I would like to pull this off with just a pair of trail runners with sticky soles. Is there enough unavoidable snow to make that a dumb idea?

Thanks for any advice anyone can offer.

I haven't been there since August three years ago, but at the time the road to the trailhead was doable but would have taken a good bit longer with low clearance. I was in a Tacoma and just flew to the trailhead. Obviously things could be better or worse now.

There are two stream crossings on the trail to the pass. Cannot remember exactly how they were, but there were not at all noteworthy at the time (no wading). From the pass to Arrow Peak there weren't any crossings that were problematic back then. The crossings below your route, over the South Fork of the Kings River, were a different story back in 2006.

I would prefer to do the lower park in the dark, as you plan to, otherwise it gets hot, and the bottom portion is quite sandy.

Snow at the pass should be non-issue, based on what I have seen at similar passes the past two weeks. I would think you can get up the ridge to the peak somewhere avoiding the snow as needed, but that is an assumption. Doesn't sound like a dumb idea though.

bobpickering wrote:I'm planning a long dayhike over Taboose Pass to climb Arrow Peak on August 13.

How bad is the road to the trailhead? Will I have any trouble getting my Acura RSX (basically an overpriced Honda Civic) up there without damaging anything? I also have a diesel 4x4, but it uses twice as much fuel as the Acura and is a whole lot less fun to drive.

I haven't been over Taboose Pass in nearly 20 years, so I don't remember anything about stream crossings, etc. Will I have any trouble doing the lower part in the dark? Can anyone tell me about recent snow conditions? I would like to pull this off with just a pair of trail runners with sticky soles. Is there enough unavoidable snow to make that a dumb idea?

Thanks for any advice anyone can offer.

I was there 2 years ago, and managed it in my low clearance 2wd, however it took a loooong time. Budget like twice as much time as you think it might take. And the lower part you should have no problem in the dark but be very mindful of rattlesnakes. I was hiking down at night there and almost stepped on one smack dab in the middle of the trail.

My last trip up Taboose Pass was last year. The road is easy in a truck, but it would be slow going as you get close to the trailhead in a passenger car. You should be able to get there though.

Creek crossings shouldn't be that big of deal - maybe you'll get your feet wet but you should be able to get across them. The trail is easy to follow. The pass is wide and gentle - I've been up there with and without snow - I would guess that the pass is easy to get across from early spring through late fall with just hiking shoes or boots. I carried crampons a couple times when there was snow, but there wasn't any need for them and they stayed on my back. You should be fine in your lightweight shoes even if there's still a bit of snow.

I've only been to Arrow once and that was late in the season; so snow wasn't an issue. I can't comment on that area if there's still snow. Most of the snow was gone in the Palisade area up to 11,000' two weeks ago though.

I did it in a Civic a few years ago. Up to the corral there was the occasional scrape along the bottom, but nothing too horribly bad. I parked there at the corral and walked the last half mile to the TH (the last half mile the road worsens). I also did it in a Blazer all the way to the TH with no problem. With low clearance you may want to stop at the corral.
I also had a rat living under my hood when I returned...it's always good to look under the hood before leaving.

Thanks to all of you for the advice. I think I'll bring the 4x4 to make sure I get to the trailhead easily. I don't need an extra half mile (each way) when we're trying to do Arrow in a day. I'm leaning towards the light trail runners unless somebody reports considerable snow in the area.

The corral is usually as far as I have been willing to drive, even in a 4X4. But your almost to the end of the 'road' there. I agree with the comments on rattlesnakes. I've been up and down that trail at least 6 times and have seen rattlers every time, including one monster snake sunning himself in the middle of the trail.

Bob: the road is in good condition to the TH, walked down it yesterday. Saw multiple reg clearance vehicles at the TH but might be a little taller than your silver bullet. You won't need 4WD but there is one section of road that has rock built up in the middle.

The first creek crossing is easy but definitely wet. The first crossing at 9K you might be able to hop over. Second crossing (before the climb to treeline along the waterfall) is definitely wet as well. I'll post pics tonight.

There were small patches of snow on the upper part of the east ridge (assuming that's where you're headed) but probably avoidable.

-L

First (lowest) creek crossing:

http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php ... 9&comments

Again, if someone could tell me the play-by-play on how to embed the vid here, I'd be happy to do so.

-L

Thanks to everyone for your help. The trip went well.

I decided to take the little Acura RSX instead of the F250. The road was rough and rocky, but it wasn't too hard to get to the trailhead without scratching or bending anything.

I went with light trail runners and brought a pair of flip-flops for the wet stream crossings at ~8,000 feet and ~9,000 feet. The flip-flops worked OK, but I just waded across on the way back down.

The ridge on Arrow was a classic. ~2,700 vertical feet from the last stream crossing to the summit. Most of it was nice class 3 that got harder if you messed up the route finding or went looking for adventure.

With two partners, we lost a bit of time due to "taking turns waiting for each other." It was about 19 hours, car to car.

Glad to hear of the successful summit. We were the folks who chatted with you at the trailhead - you took the flatter parking spot of my friend when we left. While we were out we did Arrow and Split, but we did Arrow from the class 2/Arrow Pass route. Hope the mosquitoes were better for you - they were a nightmare for us between Bench and Arrow Pass, the worst of the week long trip.

I forgot to mention that I descended the ledges below the cornice while my partners went all the way to Arrow Pass. My reward was that I got to wait for my partners for 25 minutes at the stream. The mosquitoes were awful, the worst I've ever seen.