The upper San Joaquin River drainage, including Reds Meadow and Agnew Meadows, was hit hard by wind back in November. The Forest Service has estimated the number of trees blown down to be in the thousands. They were able to clear some trees before winter rolled in, but many remain in campgrounds and trailheads. Trails will be difficult to follow until the crews can clear them in the spring, so access to Banner, Ritter, and the Minarets may be affected.

Forest Service pics of the downed treeshttp://www.fs.usda.gov/photogallery/inyo/recreation/gallery/?cid=3635&position=Quicklinks

The Sheet News story http://thesheetnews.com/archives/12539

Would that have been the same wind event that took out so many trees just below Tioga Pass? Anyone have details of that? Must have been crazy up there.

many places on the west side of the Sierras had extensive damage during those late November storms. The San Joaquin drainage funneled the winds and resulted in some impressive damage, despite Reds Meadow being pretty far east in the range. Rumor has it that Mammoth Mtn had winds at 140+ mph. My buddy's neighborhood above Sonora had 90+ mph winds.