EISPIRATEN

I'm trying to hit Little Jimmy for an overnight on February 1st with a few friends. Can anyone tell me the most recent trail conditions? I spoke with a Ranger today and he told me that the snow level was 6k but it was spotty but he had no recent info about Little Jimmy. Look forward to your responses.
Kevin

I have a trip coming up next weekend there, I'll let you know what the conditions are.

Thank you Mangus7175. I look forward to seeing your post about Little Jimmy.

Hey Mangus7175,
One add-on to my earlier post would be bear activity at Little Jimmy. Please let me know if you have any visitors. Also, you can check out my video on Youtube of a bear I encountered at Vidette Meadow in the Sierras last summer. Once on youtube just search for "vidette meadow bear".
Kevin

I just got back from a snow camping trip up at Little Jimmy this past weekend. Up at the trail camp expect about 2 feet or so of snow. The temps got down to about 25 at night (which way way off from any of the forecasts that I looked at previous to this trip) and during the day it got above freezing; so the freeze thaw action in definitely present. I encountered some slush in the afternoon, but it wasn't too terribly bad. There is a lot of ice on the trail and crampons are a requirement, although snowshoes with built-in crampons may work as well. I ended up have to use both my snowshoes and my crampons depending on the section that I was in.

Regarding the animals up there, the only ones that I heard were primarily the ravens up there with a few other birds that I am not able to identify. I have heard that the Little Jimmy trail camp has a high amount of bear activity; although my personal experiences I have not encountered one in almost three years of going up there on a regular basis.

And one more most important thing; the Little Jimmy spring is flowing although I had to break trail to get to it Saturday night.

If you have any other questions regarding the conditions up at Little Jimmy do not hesitate to ask.

Thanks for the update Dragon! Really helpful since I'm headed there this weekend. Did you try to summit Mt. Islip? How was the trail if you did go up?

Thanks again!

Yes I did summit Islip on Sunday, although I only used part of the trail at the top of the ridge. I left from the rear of Little Jimmy and headed to the north slope of Islip which I went straight up to the top of the ridge. There was a lot of ice when I got to about 150 feet from the ridge top and had to front-point with my snowshoes to maintain traction. Once I reached the top of the ridge I stowed my snowshoes and threw on my crampons for the remainder of the trip. The actual trail itself is in decent conditions but at a minimum I would say that microspikes or even crampons should be used although I did see a couple that was up there on top of the ridge with only their hiking boots (that's nucking futs). There was about 2 feet of snow on the summit and it was very windy and frigid; I did not linger long up there even with the cabin to take shelter from the wind. On the southern side of the mountain it is a mixed route with large sections of bare earth followed by sections of 5 to 25 feet of ice with a dusting of snow on top.

Good to know. I have microspikes but no snowshoes. If it does become difficult to trek through the snow having only micros, I'll head back down to camp.

Dragon,
Thanks for the heads up about Little Jimmy and also about Mt. Islip.. Good info that I can put to use.
Kevin

Just got back and LJ has quite a lot of snow. I would suggest snow shoes. Temps were in the 30's and had a little rain early in the morning and some snow.

Mangus 7175,
Thanks for the update re: Little Jimmy. I'm in for going up there but I don't think my friends would appreciate that much nature. Can you think of a place where we could go this Friday (Feb 1st) that would; A. Be in the local mountains. B. Require a hike in to reach it. C. Not be crowded. D: Would have fire-rings and allow a campfire. Lemme know. I look forward to your post. Thanks
Kevin

Would you consider car camping and setting up base camp then hike? Crystal Lake would be a good option. When we were up at LJ, wood was scarce and if any, it would be wet.

If you go to Crystal Lake, you have the option to set up base camp and hike the nearby trails and could even possibly hike to Islip.

Other option is Middlefork to Third Stream Crossing. It's about a 2 plus mile walk but the trailhead requires a high clearance vehicle. It can be done with a car but you will need to drive slow. Road to trailhead is rutted.

There is also Redbox Station to West Fork Camp, plus others. Many trails around San Bernardino and Angeles National Forest.

If you want to see photos of what the trail was like, feel free to check out my blog. I just added my TR from this past weekend.

Probably too late on this but you could certainly do Valley Forge or West Fork CG from Red Box or Henninger flat or Idlehour from Pinecrest. all really nice campgounds.