EISPIRATEN

Day before Thanksgiving we took advantage of "front country weather" and hit some of our home trails. Walked out our front door in NE Sierra Madre, over to Bailey Canyon Park, up to Jones Peak. There's a partially new route up Jones since I've last been there. You go just a bit more east past the saddle, switch back, and then join the dozer trail. Still steep but I do think it's better. A bench on the peak is new to me, too. Went over to the connector trail down to the Mt Wilson trail, then down and out and back home on the hard pavement. Everything was in good condition as of that time. No bears sighted.

Did the direct route from the saddle get messed up? Or is it a grading thing?

I wouldn't say the straight-up route had gotten more messed up than the previous time I had seen it, but it was a Station fire firebreak, I believe, and was pretty steep and slidy at least since that time. The newer approach is more like a regular trail at first and then it joins the former firebreak where it's a little more congenial.

Before the station fire firebreak was put in, there was a nice, steep, non-eroded, switchbacking trail that went straight up from the saddle to Jones. Then the fire break was bulldozed in and a million variations of swithcbacking use trails developed and caused a lot of erosion and slippery routes up to Jones. I have yet to see this new trail but I applaud the idea and efforts of those building it.