I'm sorry to report that “The Shortcut”, the ~1.5 mile section of Hobbs Road between the Middle Fork of the Coyote Creek and the Blue Ridge Road, has not gotten any easier since last year. 🙂 And returning to park headquarters via the Poverty Flat Road is no cakewalk either. But despite how tough this hike is, it was a pleasant, cool day to visit Mount Sizer. For me, the highlight of the hike was the view of the snow-covered Sierras from the Blue Ridge Road.
fwiw. I went to Henry Coe last Wednesday planning to do this hike, but there was a sign posted that the Middle Fork of the Coyote Creek had “dangerous water levels” and that attempting to cross the creek was “not advised”. Unfortunately, this advisory was not included on their website. The Visitors Center was closed, and there were no park rangers around to ask about this, so I did not attempt Mt. Sizer and chose another hike instead. Given that there's rain in the forecast for the next 10 days, if you're thinking of hiking Mt. Sizer in the near future, I recommend calling ahead to make sure that the Middle Fork of Coyote Creek is cross-able.
Responses
I forgot to add…by Saturday (3 days later), when I called and asked about the water level in the creek, it was low enough to be crossed by a hiker. But, even today, the water level was still high, and I had to look upstream at both the Hobbs and Poverty Flat Roads for a rock-path to cross the creek.
It never gets easier, though I use my creek-to-bench time to see if my body is cooperating!