What a darned action-ready ranger & spouse that photo shows... .
It makes sense that the downstream Charlotte trail was gone by '27. There were no more references to it after 1910 or so that I've seen. Also, sometime in there was a hotel (??) at Junction Meadow, so they must have constructed a trail to there and pushed it farther to Vidette. Same with Junction Pass. That stayed as the JMT until Forester was built in 1933 (??) or so.
Glad you got down it but, yes, it's the north side once you go over the lip. I don't think there is a good route down through the meadows... . Even then, it's hard to imagine getting stock up that route from Bubbs.
Do you think that occasional burns kept the area more clear than it is now?
A very good point. Very likely. One really good example is Bolton Brown going up Cartridge Creek in 1896 or so and not mentioning brush at all. Said he followed a sketchy trail then just went up by the creek. Now it literally takes 2 hours to go a mile through the 20 ft. high brush, even following the old JMT. Badly in need of a fire.
g.
