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The Goddard canyon/ SFSJ river bridge, right before the ascent into Evolution Valley (if going SoBo), sits at 8400 feet in elevation in the heart of the Sierra heaviest hit by all the snowstorms of this "huge" winter and that elevation has not started melting out, yet.

Tahoe at 6200 feet in elevation still has walls of snow everywhere and it is still in a freeze-thaw pattern (meaning the Thaw has not truly started at that elevation, yet), but it's about to.

Mammoth at almost 8,000 feet in elevation still has an even taller wall of snow all about town and every night is still dipping below freezing (meaning the Thaw is not in full force, there).

So, what is melting out is all the snow at elevations below 6,000 feet in the southern Sierra.

So, picture this,

All the surrounding acreage above the bridge, all along the SFSJ river, and all the way for miles up to Goddard Peak (13,400 feet) is buried under tens of feet of snowpack and not melting, yet.

The daily temperature swings in the area of the bridge at 8400 feet run between the 20s and the 40s, which is normal for the Secret Season before the Thaw begins.

The water flows in all the creeks feeding the river upstream are barely moving and hold, maybe, inches of water depth.

If this bridge is truly "out," it wasn't because of a flood of water coming down-canyon; that hasn't happened, yet. Now, a snow avalanche could have come down from Mt Henry to the west and taken it out, but I doubt it.

Nothing is moving up there at that altitude, yet. The snow is consolidating normally, due to the regular freeze-thaw cycles at this time of year. Avalanches are infrequent, if at all. Snow bridges are solid and lakes are still completely frozen over.

So, I have to question the report.

- how did someone get in there already this season? snowmobile? Fly?

- is Kaiser Pass even open?

- was this report from snow surveyors in the area (if they go into this area at all)?

How do we know this is valid intel?

[Just for reference, I used to be a Backcountry Wilderness Ranger based out of the High Sierra Ranger Station between Edison and Florence Reservoirs and serving regular tours into the Piute drainage. I have a "clue" about the area, but "boots on the ground" trumps my "clue!"]