May 25, 2012 - Blue Oak Trail

Trail head: South Bay Picnic area, Millerton

Hike Info:

Trail: Blue Oak Trail, also called the South Bay Trail

Destination: Winchell Cove

Distance: 3.5 Miles

Travel Time: 2:08

Moving Time: 1:22

Moving MPH: 2.5

Elevation Rise: 188'

Maximum Elevation: 638'

Description:
When I think of the Millerton Lake and Friant Dam area, I imagine a hot dry area with this man-made lake in the middle. Definitely do not think of excitement, coolness and enjoyment. But that is exactly with we got on this trail. The coolness was fortunate, since Fresno temperatures was exceeding 90 degrees a few days earlier and this trail and area can be like an oven on a hot day.

We knew this was going to be a special day from the first few steps on the trail. A small eagle, yes I did say an eagle, swooped down and landed 10 yards in front of us. He stayed there, or close by for a good 25 minutes before flying away. Excitement!

But that was not all. With a front coming through the area, the weather was cooler than we had any right to expect. But also, the front brought in some soaring clouds to march past our trail. This make for a constantly changing view. The lake turned from mundane to magnificent. Instead of hot and dry, it was cool, breezy and comfortable.

Our walk continued along the south shore of Millerton, After about 45 minutes of leisurely walking, we made it to Winchell Cove. The boats were all set for the Memorial Day weekend. While we could go about a quarter mile further on the other side of the boat launch area, we decided, just to turn around and go back the way we came.

Over all, the trail is easy walking, on a hard beaten clay. The grasses give you wide berth and the trail is about as level as you can get—Looking at the trial profile, I have seen more activity on seismographs. Oaks give visual entertainment. This is definitely a Fall, Winter, Spring hike rather than a Summer hike—unless you hit it on a day like today.

May 24, 2012 - Tunnel Monument

Trail head: Pacheco State Park Parking Lot

Hike Info:

Trail: Pig Pond to Tunnel Monument back to Parking Lot

Destination: Tunnel Monument

Distance: 4.0 miles

Travel Time: 1:38

Moving Time: 1:21

Speed: 2.9 mph

Elevation Rise: 771'

Maximum Elevation: 1,1918'

Description:
Sometimes when you go past a place all your life, you realize that you do not know the area. For me, this is true of Pacheco Pass. Even before moving to Fresno, I had gone over this pass as a little boy, being driven by my parents from the Bay Area to the Sierra's. And when we moved to Fresno, we would drive this 152 at least once a month, and a lot of times more often. So last year when we were looking for hikes which we could do for Capture California, We noticed this little state park right on Pacheco Pass, Pacheco State Park. Unfortunately, we had not stopped here until today. This is definitely will change. While not a place to hike during a summer afternoon, it can be picturesque with oak trees, rolling hills, wind turbines and San Luis Reservoir filling the views.



Today, I was coming back from my parents in the Bay Area and hit the pass in the early afternoon. The day was warm, but not hot. So I decided, today is the day to see this area. Turned off of 152 close to the top of the pass and headed down Dinosaur Point Road. Yes there really was a dinosaur remains found in the area, well maybe. I was looking for a trail head off this road, but I did not pay enough attention to my map which said to take a right on Whisky Flat Road—that is the correct spelling of Whisky. So I went all the way down to the boat launch at Dinosaur Point. This was where I was in for a treat.



I was greeted by the boat inspector—for tag-along mussels. After receiving confirmation that I should have turned a ways back, we chatted for awhile, that would be over an hour. Evidently Manny is visited by a number of people who think this area is a great for partying and getting drunk. But he is out there because he enjoys viewing the wildlife-Tule Elk, mountain lion, mule deer, fox, and coyotes. We talked about the trails and the heat. He gave me some park brochures, which looking at them later, I realized I had most of it already. A woman and her mother stopped to ask some questions—looked like a husband in the car as well. They had traveled from Spain to see California. So after talking for a little while, they left. Manny and I talked a bit longer. He has written some books on poetry—The Bridge is Gone and The Elder, not famous yet. Yet it is exciting who you meet in places like this and then find out who they are. By this time, I was on my way to find the trail head—a few minutes before three.



Found the trail head, right next to a pen full of cattle. The Pacheco Family, through Paula Fatijo's bequeath in 1992, gave the State of California the property around Pacheco Pass for a state park. This was to preserve the area for its natural and human history. Consequently, they still do ranching operations, renting out part of the park. Also various wind farm operators also rent out part of the land.

Onward to the actual hike. The trail leaves the parking lot/corral area. Going toward the south. It is a gradually rising semi-jeep track—hardly used by jeeps, but used by hikers. Tall, dry, grasses abound, along with little critters. After a half of a mile, you come to a hundred foot ridge, cross it and find an intersection. I aim to come back to the intersection via the trail to the west, but for now, it is the easier trail to the south. We go up another small ridge and then drop down into a dried creek bed, which feeds into Pig Pond. And then the start of a more steep climb to the Tunnel Monument Trail Jct.

I take the Tunnel Monument Trail as that will give me a 3.5+ mile loop back to the car. My little talk with Manny cut short the hiking. But both the talking and the hiking are wonderful. This trail climbs up steeply over the next ¾ of a mile to the top of the ridge. As I reach the top, the wind whip's through rather fiercely, causing me to chase my hat. But the view is good. You see both sides of the coastal range. Westward there is the greener hills, which get the moisture from ocean breezes. Towards the east is San Luis Reservoir. And the windmills, furiously turning, trying to keep up with the wind. Such a far reaching sight.

When Manny and I were talking, we guessed what the Valley was like before modern man came along. The wildlife, the plants we would have seen. John Muir in Yosemite indicated the first time he came over Pacheco Pass he saw a carpet of bright orange flowers stretching from his feet to the feet of the Sierra's. Today, I cannot see Los Banos, let alone Yosemite. Things have changed.

But now it is time to find this Tunnel Monument. I go 50 steps back towards the car and there is a sign saying Tunnel Monument. But where is this monument? Where is this tunnel? Silly. I am standing on top of the tunnel—it is sunk several hundred feet below my toes. And the monument? Well it is a benchmark. This tunnel is the tunnel bore through the coastal range to drive more electric generators from the water coming from San Luis Reservoir. Nothing to see; just things to think about. How we can bore holes through mountains to move water, but not clean up the air we breath?




I start down the trail back to the car. The downward trail is steeper than I came up on. I come to a junction—but a different one than I saw before. But I take it anyway. It goes through part of the Pacheco Ranch and meets a private road. I go another quarter of a mile down the road and find my car. A most satisfying afternoon spent.

May 9, 2012 – Deer Camp and Return Trip, Alder Ck to Wawona

Starting Place: Alder Creek Crossing

Destination: Deer Camp

Actual Destination: Alder Creek Crossing

Miles Traveled: 3.0 miles

Elevation Rise: 770'

Travel Time: 2:30

Moving Time: 1:40

Starting Place: Alder Creek Crossing

Destination: Wawona

Miles Traveled: 7.2 miles

Elevation Rise: 233'

Travel Time: 3:20

Moving Time: 2:50

 

Slept under the stars last night. I was warm and comfy. The ground was at a slant, so you seemed to scoot down. Sherri was scooting around more than I. There was a nice moon out this morning—2am or so—almost full. Before then, the stars were bright until the moon showed up. Enjoyed watching both.

When I got up a dew had fallen, wetting our bags and everything else out in the open. I think Steven was dry in his hammock, between two trees. After walking around, I noticed the packs had a light frosting on them—must have been in the low thirty's.

Breakfast—oatmeal and granola, plus toppings. We sort of moseyed around camp for awhile, trying to make a decision on going on a day trip to Deer Camp or just to return back to the car. After much discussion, we will go on to Deer Camp, about a mile and half, one way.

We take off going up the side of Alder Creek—while the water was down a little, it still looked cold. None of us wanted in. So up the east side of the creek and cross-country for about a third of a mile, till we hit the trail. Lots of brush, lots of downed trees. But after awhile we meet up with the trail to Deer Camp.

It is a lot easier on the trail than the cross-country route we were taking. Even though there was a place where the trail fooled us. It did a switch back, but looked like it was going to go straight. So we took 10 minutes figuring this out and back-tracking to find the trail.

It is onward and upward. The trail goes long the side of the ridges, following the creek. We get to a small creek crossing. This is where Sherri and I could not cross several years ago—then there was lots of snow. But now, it is obvious how to cross it. We wonder what stopped us before—except for the snow.

We go another quarter of a mile and come to a little bigger crossing-still very crossable. But we have reached our check point time. So it is time to turn back. Wonder when we will be able to see this place, after all it is our fourth attempt. This time we are pretty near. None of the reasons to turn back was technical nor endurance, just we have to contend with other priorities.

The trip back to our camp is not very exciting. We did stop to build a snow man—a small one. Still it is a legit snow man. Sherri also gets a lesson in GPS usage.

When we get back to camp, we have lunch and then set out back to the car. We leave at 12:30—Sherri and Steven about 10 minutes before me. But it took me about an hour to catch up with them and I was going close to 3mph. So they were moving pretty strong.

Once we leave the evergreens with their overhead, the air gets hot. We drink water and lots of it. Sherri's Camel Back bladder goes dry. Steven's is close to empty. My canteen is down to half a cup when we finally reach the car.

On ward to Todd's. Great BBQ—had their special: Cajun Chicken Melt with Garlic Fries. Oh yeah—and lots and lots of ice tea. We get back to Fresno around 6, just very happy.

May 8, 2012 – Alder Creek

Starting Place: Wawona

Destination: Deer Camp

Actual Destination: Alder Creek Crossing

Miles Traveled: 8.2 miles

Elevation Rise: 2,568'

Travel Time: 8:50

Moving Time: 4:25

 

       

Got up a little before 6—must be getting ready for camp life. Sherri gets up at 6:30, while Steve drags himself out of bed at 7:15. We get a few last minute things ready and hit the door by 7:45.

We are going back up to Alder Creek. Hopefully making it past the falls this time. Should be warmer than last time. It has not rained since we last were up in mid-April.

We stop in Oakhurst to get Steven a Carl's Jr, Breakfast Burrito. We then stop at Wawona for a wilderness permit—which as it turns out, I leave in the car. We make it to the trail head around 9:40. Then hit the road a half an hour later. Much better than the last time we were up here.

Same trail, same sun on us. We go a third of mile when Sherri discovers she left her GPS on the hood of the car. Steven goes back to get it. Sherri and I continue on.

Dry heat with little breezes at time to cool us off. When we left the car, it was 70 degrees. At 11, after going 1.2 miles and 700' up, we stop for an elevense's break. After a few minutes, Steven catches up with us.

More uphill. I write a little while longer as Steven and Sherri continue on. I plod after them for about half an hour before catching up with them. We past the fallen log where we lost the GPS last time. At 12:15, we have our lunch, 2.8 miles into the trail-just a tenth of a mile from the Mosquito Creek trail junction. Usual fare of Ritz crackers, Peanut Butter and Nutella. We debate on how healthy can this be? My thinking, who cares? It tastes so good and we are doing so much work, it cannot be too bad.

While reading and resting, we saw a hawk gliding overhead, riding the warm air currents. It looks so graceful as he swoops and pivots and swoops again, free from visible effort. But we get no picture for Capture California.

1pm—we leave our lunch spot and start in. Shortly we come to the trail junction. After this it is a series of rolling hills, gradually going up. We pass our campsite from three weeks ago—completely free of snow. Three Falls is still flowing. After a spurt of up hill, we top out on the old railroad grade. From here, the trail is flat. You see remnants of old railroad ties. We stop at our creek to refill water bottles and take a break.

Then comes the highlight of the trip—Alder Falls. If Alder Falls was along a road or in the Valley, it would compete with Vernal and Nevada Falls. But you need to hike in 5 miles, climb 2,000' to enjoy this view—I like it that way. The effort makes the enjoyment that much better.

We look and gawk at the Falls. Then continue on, up Alder Creek. Then the railroad leaves us above the Falls. The trail is more single file. But gentle. We get to the creek crossing for Alder Creek. The snow runoff is going strong still. So we ponder our options. In the end, we decide to stop before crossing. We have gone 7 miles, with a gain of 2200' in four hours walking. Not bad. Of course, my brother would not let this stop him. (Later in talking with him, he thought that we were there to enjoy, not to show courage.) We have crossed this creek before, just as wet, just as wide. But it is just as cold now as then. I am getting more cautious in my old age.

The campsite has a pretty good tilt to it. We shall see if we roll down the slope tonight in our bags. I am so tired, I am not sure I would wake up. Sherri makes us Beef-Vegetable Wrap. It is always refreshing to have good food on the trail.

Now waiting for it to get dark and then it is to bed we go.

May 6, 2012 - General's Highway to Panorama Pt

Hike Info:

Trail: General's Highway to Panorama Point

Distance: 3.0 miles

Duration: 1 hour, 25 minutes

Elevation Rise: 800'

Description:

Today we decided to do a short hike after church and mowing the lawn. So we left Fresno around 1:30, for the Grant Grove Area. We got there after 2:30. There was snow—old snow to be sure of—but snow just the same, around the visitor center.

We are doing a trail from the General's Highway to Panorama Point. It is technically a segment of the North Boundary Trail in Grant Grove portion of Kings Canyon National Park. But we have hiked this on its own just to enjoy the pleasure of the early season. It is a short hike, maybe three miles round trip with about an 800' elevation rise.

We pull in; get our REI Flash Packs ready, along with our hiking poles; put on the old boots, and then,a burning truck pulls into the turn-out where we are parked.

A man and two kids jump out and scoot away from the truck. Lots of smoke—Steven sees some flame—and there definitely are some popping sounds. Good thing he stopped.

Sherri and Steven went ahead, up the trail. I took the man and his children back to the Visitor Center. A ranger called for fire engines. It looks like I will need to find another place to park and meet Sherri and Steven.

So I drove up to the Panorama Pt parking lot and walked down the trail, expecting to meet Sherri and Steven on the way up. No sign of them, except for some footprints which looked like the tracks were going in the wrong direction.

Got close to the highway and saw foam, an ambulance, a fire truck and a tow truck. Exciting, as long as it was not my vehicle.

Coming back up the trail, I saw the reason why I missed them. There is an older, gentler trail, which I took down. But then, there is a newer, shorter, but steeper trail, following some power lines. Sherri and Steven had gone up the short trail. Looking at the GPS logs, I missed them by three minutes.

We caught up with each other at Panorama Point. On a clear day, you can see much of Kings Canyon's back-country. Such as North Palisades and Kersarge Pinnacles. Both of which Sherri and I will be passing by later on this summer when we do our JMT adventure in July. So it is a wonderful thing to see all the handiwork from this Point.

We came back to the car, 300 yards from the Point. And then headed back. Spring is in the air and the deer are scattered everywhere.

We ate Pizza in Squaw Valley—Bear Mountain Pizza and was back in Fresno by 7:15.