Trail head: Bear Gulch Parking Lot
Hike Info:
Trail: Condor, High Peaks, Rim, Bear Gulch Trails, also the Bench Trail
Distance: 8.8
Travel Time: 7:00 (1.26 mph)
Moving Time: 4:03 (2.17 mph)
Elevation Rise: 2,450'
Maximum Elevation: 2,623'
Description:
When I got up, a bit late, went out for a short walk up the Bench Trail to a fire access road. Cold. How cold was it? The rain drops on the bushes from last night's rain were frozen to them; frost was layered on the cars. But it was beautiful and clear.
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| Sherri and Andrea taking a break |
Once everyone else got up, we fixed oatmeal for breakfast. Then got ready for our hike with the meet up group. We were there shortly after 9, at the appointed time. After waiting awhile, we were talking about what our plans should be since we were not seeing them. But about the time we were going to leave, we heard a caravan of cars coming up the road-our wonderful companions from Fresno, all 18 of them.
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| Condor-look close--it is tagged as #59, same as our campsite |
After getting some instruction, we hit the trail. It is a pretty good incline. One person in the group asks parenthentically, is this an easy to moderate hike? But the morning is cool and the group is good, so the adventure is fun. We sort of split into two groups-those have the ability to go fast, and those of us with the ability to observe the small things on the trail. I have been noticing that I fall much more into the later group these days. There is still hail on the ground from yesterday. One of the things which makes us forget any incline is watching the condors gliding overhead. Such grace!
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| High Peaks |
As we hit the top of the ridge, we have the chance to enjoy the view of the park. We descend a short ways on the west side of the ridge, and that is when the trail becomes interesting. You get to climb up steps cut into the rock, not regulation type of steps, but just a little bit more than toe holds. There is a rail to help steady us. But this only makes it a bit better to climb. Some in our group have thoughts of turning back, but to their credit, they continued on and overcame their fears. That is courage. The worse part was coming down steps on the other side. I went down facing the rock, seemed much more like coming down a ladder that way.
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| Sherri and Andrea on our rock |
Close to the top, we meet a guy who is monitoring the condors. He is very informative. We stopped for a lunch-mine was the other half of the Subway sandwich we bought yesterday. Tasted even better the second day. We came to the junction of the High Peaks and Rim Trails. This is where Andrea and I went down to Moss Springs yesterday. We go the opposite direction today. Still nice, maybe even better in the sun.
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| Moss and Sherri |
At the reservoir, Andrea takes off down the Cholane Peak Trail. she still has a lot of energy. Sherri and I go down the trail back to Moss Springs. Some of us, go through the caves, others go around it. Sherri, John and I are the last people. We back-track a few times, but nothing too serious. We get to the Bear Gulch parking lot a few minutes after everyone else does. We all enjoyed ourselves, I think. The meetup group takes off for dinner in San Juan Baptista.
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| Creek through cave |
Sherri and I decide to walk back to camp, about two miles. Mostly flat, but a little downhill in one place. We start getting dinner ready and Andrea comes in shortly after us. It has been a pretty good day. Andrea starts a fire, and we enjoy our spaghetti, chicken, white sauce concoction.by the time the fire burns out, it is close to ten and I am ready for the comforts of my sleeping bag.
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| Sherri caught in the smoke |
References:
Feb 19th Hike
Feb 21st Hike
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