April 9, 2013-Nelder Grove

Title: April 9, 2013 - Nelder Grove
Trail head: Nelder Grove Campground

Hike Info:
Trail: Nelder Grove Trail
Destination: Dirt Road at end of Trail
Distance: 8.20 miles
Travel Time: 4:27 (1.84 mph)
Moving Time: 3:47 (2.17 mph)
Elevation Rise: 1,534'
Maximum Elevation: 6,105'




Description:
We were scheduled to go backpacking today, but the weather forecast had it being in the upper 20's in the morning and with the wind chill, in the upper teens. A bit too cold for us. Maybe tomorrow.

Start of Trail

Tree at Nelder Creek

So we decided to go hiking instead. The place we choose was Nelder Grove, above Oakhurst. Steven is joining us, which is good. We leave Fresno around 11:30 and get to the campground at Nelder Grove around 1. Our peanut butter and Nutella sandwiches come out and fill us up. We start hiking along an old road, turned into a trail. There is a gentle rise, in some shade. We are not worried about the heat today. But in the summer, we would want to do it earlier in the day. For the first mile, the path is sandy with small rocks. We come to a creek with an 8' waterfall close to trail. At the crossing is a nice sized redwood with a sign pronouncing the creek as Nelder Creek.

Towards Oakhurst

From here the overhang is more evergreen than oak and manzanita. We can see the valley which Oakhurst lies in. Also the tops of some Sequoias show themselves against the ridge which we are climbing. Pretty soon we round the ridge and are now looking westward toward Fish Camp-we can even see the roof of Tenaya Lodge and Wawona Point in Yosemite.

Hawksworth Tree

A confusing sign says that the Clothespin Tree is here, but it takes a bit of looking and head twisting to find it. Shortly afterwards comes the Kiowa Tree. We will need to see what that name means. The Hoagsworth Tree is named after a former Forest Ranger staff, who stayed on as campground host for twenty years after his retirement. His granddaughter still carries on the tradition of being host to Nelder Grove.

Fake Granddad Tree

At the Grandad Tree, there is a separate path*. The Grandad Tree looks like it is an old, dead, but huge tree which has been topped by wind and lightening. But we are not sure, so Steven and I go along the path to see where it goes. We come across a sign which says AND. Sure enough, there is a tree in the distance. So we designated the AND Tree. Probably with was someone and someone. We go on for about half of a mile and find the trail which we came up on. We return and find Sherri looking for us.

Cutoff Trail

*After reading Dick Estel's page on his 30-40 years of reminiscence on Nelder Grove, I realized what we saw was not the Granddad Tree. The AND Tree is really The Old Granddad AND Grandkids Tree.

We return to the Grandad and continue on the trail. It now is nearly level for always. Then it takes a sharp downhill for about half or a mile. We meet the first other people on the trail-four mountain bikers coming up the trail. We continue on to the end of the trail, where it T's in with a road from Calvin Crest. It seems like the thing to do to turn around and come back the way we came.

The Willsons

Coming back, it is a bit more work, but not bad, coming up from the Calvin Crest road. When we hit the Granddad Tree, we decide to take the shorter and more scenic route which Steven and I took earlier. This cuts off a few feet, but is a bit steep going down. The rest of the walk down is uneventful. We do get a good look at the small falls on Nelder Creek. Then it is down to Oakhurst for dinner at Todd's.