May 18, 2013 - Redwood Canyon

Title: May 18, 2013 - Redwood Canyon

Trail head: Redwood Canyon Parking Lot

Hike Info:

Trail: Sugarbowl and Hart Trails

Destination: Loop to Redwood Canyon and Creek

Distance:  10.79 miles*

Travel Time: 6:25 (1.68 mph)

Moving Time: 6:02 (1.79 mph)

Elevation Rise:  2,529'

Maximum Elevation: 6,919'
*Another GPS on the trip record about a mile more.

Description:
I picked up Bill and we headed out to the Blossom Trail Cafe. We meet up with the meetup hiking group, with Karol coming out to hug me--it is a wonderful thing to be remembered, at least for most things.When the group got assembled, there was 17 people in all. We headed off to the Redwood Canyon parking lot with a brief stop Big Stump.

Hiking the Sequioas

Dogwood against Redwood

The day is a little cool, but not much. Perfect hiking weather since it will heat up a bit  before we are done. We hit the Sugarbowl Trail a bit before 9. Immediately there is a good climb up the ridge on the west side of Redwood Canyon. While not steep, there is no getting your hiking legs under you. But while we are figuring out how to walk this trail, there is much to see and reflect on. Last year there was a control burn in the area. The redish-orange of the Sequioa bark against the black burnt scaring of the fire makes for startling Halloween contrast. You start wondering that with man trying to do good with controlled burns, are we really replicating what creation has produced? Are we really doing good?

However you answer those questions, I still look at the deep and silent beauty of the trees which we are surrounded by. Even though the trees are young, they stand tall and straight, not weathered and beaten by the millennium. A few miles away, you can observe the stateliness of the older Sequioas and know that given the chance, these trees which will outlast us will grow into that kind of maturity.

Buck Rock Lookout

Dogwoods on trail

When we reach the top of the ridge, we observe the canyon before us with the Big Baldy Ridge beyond it. The sky is fairly clear, we can even see the Buck Rock Lookout.  This is a good break point so we stop for 15 minutes. Bill decides to stick around here and then go back rather than risk some foot problems he is dealing with. After this, we do a descent of close to 3 miles into Redwood Canyon. We lose the Sequioas when we hit the east facing part of the ridge. But as we descend, we gain the dogwoods, which are in bloom showing their brilliance in white against green. We are dazzled.

Fallen Goliath

Hart Tree

Once we reach Redwood Creek, we have our lunch break. While eating, we are entertained by a doe who was a bit camera shy, yet obviously wanted to be around the area we were in. After lunch, we started on the Hart Tree Trail. This climb would take us much of the afternoon. The forest continued to put on its show of orange, greens and white. But there is also some delicate pink flowers intermixed with purple lupine. The climb is slow, but the weather cooperates by keeping a moderate and comfortable temperature.

Snow Plants

Dogwood

When we arrive at the Hart Tree area, I go up to get a closer look. Not sure that I was seeing anything out of the ordinary concerning Sequoias, of course there were two couples there which looked like they wanted privacy.  We finally reach the top of our climb at 6,400' and start the descent.  The going becomes a bit more quick. But we do stop at an overlook of Redwood Canyon to take in the sea of trees.

We get back to the cars around 3:15 and start our trek home. There is a stop at Bear Mountain Pizza in Squaw Valley. Then down the mountain. I get home around 5:30, tired but having at satisfying day.




Other trips:  Backpacking, April 10-11, 2013