February 18, 2015 - Crescent Meadows Wandering

Title: February 18, 2015 - Crescent Meadows Wandering

 Trail head: Crescent Meadows Parking Lot

Hike Info:

Type:  Hiking

Trail: Crescent Meadows/Log Meadows/High Sierra/Trail of the Sequoias/Congress Trail/Alta Trail

Destination: Loop

Actual Destination:

Distance: 8.33 miles ^{1 2}
Start Time: 9:51
End Time: 16:53
Travel Time: 7:01 (1.19 mph)
Moving Time: 4:49 (1.73 mph) ²
Elevation Rise: 1,461' ^{2 3}

Maximum Elevation:

 ¹Others in the group measured 9.2 and 9.6 miles. I am inclined to believe in the additional mileage.
 ²I went about a half of a mile further than most of the group-even though there was some like Steven who I think went farther. My half of a mile was coming back on a couple of occasions.Because of the extra walking, I did hike longer and had more elevation rise, but not terribly significant, maybe another 100' rise and 10 minutes more walking.
 ³I noticed that the GPS starting elevation is 6,326' and ending is 6,736', or about 400' difference. So I suspect the true elevation rise is 1,060'.

Description:
It is a bit foggy today. Saw that one of our hikers has dropped today, so we should be 16 people. We get to Kohl's at 6:50 and a few people are there before us. We quickly grow to the 14 people with picking up two more along the way. As we head out on Hwy 180, the fog is not too bad, but enough to remind me to be cautious. Below Squaw Valley we break out into the sunshine. We make Wuksaki Lodge around 9 and Carl from Visalia is waiting for us there-Rob has picked up Richard along the way. The group makes use of the restrooms and coffee pots before getting to Crescent Meadows.

Picture from Richard

The day begins with it being a bit cool, but clear and looks enjoyable. Apparently we lost somebody between Wuksaki and here. So Sherri is staying around for a few minutes to see if he shows up. It is a little bit before 10 when our boots hit the trail, or should I say the pavement? We tackle the Crescent Meadow trail first. It is paved and we curl around the south end of the meadow-at the end of the hike we will see the north and west part of this trail. Even with it being warm these days, the meadow grass has enough sense to stay dormant until it knows snow won't come again this year. This trail is level and there is an offshoot to Log Meadow.

Tharp's Cabin

As we travel this short segment, I realize that I really wanted the next trail to Log Meadow. But that is ok, nobody notices, except for the comment about are we walking paved trails all the way? This area has many intertwining trails and this will be my constant refrain today, I wonder if I am on the right trail?

Deer in Action - Picture from Richard

Tharp's log cabin quickly comes to us. Many are fascinated by it and so we spend time here. Before we leave, Sherri rejoins us with our last hiker, and they also look into the cabin. But I quickly am about to lose two more people as they take off on the wrong trail. What is this? We go a mile and I am on the verge of losing three people? What kind of a ship am I running? 

Sequoia at Log Meadow

 But we do end up all going along Log Meadow. Some of the prettiest views of Sequoias I see along the edge. Also there is this large root ball towards the south of the meadow which fascinates me each time I pass by. It is at least three times as high as I am, just lying on its side, stark in the meadow.

Rose and Christine

Moro Rock - Picture from Richard

At the end of Log Meadow, we take off towards The High Sierra Trail (HST). But before we meet the trail, we find three deer munching along the side of our trail. This has the effect of gathering us all together to gawk at them. But eventually we move and the deer make way for us. This brings us to looking over the Kaweah River. Some people do not believe that we are seeing Moro Rock; all are amazed at the view. But like the commercial says, there is more to come.

View from Eagle's View

When we go about a third of a mile to Eagle View, the Great Western Divide Kern-Kaweah Divide  comes into play. Many have not seen this view, some this is their first trip to the Sierras and there is jaw dropping reaction of this cannot be. I am glad to be their first guide on this. This view is truly magnificent and so close. Whats more, today is the perfect day to see it. Triple Divide, Steward and Lippincott are all so clearly seen. I show them where the HST goes and some want to continue on, that is until I say that the end is 59 miles from here, Mt Whitney. Maybe another day. Still there are folks looking at those mountains wistfully.

Peaks seen from Eagle View from the PeakFinder application

Sawtooth

So we retreat back to the junction with the Trail of the Sequoias and wait for those still gawking at Eagle's View. And we waited, And waited some more. What can you say, when you give a group of people the visual equivalent of crack, should I expect to tear them away?

If Eagle View is like crack, then the Trail of the Sequoias is methadone. It does not have the siren call of the grandiose view seen a few minutes before, but it has the means to bring serenity to the soul. As we progress along this long stretch of trail, we see the younger redwoods with their un-scarred bark and tall, gangly frames. At the end of the trail, there is the mature sequoias which have reigned over the forests for a couple of millennium. In between, we look and see green and red, plants still dormant, but some manzanita have gotten an early start with an early bloom, maybe errant. Sherri has been leading us and finds a nice, sun-lite area to rest for lunch. We may be going a bit slower than I was hoping, but no one is denying the enjoyment factor of what we are witnessing: the forest in Winter wearing shorts and short-sleeves.

Congress Grove

View from ridge

After lunch our trip continues up slightly to the top of a ridge-this is the literally the high point of the trip, but not the last of the climbs we will be doing. From here we get a last view of the snow-covered mountains to the south of Giant Forest. Then we descend down into the Congress Grove area. Today we will not be going to the General Sherman Tree. Instead we head more west and meet up with the Alta Trail. But even this simple maneuver was  confounded by  people being interested in the Chief Sequoyah Tree and the Congress Grove trees. I guess there could be worse things to be detained by.

But we move on to the final third of our hike, and it turns out the hardest of the day. We start a gentle descent towards Giant Forest, but we will not walk that far. Along the way, we come across some Indian grinding holes, along with a large sheet of granite.  After about a mile and a half we come to a junction. We take the trail to Huckleberry Meadow. This is the start of the first real up-about 300' rise. The first part of the group charge right up. But confession time, I make it about half way up this slope before I need to savor some mountain aire. But it is time to continue on. Sherri is taking up the rear. So we crest the top of the rest and the remainder of the journey is mostly down or flat.

Big Tree - Small People

A few minutes afterwards we come to the remains of the Squatter's Cabin. There is a couple versions of what who the squatters were. One sign says it was a guy who wanted to live up there until he found out that Hale Tharp already owned the area. The other is that this was part of the Kaweah Colony and they were driven out by the park service.

Huckleberry Meadow

After waiting around for a time, I sent most of the people forward, except for Kurt. Sherri's group had not come yet, so Kurt and I went back up the ridge, but did not get far until we came to the last group. We walked down with them. Some folks were pretty tired by now, so I walked with them and everybody else went to the car, about 3/4 of a mile from the cabin. I think this was the first longer hike for some people. Still we hiked the whole thing, going past Huckleberry Meadow and over a small ridge before dropping into Crescent Meadow. When we topped to rest, we saw a bird, I thought it might be a Western Tanager, but not being an ornithologist, or even something remotely close, I think I am wrong.  But it is interesting that going slow, we get to see a lot.

We have one more adventure and that is sometime over the Winter two trees knocked down, blocking the trail. But Steven E and Sherri found the way around it and all got to the cars. A couple of us said, lets eat-always a fitting way to end the day. So we stopped at Bear Mountain Pizza in Squaw Valley for some eats. We got home around 7:30 or so, a bit tired, but having enjoyed the day.

Trail Lesson:

It is easier to maintain your energy as you go along, than to regain what you have lost.

February 14, 2015 - Dinosaur Lake and Pig Pond

Title: February 14, 2015 - Dinosaur Lake and Pig Pond

Trail head: Pacheco State Park Parking Lot

Hike Info:

Type:  Hiking

Trail: Spikes Peak Road, Pig Pond, and Dinosaur Lake

Destination: Loop with Dinosaur Lake and Pig Pond

Distance: 5.89 miles ¹

Start Time:  9:36

End Time:   1:35

Travel Time: 3:59 (1.43 mph)

Moving Time: 2:24 (2.42 mph)

Elevation Rise: 1,193'

Maximum Elevation: 1,499'

 ¹I did not turn on my GPS until about 10 minutes into the hike. So the distance traveled, time walked and elevation rise are all approximations based upon the GPS readings of this and other hikes in the area.

Description:

Got up and found that I was missing half of my front tooth. What a way to start the day! But it is not hurting so that is a good thing. We leave the house by 6:30 and get to the Kohl's parking lot soon after.  We have about 20 people coming with us today, meeting some at Pacheco and others in Los Banos. It is clear in Fresno, with a little bit of haze. But when we cross the San Joaquin along 152, we get hit by fog for about 10 miles. All arrive safe at Pacheco State Park around 9:15.

Oak Tree Silhouette

By 9:35 we are on the trail today. We are doing three trails I have walked a couple of times before. This is the first time I am walking it so early in the year. We are doing the Spikes Peak Road, Pig Pond, and Dinosaur Lake trails counter-clockwise. So the very first part of the trail is one of my favorites. As you climb the first hill, you get to look out over Pacheco Pass, the traffic going over 152, the wide spot before the highway descends steeply on both sides of the pass. It just feels like you can watch the whole world pass you by in the tranquility of the hill.

Road to Pig Pond

Pig Pond in the distance

But I have 21 people waiting for me so I must not lose myself in thought. After going through a cattle control gate, we come to the first of many trail junctions. We take the Pig Pond trail and after a third of a mile, we see the pond coming into view. No pigs in sight and the pond is pretty full compared to the last several times we have seen it. After the hike, Sherri tells me that she talked to a couple teenagers. They said they went down into the oaks on the north end of the lake and saw a mountain lion (Sherri says they said a bobcat).  What I saw of them, they were scurrying away pretty quickly.

Pig Pond

Speaking of Sherri, I have her doing sweep, making sure she keeps tab on the back of the group. I am trying to keep towards the front. there is a lot of trail junctions-not all of them are marked. I am fortunate as I have several other organizers on this trip: Lee, Donna, John, Jerry J and Jerry K, plus several other capable people. So I feel pretty confident I will not be losing anybody going off in the wrong direction.

After passing by Pig Pond, we climb up a little hill to a picnic bench. The first place were everybody waits. But we get a good view of the Coastal Range peaks to the south and west of us. Peaks like Fremont and Spikes.

View upon descent

Coming Up To Ridge

But now that all have caught up, it is time to do a good descent into Salt Creek. There is nothing great about Salt Creek, except that is the last of a 300' descent-our longest of the day.Of course, as we are going down, we get to enjoy the greenness of the spring grass around us, along with a few early wildflowers-I do not know their names, except for mustard and the California Golden Poppy. I guess I am a poor visitor not to at least learn our hosts names.

Windmills on ridge

After a break at Salt Creek, we start our way up. Now this is where my confusion starts. I remember the trail here going up the side of a road, with a steeper access road, which is true. But my memory says that the two do not combine, but there it does just a little ways up. The climb is a bit steep, but not far. It is not steep enough that we stop talking. But after a ways, the windmills come into view. And there is the road which leads up to them. What happened to Dinosaur Lake? Wasn't that to come before? Jerry K tries to reassure me that it comes later. But I am wondering, did I miss a turn off? Oh well, as long as we are here, we might as well go on up to the windmills. We take a lunch break here and enjoy the view of Mammoth Lake in front of us, the blades slowly spinning above us and the warm sunshine on our backs.

Meetup on windmills

Sherri and gang

I am still wondering where Dinosaur Lake went to. But hiking the hill tops is still so good that I stop that wondering. Evidently the rest of meetup group is in the same frame of mind because there is the relaxed pace of enjoyment pervading our group. The air is clear and we can see the snow tops of the Sierras. The grasses at our feet gently waving in a light breeze, so good of a day-and this is February!

Dinosaur Lake

Then we start descending again, and we see it: Dinosaur Lake. I am thankful that Jerry K is right! I talk a bit about was there really Dinosaurs or not? Do you want to romantic view or those of the more practical? I side on the romantic. A few years ago, some kids from Los Banos did a paper which sort of sides with that the formations were not right for dinosaurs in these parts. Still, it is not conclusive, so I can enjoy the pleasure of seeing a giant dinosaur print where this lake is. Of course, there is the dam which forms the lake, which helps with the dinosaur paw.

San Luis Reservoir

After this bit of excitement, we hid up to the top of the ridge above Dinosaur Lake and follow it northward. After two-thirds of a mile, we hit Windmill Road and some people wander up the road to see a good view of San Luis Reservoir. Ah, but if they just waited a little bit, they would have seen even a better view. This one with wildflowers in the fore-front. The picture on the right is sans flowers-see below for an example. This is the begining of the end to our hike.

We turn back around the ridge and hit Windmill Road and walk it for a ways. There are some offshoots to this road, so I keep the group relatively close together until we hit the trail branching off to the left. I believe it is the old Dinosaur Point Road, but whatever it is, we follow it up the last tiny ridge and into the meadow/pasture we started off in.

When we get back to the car, we see two of our vehicles-not mine-have parking violations on them. One just flat out did not see the iron ranger. The other did deposit money, but forgot to tear off the tag. Hope they can work with the State Park on it. Some of us finish off our hike by going to Black Bear Dinner in Los Banos. For the most part the food was good, but there was exceptions. This was our waitress' first day on the job and there was some confusion. Also one of our members had a vastly undercooked hamburger. We make it back to Fresno by 4:30 or 5:00, pretty content with the hike.

San Luis Reservior

Trail Lesson: Make sure I know where I am going and where I am at.

Pig Pond from ridge

Dinosaur Lake

February 4, 2015 - Million Dollar Mile to Stevenson Falls

Title: February 4, 2015 - Million Dollar Mile to Stevenson Falls

Trail head: Italian Bar Road, Audberry

Hike Info:

Type:  Hiking

Trail: Million Dollar Road

Destination:Stevenson Falls

Distance: 7.15 miles

Start Time:  8:50

End Time:  12:34

Travel Time: 3:43 (1.92 mph)

Moving Time: 2:46 (2.58 mph)

Elevation Rise: 975'

Maximum Elevation: 2,364'

Description:
The air is a bit cool on this Wednesday morning as we stand around the Kohl's parking lot. But I am not concerned since I am pretty sure it will warm up soon. We get up to the Italian Bar trailhead around 8:40. I am right, it is warming up, so off comes the pant legs, but I do keep my SmartWool shirt on.

The trail is really a paved road, a private road by Southern California Edison. There is a reason why it is called the Million Dollar Mile. This road was part of the Big Creek project. There was a massive grant cliff which needed to be cut through, costing a million to do.

Normally this road is quiet as only SCE vehicles are on it. Today, it seems like SCE is really working hard as we saw many of their vehicles. But they are all driving with consideration, so there is no close calls.

San Joaquin River

Today I am walking at a little bit faster pace, particularly with the paved surface. I keep Jean and Christine and John H company for much of the way. We talk and take pictures and just enjoy the air and sun.  The pictures are both of people and the San Joaquin. Not much is flowing by us, but the cut it makes is attractive as it makes it way through the foothills.

We get to the bridge across Stevenson Creek. This is the creek which comes out of Shaver Lake, so it does not have a natural flow to it. In some years, the water swallows the bridge we are crossing, but not this one. It will take several storms to make that happen. But in the meantime, we enjoy the falls. These falls also have an upper component. Lianne says that there is a road at the top which one can walk on. Up at the top it is even steeper than what we see. Just looking at the topo map, I am thinking this is a spot I must visit one day.

Stevenson Falls

Upper Stevenson Falls

We have lunch here and some folks enter into the Adit-a cavern built for a tunnel to flow the water down from Shaver. After awhile, we start breaking up and walking back towards the car. Cathey and I talk for much of the ways. Always a pleasant part of our hikes is the conversations which ensue. Sherri and Richard join us later on. Going up I had told Richard about another adit which was hidden, so off we go exploring through the berry vines and into a swamp. The adit stands behind a sea of green at its entrance. Jerry K also joins us and we gaze for awhile before rejoining the road.

Walking the Road-Gary, Cathey, Richard

Entrance to a Tunnel

 As we walk along, we see parts of the San Joaquin River Trail where we walked a month ago. No wonder were so challenged by that hike! But with this view we are close to the end of our hike. We pause when we get to Jose Creek and look at newts swimming as well as the rushes and a bit of water flowing.

San Joaquin River Trail

But as you all know, just because we end our walking, that is not the end of the hike. Some of us stop at the Pizza Factory in Prather,  others enjoy the Mexican restaurant close by. But we all arrive safely in Fresno, satisfied with the hike.

Jose Creek

Gary and Cathey

Stevenson Falls

Tricklets on side of Stevenson Falls