March 25, 2015 - Ft Monroe

Title: March 25, 2015 - Ft Monroe

Trail head: Bridalveil Falls Parking Lot

Hike Info:

Type:  Hiking

Trail: Old Wawona Road and Pohono

Destination:Ft Monroe

Distance: 8.1 miles ¹

Start Time:  9:34

End Time:   2:52

Travel Time: 5:18 (1.16 mph)

Moving Time: 3:35 (2.05 mph) ¹

Elevation Rise: 1,591'

Maximum Elevation: 5,578'

 ¹My GPS had a low battery indicator almost from the get-go. So I needed to turn my GPS off for a time between Artist Point and the faux Ft Monroe. My GPS registered 6.15 miles over 3 hours. The mileage and moving time was from Rose C's GPS.

Description:

Bridalveil in the morning

Here it is again, another Wednesday, but John and Cathey are busy, so I planned a meetup hike-a return to Ft Monroe in Yosemite. Last November we did this hike, it was one of the rare rainy days of the 2014-2015 winter and boy did it rain. But today is about unfinished business, an un-accomplished mission. You see the last couple of times I had been up here, I thought we had the spot for Ft Monroe. There was a flat spot and a pipe sticking out of the ground. When I read Tony Krizan's description and looked at the GPS readings something seemed off from where I thought it was. So my personal mission was to find where this fort was located.

Old Wawona Road

So what do I do today? Invite people from our meetup group to join us and so 25 people, besides Sherri and I show up to help me find this fort-only thing they only know we are going to this mythical fort, not that I don't know where it is exactly. The 25 includes my good friend Doug, his first time with the meetup group.  At 7:10 we depart from Kohl's-once again there is a person who rushes into the parking lot just as we are leaving so she gets stuffed into our car for a ride up to Oakhurst. We make the traditional stop at Starbucks in Oakhurst and pick up a couple more people before getting to the Bridalveil Parking Lot at 9:15. We meet Jerry K-the other half of the John and Jerry team-and Bob whom I have not met before.

The actual start of the trail is about a quarter of a mile up Highway 41 from the parking lot, just past the W1 road sign. There is a small wide space, room enough for three or four small cars, but only Dan and his family take advantage of it. Here, we take our group picture and start out. Most people start out with long sleeves and long pants. Me? It is shorts, but a smart wool shirt. Quickly most of us have stripped to short sleeves. Then quickly to shorts, if they have it available. It is that kind of day and trail which will make you sweat. It is a good pull up towards Artist Point.

Sherri is assuming the sweep role and I try to be somewhat close to the front-but I fail at that task and have to settle for someplace in the middle. But the goodness there is I get to converse with several people about a variety of subject matter.  One such subject matter is a pretty thick cable we see along the way. What it is, is a matter of much speculation, but nothing conclusive. May favorite, which I exposite on is that since Turtleback Dome is up the way, it may be the power and communications line for that.²

 We do get to a place which is close to Artist Point in good time-more about this later. Some of us enjoy the first good view of the Valley-others I think have scurried on ahead, maybe ignoring what their eyes can enjoy.  But there is plenty of time to see views along this trail. See the picture at the top for an idea of what we saw.

Devil's Dance hall and the Cascades

About a half mile after Artist Point, we pass by the trail junction with the Pohono Trail, continuing to follow the Old Wawona Road. Why you might ask since the Pohono Trail is shorter? Exactly is my reply, shorter, but steeper. This old man is getting lazy in his old age. Besides there is unfinished business ahead. We get to the point where I previously thought Ft Monroe was. There is a metal pipe sticking out of the ground and a pretty good view of the Cascades, but this is not it. The GPS coordinates are off. So we go on ahead.

Ft Monroe from Vic M

From Wikipedia

We catch up with the rest of the group and I let people know that there is more. Jerry K has a new Canadian friend who latches onto our group. So we continue up the Old Wawona Road, not the Pohono Trail, for another half of a mile. Here, the GPS says that we are in the right spot and sure enough, there is another pipe sticking out of the ground. I will say, this location is not very impressive. I say a few words about why Ft Monroe was named and what it was-named for a black stagecoach drive named George Monroe and the fort was actually a stagecoach stop.
 

Inspiration Point

Some of the group goes off and plays, that is they wonder what is below. They find some things, but not much-some old cans which they leave in place. I think they were looking for foundations or a building.³ Where they were probably was where the stagecoach station was. But the rest of us go back down to Inspiration Point. Most stay on top, but down about 40' is actually a little bit better place to see the Valley just spreads out before you, the view is less encumbered by trees. We stop for about 30-40 minutes, just enjoying the sun and the view, not necessarily in that order.

But now it is time to go back down to the cars at Bridalveil. Instead of returning the way we came, we finish our lollypop loop by going down the Pohono Trail, about half of a mile till we reach the Old Wawona Road again. But about 2/3's of the way down, there is a little social trail. As good as Artist and Inspiration Points are, I think this little trail offers a view which even surpasses these fine points. Just the broadness of view and the look down the Valley is, well, breath-taking.

Artist Point benchmark

We go on down the road until Artist Point. I have been talking with Jerry's friend about other hikes he might consider, when I realize he probably should have continued down the Pohono Trail to Valley View. But it is a good talk.  I have been looking for a benchmark to say exactly where the Point is.  Sherri finds it, right across from the good view at Artist Point. Now the trip is complete and we return back down the road to the cars.

But a meetup trip would not be complete without an after hike meal. So we stop in at Southgate Brewey. it turns out that Southgate is owned by a friend of Dan's. We get back to Kohl's around 6, dropping off one of our pasengers-Karen, another first time hiker with our group. We take Doug back to his house which is on the way home. It has been another good day and another good hike. But of course, what else could it have been? We were in Yosemite!

Broken cable

 ² Vic M wrote to Yosemite NP. The Park responded through a person named Jeffery with This is an old telephone cable, which has since been replaced by a microwave system. Also Vic's source noted that the line went all the way from Yosemite Valley to Wawona.








 ³Also from Vic M and his correspondence with Jeffery:  

Can around Ft Monroe

 As for the rusted cans, I don't have any other details. There are numerous old dumps all around the park, although I'm not sure if this is from one of them. Often, what makes an artifact valuable is its context (what else was nearby, exact location, etc.), so removing an artifact without studying the site might preserve the individual can, but might not result in much else besides a rusted can in a drawer in the museum. So, we do still want people to leave artifacts where they're found (reporting them is useful, though).

Another source is the Yosemite site on the Protection of Archeological Resources