April 15, 2015 - Briceburg / Merced Gorge River Trail

Title: April 15, 2015 - Briceburg / Merced Gorge River Trail

Trail head: Briceburg

Hike Info:

Type:  Hiking

Trail: Merced Gorge River Trail

Destination: BLM Boundary

Distance:  8.68 miles ¹

Start Time:  9:15

End Time:   1:46

Travel Time: 4:30 (1.93  mph)

Moving Time: 3:46 (2.30 mph)

Elevation Rise:¹

Maximum Elevation: 1,200'
 ¹My GPS did not accurately record the elevation. It started off at 951' and showed a high of 1,492'. According to the topo map, the trail never goes above 1,200'

Description:
I like this trail. Each time I have been on it, the Merced River is so mesmerizing, the flowers there to have me enjoy and even a few butterflies to lighten the air. But I suspect it is not an all season trail. In a few weeks, it will get warm and all the flowers will be burnt away. But I am getting ahead of myself.

We meet at Kohl's at 7:00am. Sherri still is sick, but getting better. So being prudent, she stayed home. By the time we get to Briceburg, we will have 25 people walking. Karol, Rob and Christine ride with me and our five cars take off for Mariposa and the Burger King there. We pick up Roger, Judy and Barney-not in my car, then take another 10 minute drive to to our trail head. The trail head is where Highway 140 drops out of Mid-Pines and meets the Merced River. There is a stone hut which used to be a store which Brice owned.

Merced Gorge River Trail

We meet Jerry K and David M in the parking lot. By the time we get ready, it is  9:15.The first thing we do is cross a suspension bridge. With 25 people on it, there is a bit of bounce. Sort of unnerving, but nothing traumatic happens. Then it is time to hit the dirt and go. But before I can get started, I talk with a guy by a pickup. He says that he owns a claim up the trail a ways. My guess it has to do with the TIGER posts we see later on. The man does say he welcomes people to pan on his claim.

We start off at a good pace, enjoying the coolness of the morning. By the time I get done talking with the claims man, I am at the back of the pack with the regulars.  But on a trail like this, there is no need to rush-just time to enjoy. The grasses are transitioning from green to gold. But we spot wildflowers almost immediately along the trail. This is not hillsides covered with poppies, but a sprinkling of an assortment of plants.

Railroad Footing

Most of this trail is flat, as it used to be a railroad bed. What railroad you might ask? The Yosemite Valley Rail Road which started in Merced and ended up in El Portal. Most places, it is about a lane wide, but occasionally the bed has eroded away and the track is narrow, not that you ever feel like you are going to fall in. Just enough to keep you on your toes, so to speak.The whole trail is not flat-in three places a creek crosses the bed. You can see remains of the bridges the train traveled on-by remains, I mean the cement footings and an occasional piece of a bolt or wood support. But our trail dips down 10-15 feet and then back out.

Merced, Trail and Hiking Group

There are wide bends to the river which the trail follows. So even though we are in back, it is easy to spot our fellow hikers even a half mile further up the trail. The Merced is low because of the drought. I suspect that in a normal year, we are seeing where the river would be in July. Still it is good to see the river going from a swift moving entity to nice clear pools.

Hill above trail

After awhile, I start looking for the forest service sign across the river. This will mark our end point. BLM maintains this trail really well. But when we went on this trail in March, we crossed over into forest service land and it was a noticeable change, particularly with the poison oak clawing at us. So we stop at the boundary and have lunch.  Our return trip was just backtracking the trail. Even then, seeing the trail from a different perspective is refreshing. I am walking with Roger part of the way, then with Barney. We have periods of conversation, followed by silence, except for the traffic on 140 and the river passing by.

We finished up around 1:45. Several people were appreciative that we had done this hike as they had looked across the road and seen what looked like a trail. We decided to head to Mariposa to Happy Burger for lunch. Not a bad place to stop. Then the decision: go to the Mariposa Historical Museum which was just across the way or go to a Facebook friend of Rose and Sherri? Since the Museum closed in an hour, it was decided to go to Rumm Studio. This was a good place to stop. I particularly enjoyed  it as Faith Rumm had painted her way across the JMT. I could identify several places in her paintings, even buying one.

Accident on 41

I wish I could say that our trip home was uneventful. But south of Coarsegold, there had been an accident, maybe five minutes before us. One person died and another couple people were seriously injuried. We were delayed about 2 hours, getting to Kohl's around 7:30. The accident did not involve anybody from the meetup group.

Butterflies

 

Flowers:

Misc Pictures:

Trail, Tree and River

 

Merced River

April 11, 2015 - Yosemite Valley East Loop

Title: April 11, 2015 - Yosemite Valley East Loop

Trail head: Camp Curry parking lot

Hike Info:

Type:  Hiking

Trail: Valley Loop Trail

Destination:Loop

Distance: 11.33 miles ¹

Start Time:  9:46

End Time:   3:28

Travel Time: 5:41 (1.99 mph)

Moving Time: 4:21 (2.60 mph)

Elevation Rise: 1,250'

Maximum Elevation: 4,334'

 ¹Some of the GPS' on the trip recorded above 13 miles. I went a little farther in going back up Tenaya Canyon to meet one of our hikers which did not start with us. Some of the figures include:

• Distance: 12.40 miles
• Moving Time: 4:47 (2.59 mph)
• Elevation Rise: 1,369'

Description:
This meetup hike's list started with 25 people going and a wait list of another 20. But by the time Saturday morning rolled around, we had 16 people with us. Oh well. It was another Kohl's starting place at 7am on a Saturday morning. We met up with Lianne and Micheal in Oakhurst at Starbucks. Then onward to Camp Curry.

We get to Camp Curry's parking lot, the big one to the east of Camp Curry a little before 9:30. Jon and LaTanya were meeting us there, but I do not see any sign of them. So I do a brief walk over to Curry Village and find Jon coming towards me. But no LaTanya, so we start out on our walk around the east end of Yosemite Valley, following the Valley Loop Trail. Jon turns out to be very knowledgeable about the Valley and I enjoyed listening to him.

Merced River at Happy Isles

We walk up the road to Happy Isles, all in our group. Happy Isles is the first of four scheduled stops. Why Happy Isles? Mostly because there are bathrooms with flush toilets available there.  But there is also a good sense of beauty surrounding this place which from Muir comes  a Tennyson quote in Ulysses:

It may be we shall touch the Happy Isles,
And see the great Achilles, whom we knew.

With some water in the Merced, the river is singing a melody, but for how long is what I wonder? We round the bend and take the trail which which parallels the road, but most of the time is far enough away you do not hear Yosemite's quiet shuttle buses. So we are content with talk amongst ourselves, enjoying each others company. Even though Yosemite is pretty dry for this time of year, we still see dogwoods in bloom, along with an occasional redbud. This is the place which Yosemite gives us, the gentle green of plants growing amongst the giants of granite. May we always have the wisdom to appreciate them.

Mirror Lake, Pond?

Ahwiyah Point Rockfall

We approach the junction where we can go to Mirror Lake from the west or the east. Our path lays the longer way, around the east. It has been many a year since I went this way. In 2009, there was a rock fall from Ahwiyah Point which closed the trail. But now we are able to hike it. We perceive the slide and how much rock has come down. I understand why the park service felt it prudent to wait years to make sure no more boulders would come crashing down. As massive as this rock fall was, it was not terribly large by historic standards. Such as it was not as large as the 1996 Glacier Point fall.

Teneya Creek-South

Teneya Creek-North

But onward we go. We soon come to a couple footbridges, one crossing Tenaya Creek, the other, the dry Snow Creek. Now we are on the return stretch back to Mirror Lake. Passing the Snow Creek trail junction, it brings back memories and the knowledge that another part of our meetup group is above us today. The memories is when Karol and I came down Snow Creek last June. The section between this junction and Mirror Lake just seemed to go on for ever. While not as long today, this trail is deceptive in its length.

Mirror Lake Ducks

At Mirror Lake, we stop for lunch. There we enjoy reflections of Half Dome and the ducks paddling across the water in front of us. In the middle of lunch, I get a text from LaTanya asking where we are? She was in the Camp Curry parking lot. Mystery, isn't it? Her current position was crossing the footbridges we had crossed earlier. I made arrangements with Rose to go on to the Ahwahnee and I would go back and walk with LaTanya. Glad she made it up with us-I have enjoyed her company on past hikes. We catch up to the group at the Ahwahnee.

Yosemite Valley

When we leave the Ahwahnee, we separate ourselves from the Valley crowds by following the Valley Loop Trail. This takes us in back of the Visitor's center, up about 75' above it. Most visitors do not go this route, but we do. And we are rewarded with a view of the western part of the Valley.

Yosemite Falls

We have been on the trail for awhile, but the Falls, that would be Yosemite Falls, revives us. Not because we jump in, but the mere sight brings rejuvenation  to our souls, at least mine. It is a wonder to meditate on things like this and realize that God places it there for our pleasure. Evidently, though, some wanted to get a bit closer and we see a couple of people silhouetted  above the lower falls-you can barely see them in the picture.

 After quick pit stops at the Yosemite Falls flush toilets, we are off on our return trip. We cross Cook's Meadow and take the pedestrian bridge across the Merced and end up at Valley Chapel. Then it is time to rejoin the Valley Loop and head east. We pass by Housekeeping and LeConte Memorial, which is closed for the season. From there it is less than a mile to Camp Curry. We lose both Jon and LaTanya here. Jon departs to his housing in the Valley-he works for DNC. The mystery of how we missed LaTanya is resolved-there is a different parking lot which she parked in.  Now I know.

We get ourselves all bundled back into our cars. Some of us stop at El Cid's in Oakhurst for dinner. Then on to Fresno and a shower. Such a day. Very few are better.