May 13, 2015 - Henness Ridge and Deer Camp Trail

Title: May 13, 2015 - Henness Ridge

Trail head: Yosemite West

Hike Info:

Type:  Hiking

Trail: Henness Ridge Service Road

Destination: Henness Ridge Lookout

Distance: 1.83 miles ¹

Start Time: 9:32

End Time:  10:56

Travel Time: 1:23 (1.37 mph)

Moving Time: 0:49 (2.31 mph)

Elevation Rise: 284'

Maximum Elevation: 6,330'

 ¹The mileage has varied between 1.80 and 2.13 miles. I think it is pretty close to 1.8 miles

Description:
Last January, I scheduled a snowshoe hike, but lacking snow, we turned this into a regular hike. The hike did Henness Ridge and Deer Camp Trail. There was six or seven of us who did this hike then. Today, we are doing another meetup hike, but this time we have a pretty large group of close to 30 people.

Like most of our hikes, we meet at Kohl's at 7:00am and head out to Starbucks in Oakhurst where we pick up Judy and Barney. Then it is off to Yosemite West to start our first hike of the day.

We park at the turnout by Azela Lane off of Henness Ridge Circle. Gathering 25-30 people is a bit more of a challenge than the six people we had there before, but it happens. We gather by the gated road and have our group picture before following the service road to the lookout. The trail is a service road up to the lookout. The first third of a mile is the most climbing we will do all day long, and that is about 200'.

When we round the last curve up to the lookout, there is general excitement-most of the group had not seen this lookout before-which is the first thing which attracts the attention. Then, lookout out into the South Fork of the Merced is the second thing which brings the ahhhs. The lookout is being worked on by NPS, so they scurry over to an asphalt pad. People wonder if this is the site of the original lookout-no, it is a helipad for emergencies.

Then we have an unexpected pleasure. A gentleman comes riding up on a bike and Sherri introduces him as a construction manager with NatureBridge. NatureBridge is building a a new center on Henness Ridge, close to Highway 41. Moose, the manager, told a bit about the project how it will be giving back the center at Tuolumne Grove, and how this area is less environmentally sensitive than along the Tioga Road. Also he talked about the lookout and encouraged us to write the park superintendent. Currently, the Park is searching for ways to use this lookout.

Time to turn back and return to the cars for the second hike of the day. But one piece of excitement is that we started hearing shouts of Moooseee! Moooseee! as Moose biked by us.

Title: May 13, 2015 - Deer Camp Trail

Trail head: Deer Camp Trail Head

Hike Info:

Type:  Hiking

Trail: Deer Camp Trail

Destination: Bishop Creek

Distance: 6.62 miles ²

Start Time: 11:17

End Time:    2:44

Travel Time: 3:27  (1.92 mph)

Moving Time: 2:49 (2.35 mph)

Elevation Rise: 392'

Maximum Elevation: 6,245'

 ²Other people were getting mileages into the 8's. But the 6.62 miles on this GPS is consistent with the mileage we did in January.

 
Description:

The Deer Camp Trailhead is just across Highway 41 from Yosemite West. A couple of cars do an authorized detour to Chinqupin, a mile or so down the road for the facilities which flushed. So it took a while to get gathered back up again before heading out. This gives me a chance to talk with a couple biologists who have gone up the trail to study owls. They are waiting for a couple more of their team to return.

Meetup group on the trail

Being an old railroad bed for the Yosemite Lumber Railroad, and then later the Sugar Pine Railroad, our trail is pretty flat. One of the things which Moose told us was that the engine turnaround was about where the NatureBridge center was being built. Something new I picked up. A little ways away there was a long incluine set up to bring logs down to El Portal. There they would load the sugar pine lumber onto the Yosemite Valley RailRoad to be hauled down into the valley for cutting. The include, form what I understand had a mechanical donkey at the Yosemite West end which would control the lumber going down. Sometimes the men would ride the cart down, sometimes with unfortunate results.

But now it is time to hit the trail. As we discovered in January,  this is one of the easiest trails in Yosemite. Level and calming. Not much in the way with the big bang scenery. But this forces me to look at the usually less noticed things. There are some flowers out, but not many. Instead, we spot places where the logging of the sugar pine was done. Or just noticing the pines, dogwood and aspen we walk through. It is good to be out here, letting ones overstuffed mind enjoy the relaxation of the area.

Meadow and its Stumps

Also the sky is a bit overcast and we do get hit by a few drops of rain. Just enough to keep us going. This is also true of the coolness as well-it keeps us moving. I still have my long sleeved shirt with my pants, not shorts. Still feeling comfortable.

We start passing by Rail Creek, then Strawberry and finally get to Bishop. But on the map, it shows another segment of Bishop, so we walk there as well. This is about half of a mile further than we walked in January. I will say, there is not much there, maybe if water was running, I would say something else. We are walking this for the enjoyment, not the destination-have I said that before? This is our stopping place and we have lunch.

Our return trip is the reverse of our walk in. So we were concentrating on the return trip rather than on enjoying the woods. But as Cathey said, as the trail goes on, the woods just seem to close in. I do not think it was like the Babes in Toyland movie, but more that this is a trail which allows you to enjoy the woods when we walk, excluding other influences. You are not laboring, but loving the journey. But all things come to an end and we find ourselves back at the trailhead.

 Some cars have left, and we leave shortly after arriving. Our friends, the NPS biologists, are at the trailhead-they returned to pick up some things. We stop in Oakhurst at the South Gate Brewery to enjoy a meal before going back to Fresno. Sherri and I stop by Kaiser to take in our weight management class before heading home.

Unknown

Dogwood-start of blooms

Western Wallflower