March 23, 2017 – North Grove Loop Trail

Title:  March 23, 2017 – North Grove Loop Trail
Hike Info : Description :  Background :  Extra Photo's 

Trail head:General Grant Tree Parking Lot

Hike Info:

Type:  Snowshoeing

Trail: North Grove Loop

Destination:Loop

Distance:  2.08 miles ¹

Start Time: 12:47

End Time:    2:47

Travel Time:  1.59 (1.05 mph)

Moving Time:  1:37 (1.29 mph)

Elevation Rise:  469'

Maximum Elevation: 6,272'

GPS Tracks
 ¹First time with GPS since November.

Description:

The Trail

Sherri and I  have somebody to care for my Mom today, so we decided to go up to the mountains for a bit of snowshoeing.  We decided that it would be a couple of hours on the shoes would be good, both for our bodies and spirits. So about 10am, we start up and go to the General Grant tree.   

Sherri among the redwoods

By the time we get our snowshoes out of the car and onto our feet it is a after 12:30. We start in the parking lot to the west of the General Grant tree. When we were here a couple of weeks ago, there was 6-12” of snow. Now, maybe 3”.  At the end of the parking lot is a gate which was surrounded by bare ground. This is going to be the story of our trip: think snow and bare ground.

Since the North Grove Loop is something we have done a multitude of times, there is not much new to describe. About a third of the way along the loop, I mention to Sherri that it would have been easier to walk without the snowshoes-there is just that little snow at this elevation. But probably that there is any snow is a good thing.

Gary and Sherri

But when you walk in these woods, snow or dirt is not the main attractions to this trail. Walking the Sequoias fills you with awe. Here they grow right beside the road we travel, some surrounded by snow, others with wet dirt. These trees are the monarchs of the forest. They teach us how to be regal without being pompous or overbearing.

West end of loop

There is a layer of clouds overhead, damping the light. This gives the forest a feeling of heaviness, but not gloom. I cannot say that at the west end of the loop where the Rough Fire burnt that it is delightful, there seems to be a sense of cleanness, of having burnt out the brush to start afresh. Please do not take it that I am saying I am glad for the Rough Fire, but this is just the aftermath of it.

Lunch Spot

Just after we head start back up towards the parking lot from the west side of the loop, we stop for lunch. There is a nice creek of melted snow flowing by. It is the type of serenity which you wish you were talented enough to capture with a camera. But you have to rely on your fallible memory.  After that, we start our climb. While I have never liked this climb, I have liked the twin Sequoias which guard a small meadow-now covered by snow.  I always feel like I am going through double gates there. The first gate is the Sequoias. The second is a gap the road goes through and then drops down to the trail we came in on.

Below I had seen the tracks of a herd of deer. After passing through this gap, I spot them crossing our road. They bound down the hill. Two are left behind to guard the retreat of the others. Those two do not seem to be too concerned as they stand a distance away, munching some leaves.

We make it back to the car at almost three. Now, it is time to take off. We do not feel like pizza, but we feel like eating out. So we stop at the outskirts of Fresno at DiCicco’s on Kings Canyon. Filling and full. By the time we get back home it is 6.

Background

Rough Fire.  The Rough Fire started in late July 2015 on the north side of the Kings River. It exploded into the monster fire of the season, consuming over 150,00 acres. The fire touched parts of Grant Grove, but did not come into the grove proper. This was mostly because of prescribed burns over the previous five years.

• Wikipedia
• InciWeb

Extra Photo's

Rough Fire Effect

Sherri among the Sequoias

Another Sequoia

Young Sequoia

Sherri passing by a burnt tree