Gary-Summer: September 2, 2024 - Park Ridge Lookout and Hitchcock Meadow

Monday, September 2, 2024

September 2, 2024 - Park Ridge Lookout and Hitchcock Meadow

Title: September 2, 2024 - Park Ridge Lookout and Hitchcock Meadow
Hike Info : Description : Extra Photo's : Flowers and Plants

Hike Info:

Type: Hiking : Lookout

Trail head: Big Stump Parking Area

Trail: Hitchcock Meadows Loop

Destination: Hitchcock Meadow

Actual Destination: Kings Canyon Park/Sequoia National Forest border

Distance: 1.58 miles 1

Elevation Rise: 285 '

Descent: 285‘

Maximum Elevation: 6,322'

GPS Tracks

¹I did not turn on the GPS. The distance and elevation data is gathered by plotting it on Google Earth.


CoffeePot Fire

Description:

My blood sugar alarm went off last night interrupting a good night's sleep. Turns out it was a false alarm. I managed to wake up at 0600 when Sherri got up. Sort of amazing that Sherri wakes me up instead of the other way around. The task this morning is to get everything down to the car as we will leave after our relief shows up. We get all of this stuff done by 0800-of course we do not have a lot as this is only a couple of steps above backpacking as we have to lug everything up 20’. And today, we lug everything down the 20’.

We go in service at 0800 with Buck Rock following us a few minutes later. Then we settle down for the next hour or so, doing our lookout thing. Sherri gives the cab a good cleaning. I did not get to clean the windows. Maybe I was too busy admiring hawks and being impressed by the CoffeePot Fire.

We stayed overnight last night to provide coverage on Labor Day demo 0800 till our relief arrived-also I just enjoy being up here. Before 0900, our relief arrived in the form of Terry. We met Terry last Labor Day for the first time. We also found out then that Terry and us have something else in common-we go to the same church. We talked about what had happened during the last couple of days-not much. But also some chit-chat about various topics.

Trail to Hitchcock Meadow

We left Terry. Originally we thought of hiking Park Ridge over to Panoramic Point. But even though the smoke is clearing, it still is there. So we decided not to. We head back down the road to the Visitor Center. As we got close to Big Stump, we decided that we could go on a short hike-if it is too smokey we can turn back.

Instead of doing the Big Stump loop, we will go the other way to Hitchcock Meadow. Down the trail we go-down being the way we start off. The Meadow is not too far away from the very popular Big Stump area. But we are alone on it. We usually hike with our poles, but today, we left them in the car. While the trail is a bit uneven, it is not too bad.

The thing about this trail is that there are Sequoia stumps and towering trees. A reminder of what we lost and an appreciation of what we have. Light filters through the canopy. And I wonder if this is what Adam and Eve enjoyed in the Garden.

Hitchcock Meadow

After walking about 20 minutes, we ended up at Hitchcock Meadow. What makes this meadow such an attractive place is the Sequoias guarding the area and the pleasant greeness underfoot. We cross over a small pool of water and walk over to a dirt road on the other side.

I thought that pretty close to here is the Park boundary, but it's not. We walk a ways down this road. Nothing fabulous, but something to explore. The road gets to a place where it dips down into the Forest.We decide to return after looking down into the area.

As we start back, a young man comes down the road we just came down. We talked with him for a bit. He has a cabin down in the area. I had seen him jogging by Wilsonian when we drove by.

We just reversed our trip out, enjoying these last moments here. I linger back, enjoying how the light filters through the trees. It is a good way to go out. We get back to the car and leave. It is uneventful back to Fresno. After we unpack and shower, we decide to go out to eat. Steven and Korra are on the coast, so it is just the two of us. The Old Spaghetti Factory sounds like it will be good for us. After eating, we just relax for the rest of the day.