February 23, 2024 - Cherry Gap Road

Title: February 23, 2024 - Cherry Gap Road
Hike Info : Description : Extra Photo's : Animals 

Hike Info:

Type:  Snowshoeing

Trail head: Cherry Gap

Trail: 13S77

Destination:  About a mile or  maybe a bit more.

Actual Destination:  Close to the top of the hump on Hoist Ridge

Distance:  2.61 miles

Start Time:  10:45

End Time:      1:26

Travel Time:  2:40 (0.98 mph)

Moving Time: 1:41   (1.55 mph)

Elevation Rise:  541'

Descent: 338‘

Maximum Elevation: 7,094'

GPS Tracks

Description:

Start of our walk

It has been awhile since we have been out with Betty. Really looking forward to it. And then a new addition to our group, Laura. She is part of a book group I am involved with. None of us, except for Steven will be going very far today.

Korra

We will be meeting Betty at Big Stump. We do not have enough space in the car for Laura so she will need to drive up there. At 8:45 she comes to our house for a 9:00am departure. Sherri goes with Laura to use her pass to get into the Park. Steven, Korra and I are the last ones to get to Big Stump. Laura and Betty have already been introduced, so we are all ready to start our snowshoe adventure.

 

 

Spanish Mountain

We move over to Cherry Gap. Instead of going west towards Converse Basin, we are going east along Forest Service Road 13S77. We used to do this road with cross-country skis. Today for the first time we will do it with snowshoes. That is except for Steven who will be on skis and Korra with her paws. This is also Laura’s second time on snowshoes-we will see if she goes again with us.

Top of Park Ridge

We got to Cherry Gap about 10:20. Then spend some time getting ready. Our shoes hit the snow at 10:45. The first hundred yards is a bit bumpy, but then the snow levels out and we just need to contend with the upward trajectory of the road. Mind you, it is not a steep climb, but enough of one that I felt the drag of going uphill..

 

 

 

The Hill

 We get our first views of Spanish Mountain across the Kings. It is spectacular. But this view goes away as we turn a corner and are masked by pine and fir trees, I am feeling pretty good, with only a bit of shortness of breath. Laura calls my attention that Sherri and Betty are falling further behind. I guess I am doing better than I expected.

Steven, te skier

Steven is far ahead with Korra. The sun keeps hiding behind the clouds, poking out occasionally. It is warm enough that we start shedding some of the outer clothes and gloves. A good day for snowshoeing.

I can tell that we are starting to tire out. I have set in my mind a goal of two hours of moving. Since we are going uphill, I figure we will do about 75 minutes in and 45 back. I am asked how much longer: about 15-20 minutes. And then magically we come to the top of Park Ridge-I was mistaken at the time as I thought at this end it would be Hoist Ridge, but Hoist is to the west of us and Park Ridge curves around a bit.

The ladies are a bit tired, but I am interested in a hill to the north of us, Hill 7124. So I started up it. I see Korra coming down it and I see ski tracks. I thought Steven was going to the south. Then Steven comes down. He says there is a really good view from the east side of the hill. So I go on up and he goes down.

Hume Lake and beyond

He is so right! It makes the trip pretty much worthwhile. While I am gawking, Steven comes back up. And then I see Betty and Sherri coming up. Laura’s hips are starting to ache, so she is staying down in the flat. Steven gets a picture of us. From this vantage point, we can see up the Middle Fork of the Kings, the Monarch Range and then eastward to the Crest of the Sierra. University Peak, near Forrester Pass is viewable as well. Then looking a bit southeast is Buck Rock and Shell Mountain. Pretty grand.

 

 

 

 

 

Buck Rock

And now we start our trip back. Steven, on skis will make better time, so he decides to do a bit more exploring up the road and over the hill. Poor Korra, she is confused. She starts back with us and realizes that Steven is not with us and heads back. But I do not think she can find him and we lose track of her. About halfway down, she comes bounding along, without Steven.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Peaks seen from Hill 7124 from the PeakFinder application

Going back down is easier than going up. Laura and I discuss the advisability and practicality of always hiking going up as you go in and down on the way out. I try to do that, but there are times that it is not a good plan. Surprisingly, I am doing well. After my January COVID it seemed like whenever I exert myself, I would tire pretty easily. Today, I'm doing well.

Korra, waiting for us

As we approach the cars, Steven comes up behind us. Korra seems happy to have him back. We get back to the cars at about 1:30. It is close to the time I was thinking it would be. We suggest stopping at Bear Mountain Pizza for some pizza-surprise. Betty and Laura are agreeable to this. So off we go. We order the pizza at Big Stump and it is ready when we get to the place. Here we split up and proceed to our separate homes. A good and tiring day.

Extra Photo's
 

Hume Lake and Beyond

Korra

Laura, Sherri and Betty

Looking Northwest

Looking Northwest

Looking East

 

  Animals

 

July 17, 2013 - Trail Camp

Title: July 17, 2013 - Trail Camp

Hike Info:

Trail: John Muir Trail

Starting location:  Guitar lake
Destination:  Whitney Portal
Actual Destination:  Trail Camp
Distance:   9.2¹
Start Time:  6:03am
End Time:  6:50pm
Travel Time:  12:47 (0.72 mph)
Moving Time: 6:52 (1.34  mph)  ¹
Elevation Rise: 3,336'  ¹
Maximum Elevation:  14,506'

Description:

Psalm 19:1-4 (NIV), from today's quiet time:

The heavens declare the glory of God;
    the skies proclaim the work of his hands.
² Day after day they pour forth speech;
    night after night they reveal knowledge.
³ They have no speech, they use no words;
    no sound is heard from them.
⁴ Yet their voice goes out into all the earth,
    their words to the ends of the world.
In the heavens God has pitched a tent for the sun.

These words seem so appropriate, so right after all which we have seen and done. May my spirit offer the same words and praise.

The Night Sky silouetted by the top of the Sierras

I woke up at 2:30 to seeing the stars dance in the heavens. Then I turned over and saw lights on the move up past us, and on up to the mountains which we will climb today. My mind must have been excited as I could not return back to sleep for more than just a few minutes. 

Morning has broken

Sherri woke up around 3:30. I asked her if she was ready to start walking? No. But neither could she go back to sleep. So we laid there, watching the stars and lights, and thinking about how cold it was outside of our sleeping bags. Finally around 4:30, we got up and got packed. Just a wonderful sunrise, on the faraway peaks-rosy, orange and light. But we will not feel the warmth for several hours as Whitney and its range will be blocking the sun.

Guitar Lake

E'gads! Our propane canister has run out of fuel. Or is it just too cold? Whichever way, I am now glad we asked for Talia's canister back at Le Conte. Her canister fired right up and we had hot oatmeal on this cold morning.

Left our campsite at 6 and started up the long trail to Trail Crest. We will be in shadows all the way to Trail Crest.  Like the Tolkien song says, The Road Goes Ever Onward. But today is our last day on the Trail. Tonight Steven will pick us up, assuming we can make it down to Whitney Portal. Showers and burgers fill my mind as we walk along.

The trail is going up is strong and the oxygen is light.  This has us stopping for breath in the cold air, but the coolness does have the positive effect of having move along. Not really sweating. Before we know it, we have climbed up 500', then a thousand. I start playing a game of saying which pass we have just topped-Glen Pass, then Pinchot, Mather, Muir, and finally, of course, Forester.

Hitchcock Lake

We rise above Hitchcock Lakes, admiring the reflections of the rocks rising from the lakes. The sun is  shining on these slopes, creating a bright spots on our climb. We stop a couple of times to take off our packs. At 9, three things happens: we come out into the light, John B from Fresno appears, and we arrive at Trail Crest. All three are welcome, even though in a little while, the first will be less so. 

Trail up the side of the mountain

At Trail Crest, which is really about 200' below the actual pass, but the JMT does not go through the pass on its way up to Whitney. After unloading some of Sherri's pack and putting the contents into mine, we take off towards Whitney, with Sherri's pack, stocked with food and water. It took us three hours go from Guitar to Trail Crest. It will take close to three hours from Trail Crest to Whitney. 

Almost to the top

The climb up is along a trail which is always rocky, sometimes a bit narrow, and is perched on a steep incline for much of the way. Today was a light traffic day. When Sherri was up here before, the line could have been at Disneyland. You add in that the Badwater to Whitney Portal run ended today, you get a fair amount of trail runners as well. One sort of skidded in front of us, after passing us. He flopped around, trying to right himself, before realizing how close to the edge he was. But for us, we took our time and was cautious.  As we approached the top, the altitude was taking its toll on us. We stopped more and more often to catch our breath. We felt relieved as we turned the corner, and started up the third of a mile incline up to the peak. Many others were stopping and breathing along the way.

Smithsonian Hut

At the top (36.57886, -118.29185), we found the Whitney hut, actually called the Smithsonian Institute Hut. It was constructed to observe a solar eclipse. In the trail registry, we saw that the Ray and Rachel had made it to the top on Monday, July 15th. It was good to see that. But we did not see an entry for Nicole.

The Top

Celebration

Also on top, we see John from Fresno, along with George, Chris and Steve from Minnesota. Sort of like a family reunion. We talk for awhile. After much trying, got to send a text with our picture. Also Spot worked as well. 

That is when things got interesting. Called up Steven. He said that Andrea was coming in from the High Sierra Trail to surprise us. She would be there Thursday night, and climb over Whitney Friday. At least that is what her schedule is. That is a big surprise. What a wonderful daughter to think of us, and want to make our lives a joy. 

This does lead to one complication-what do we do now? Go back to Guitar Lake? Go down to Lone Pine tonight? Stop someplace else? We decide to stop on the trail down. We were not up to doing the climb out of Guitar again.

We called other family members, telling them we made it to the top. Also, that we have now officially completed the JMT, It is fun doing that--also fun just saying that. Got through to all, except Andrea, of course. David does say that not all of our Spot messages got through. The Minnesota group decides to leave the party after awhile. We talk with John for awhile longer, then he heads off as well.

Gary, King of the World

 

We stay on top for a total of an hour and a half, then start coming back down. It is faster-not as much need to catch our breath. But you do feel weaker, so we do not move very fast. Also with the rocky surface we have a tendency to be careful.

Whitney from the east

We rest at Trail Crest before we start our way down in the Lone Pine direction. We will try to make Outpost Camp tonight. Did I say down? The first little bit is another 200' climb, before we start our descent. Then down we go. Down, and down, and still more down. They have re-engineered this from seven years ago. I do not know, but Sherri  remembers a different trail. But the steepness, once again causes us to be cautious, so we go slow, about a mile an hour. Seems strange that we are going at the same speed down something as up it.

Trail Camp is by the pond

Around 6:30 we get into Trail Camp.  (36.56314, -118.27943) Sherri remembers this place as being human turd infested. But it looks like the Forest Service has cleaned it up quite a bit. As tired as we are, we decide not to do another two miles down to Outpost Camp. We find a suitable place. Then on the way to get water, a better place. Dinner is cooked. We see George, Chris and Steve a little ways from us and exchange greetings. Then it is off to bed. We look at pictures and fall asleep, knowing we do not need to get up early  tomorrow.

You may have noticed, that the description from the top does not contain these jaw dropping thoughts and observations. I guess by the time we got there, it just does not match up to the rest of the journey. It is the end, and that makes it special. it is wonderful to see the mountains upon mountains, looking down on everything around us. the cold, blue lakes, the barren landscape. but there is not a specialness to the place for me, like there is around some of the other high places we have been too. Even a lowly pass like Island, I have more desire to be at. I am not saying that I wish I was not here, but that the enjoyment is in the completion of the journey, rather than in the place. Do we think we will go up there again? Probably not.

Today's JMT Lesson: It does not matter how fast you go, as long as you get there.

Breakfast	Lunch	Dinner	Snacks
Oatmeal and add-ins, such as dried peaches, strawberries, nuts, granola. Tang.	Peanut Butter and Nutella on crackers	Beef Vegetable Wrap Milano Mint Chocolate Cookies	Clif Bar, Jelly Bellies, CytoMax, Propel, GORP, Bank Balls

 ¹The supplied figures above come from either the book John Muir Trail: The essential guide to hiking America's most famous trail by Elizabeth Wenk or from topo maps. There was only partial tracks for today in my GPS. Below is the readings from today's status on the GPS. I view it as only somewhat accurate.

Distance:  9.41 miles

Elevation Rise:  1,805'

Maximum Elevation: 14,505'

On the trail up

The Windows and Mt Muir from Whitney

Trail down to Trail Camp

Marmot Heaven

July 15, 2013 - Tyndall Frogs Ponds

Title: July 15, 2013 - Tyndall Frogs Ponds

Hike Info:

Trail:  John Muir Trail

Starting location: About 10,600' on Bubb's Creek

Destination:  Tyndall Creek

Actual Destination:  Tyndall Frog Ponds

Distance:   9.8  ¹

Start Time:  7:00

End Time:  4:30

Travel Time:  9:30 (1.03 mph)

Moving Time: 5:39 (1.73 mph)

Elevation Rise:   2,706' ¹

Maximum Elevation: 13,100

Description:

Slept somewhat restless. I think Sherri did also. Got up around our normal time. But the sky seems darker, but the only clouds are far off. Probably means more clouds this afternoon. It will do us well to get over Forester Pass earlier than later.

Wall below Forester

The trail does climb, but we are in the woods. Glad we have climbed a few passes before this one. We know it is a long haul, but you can never be too prepared for something like this one. We even pass by where we stayed 40 years ago, even though, it takes a it of remembering to see the spot.

Bubbs Creek Drainage

Still, it is up, up, and more up. But along the way, there are jaw dropping views. So we keep going. Doing a whole lot better than Glen yesterday. While we travel about 4 miles and climb 2,500'. But given that, we really did not start to breath hard until about 12,000' elevation. Even then, we were able to go pretty well. The grading of the trail is probably one of the best we have seen.

Another thing is the vistas keep on showing new views of the slopes we have been looking at. The clouds which have been forming constantly give us a new backdrop to the mountains. Not only that, but when we lower our eyes, our gaze is met by delicate flowers growing on whatever soil they can find.

 After hours of hiking, we finally have made it to the top of Forester Pass. Out of all the people who have passed us, only two remain-Chris and Steve from Minneapolis. They are waiting for Chris's father. We have been around them for the past couple of days. The views are fabulous in both direction.  We are at the boundary of Sequoia and Kings Canyon. You can even see over into the eastern side of the Sierras.  We stay up there for about an hour.

Up to Forester

South from Forester

Looking back at Forester

Down Forester

Then we start down. This is a trail cut from the side of a cliff. Just phenomenal! You are looking straight down some thousand feet. Yet the trail is wide enough for a horse. But, you do not want to go too far away from the side of the cliff wall. Hope the pictures come out. We did find some trail art-was this for us? Or am I being narcissistic?

When we reach the first creek from a tarn, we stop for lunch. Chris, Steven and George all have stopped here as well. Relaxing, and enjoyable, but we are baking a bit in the high altitude sun. So we start down towards Tyndall Creek. It is a long trek down. The sun does wear on us. But even more so, is the pounding and skipping around of going downhill. Unless you do some of these long Sierra downhills, you may think that downhill must be easier than the climb. But going uphill, you get into a rhythm of step, breath, step, breath. Downhill, most of the time, there is not such a nice spacing as that.

We do stop for a break along the way. There are some big marmots scampering around. We are asked if one of them is a wolverine-nope. We finally make it to the woods, which provides some protection from the sun. Then in a little ways, we see Tyndall Creek itself. George and group have already found themselves a place. But we think we have a little bit more energy, so we go on. 

Towards Tyndall Creek

We debate whether to stop at the frog ponds or up on Bighorn Plateau. So we climb the 400' up to the frog ponds. Once we get there, we rest for a bit, then decide to stay. Found a nice site by the trail (36.63479, -118.38577). A hiking group from Orange has already pitched their tents the sites close to the pond. The other sites are nice, but if others come, people will be tent to tent to tent. 

Today's JMT Lesson:  You have only reached the top when you have arrived.  (From a fellow hiker)

Breakfast	Lunch	Dinner	Snacks
Oatmeal and add-ins, such as dried peaches, strawberries, nuts, granola. Tang.	Peanut Butter and Nutella on crackers Humus	Unstuffed Potatoes Milano Mint chocolate cookies	Clif Bar, Jelly Bellies, CytoMax, Propel, GORP, Bank Balls

 ¹The supplied figures above come from either the book John Muir Trail: The essential guide to hiking America's most famous trail by Elizabeth Wenk or from topo maps. There was only partial tracks for today in my GPS. Below is the readings from today's status on the GPS. I view it as only somewhat accurate.

Distance:  10.0 miles

Elevation Rise:  1,708'

Maximum Elevation: 13,100'

Bubbs Creek Valley

Last Camp before Forester

Higher view of Bubbs Creek Drainage

Sherri Climbing

Flowers of Forester