August 30, 2012 - Presidio Trails

Title: August 20, 2012 - Presido

Trail head: Presido

Hike Info:

Main Trails: Crissy Fields, Park, Mountain Lake, Ecology, Presido Promanade and Bay St

Destination: Ghiradelli

Distance: 9.1 miles

Travel Time: 3:58

Moving Time: 3:09

Elevation Rise: 657'

Maximum Elevation: 376'

   






Description:
Today has been a series of short hikes. We started off today by going to Fremont. First visiting Mission San Jose. Then going and parking our car at the Fremont BART station and taking BART into the City. We got off 16th and Mission. Walking down to Mission Dolores. From Mission Dolores, we took Route22 of the Muni down to the Marina, about a 40 minute ride. From there, we started walking.

This was the start of four trails we walked, plus several other smaller trails we touched. The trails we went on were: Crissy Fields-Bay Area Trail, Park Trail, Mountain Lake Trail, Ecology Trail, and Presido Promenade. Whoa! That is five trails. The day was cold-windy with clouds and fog. So if we walked too slowly, we got cold. Talk about incentive for us to get a moving.

For our venture, we looked at several sources. One of them talked about a trail starting around the Marina, passing Crissy Fields and going on to Fort Point. Since we were getting off route 22 at the Marina, this seems like a good first leg. We think that it will be a pretty short segment, and not really counted as a trail, since we want to do the Tennessee Hollow Trail. When we get off the bus, we started on what turns out to be part of the Bay Area Trail. Sherri and I walked along Marina for a little ways when realized that it was 2:30 and we had not had lunch. Out comes some crackers and granola bar, eaten by the water-side, in the wind. So off we go again. Where we thought we would be turning off of this trail for the Tennessee Hollow Trail, turned into a construction site rerouting Highway 101 off of Doyle Ave. This blocked us from our planned route. So on we go to Park Trail. So this is turning into a separate trail for us—Crissy Fields to Park Trail as we saw it in one web site. Not that we are complaining. You get good views of the bay, Alcatraz, and the fog topped Golden Gate bridge. When we hit the Crissy Fields buildings at Park Blvd, it is time for the easy, flat trail to end and for us to take off up the hill.



Park Trail is another one of those recommended trails and after traveling it, we can see why. The trail goes straight up the center of the Presidio, semi-following Park Blvd. We start at Crissy Field where the detour signs lead us up the slope. This was not a planned trail for today, but it looked interesting. After passing the Presidio Pet Cemetery—yes a pet cemetery, where you are traveling up the side of the road, you pass the Park's archives, a rather large building. We come to the intersection of the Presidio Promenade and the Park Trail. We will be visiting the Promenade later because our trail leads us on up. As we climb up steps and cross a couple of roads, we are thinking we may get to see out onto the Bay. Our hopes are not dashed as there is a side trail which leads to an overlook. This overlook gives a view of the National Cemetery and the Golden Gate Bridge. It is an impressive and moving view. Even more so, there was a couple of dog walkers there who had found a damaged baby hawk on the road and had brought it up here to see if it would fly—when we left, it had not and they were trying to contact a wildlife specialist.



We continue up the trail after the overlook where we meet up with Bay Area Ridge Trail. We walk westward on this trail for about a third of a mile when it meets back up with the Park Trail. A short distance later on the Park Trail is the Presidio Golf Course—as the sign says, it is an active golf course. But our trail leads through it so on we go. But not for long. We find a warming hut with food—remember we had a granola bar for lunch. So Sherri orders a Presidio Burger and I a spicy chicken sausage. Unexpectedly good. It revives our cold spirits and we continue on down the golf course. And down we do go for 2/3 of a mile where we run out of park and trail and we run into the Mountain Lake Trail.



Mountain Lake Trail runs along the south border of the Presidio. The area near the golf course is under a major restoration and is fenced off. But as we followed the paved road—used by walkers and bikers—it comes back to bordering the golf course. We get to see players playing, practicing their puts and their drives. On the other side of the path is an old, low stone wall with San Francisco proper on the side of the wall. We follow the trail—more like a road—for about a mile and a quarter where it meets up with our old friend the Bay Area Ridge Trail. Shortly afterwards, we connect with the Ecology Trail.



The Ecology Trail is meant to show how the restored Tennessee Hollow area would have looked like before Europeans came along. This is the Presidio's largest watershed and holds the El Polin Spring. This spring is why the Presidio is where it is. Most of the rest of the area would not have enough fresh water to support the stockade when the Spanish came. But the Spanish found this area and built their fortifications here. There are several routes you can take going down this trail. But since we are suckers for a good view, we take a short walk up to Inspiration Point. I think on a clear day, this would be a great look towards the Bay. But today with the fog about to come in and the wind, it is good enough for a quick look and down the Ecology Trail we go.



But down we go again. We must have looked like tourists because a lady asked us if we were lost—no, just wandering. And we wander again, down a steep descent where it empties into the backside of the Inn at the Presidio. Built in 1903, it served as the social and administrative center for the Presidio, It also served as the home for the unmarried officers. We walk down the street a aways, past the Archeology Lab. Then make a right onto the Anza Esplanade. From there we meet up with our old friend, the Presidio Promenade.



At our joining of the Presidio Promenade, we come across the Presidio's Transit Center. The Presidio has a free buss called PresidioGo. This center serves as the hub. But we are walkers and still have a lot of energy in us, so we walk eastward along the Promenade. The Promenade follows the street which will turn into Lombard. In the meantime, it passes by Wayburn Redwood Grove—and the Tennessee Hollow Trail, and the Thoreau Center. Then before we leave the Presidio, it passes in front of Letterman Hospital. We exit through the Lombard Gate and into the city.



Sherri and I now have one destination in mind. So we go down Lombard for a short distance, until we see Highway 101 pour onto it. So we cut off to another, quieter street. We travel east, enjoying the Marina section of the City until we come adjacent to Fort Mason. At this point, we cross over to Bay street and walk down to North Pointe. From here, it is a short walk to Ghiradelli and a Peanut Butter Chocolate Fudge Ice Cream Sundae—which we share. Afterwards, we are ready to return so we hope on the bus for Route 30 which drops us off on Powell, close to the BART station and back to Fremont we go, tired but content.

August 24, 2012, Sequoia Trail, Route C

Title: August 24, 2012, Sequoia Trail, Route C with extension

Trail head: Big Basin Park Headquarters

Hike Info:

Trail: Sequoia, Shadowbrook, East Ridge Trails

Destination: Loop

Distance: 6.4 miles

Travel Time: 3:16

Moving Time: 2:50

Elevation Rise: 919'

Maximum Elevation: 1,366'

Map of area

Profile of hike

Description:
You can go on three different routes with the Sequoia Trail. The first is straight out and back, the second is to connect it with the Skyline to the Sea trail, or the third is the longer connection with the Shadowbrook Trail, which is the one we want to go on. Well, Sherri and I took on a fourth option, and that was to miss the cut off to the park headquarters and pick up the East Ridge trail. But more on that later.



We were in Mountain View, visiting our parents when we decided that we would go back to Fresno via Big Basin. Big Basin has been one of those places we have enjoyed, but not visited enough. There are a splendid amount of hikes through some pretty big trees, in the cool coastal environment with mountain sides which are steep, but passable.



We get to Big Basin about 1:30 and start to hike pretty quickly after that. Your faithful scribe left a GPS on top of the car and needed to make a quick trip back to the car to retrieve it. The day is sunny and the temperature is moderate, low 70's. For us Fresnan's, it is cool--we welcome it.



Last year when we hiked the Sequoia Trail, we learned that it is one of the oldest trails in Big Basin, having its origins back in 1875. It was originally called the Rodger's Trail for one of the original homesteaders. This is a walk through an old growth forest in Big Basin.  The trail passes by several camp grounds, including the Wastahi Walk-In Campground, and comes close to the road on several occasions. The good side is about a mile and a third, there is a restroom which you can use. We ended this segment of the trail at Slippery Rock.  But before we get to Slippery Rock we made a side diversion to Sempervirens Falls. This Fall, when going well, presents a dreamy falls, under old-growth redwoods, with a fan-like fall. There was two things which spoiled this view: the falls were a mere fraction of its self and there was a sign at the base saying, do not stray from the trail.



Just beyond Slippery Rock, is the Founders Monument. In 1900 San Jose artist Andrew Hill took a group of local influential men to this place and here the Sempervirens  Fund was created, which eventually led to the creation of Big Basin State Park and the entire California State Park system.  They camped at Slippery Rock and would go to the Sempervirens Falls to admire its beauty. Slippery Rock is about 200 yards long and rests at a 30 degree angle.



The Sequoia Trail continues up Slippery Rock, but our loop at this point branches off to the Shadowbrook Trail. This continues north and eastward for a short distance, then crosses the road and starts climbing up toward Sky Meadow Group Campground. The trail is also the path for the sewer. This is the literal high point of the loop we are doing. The trail then starts a steep descent into Union Creek—it is much better to do this loop clock-wise as the climb is more gradual. But either way, hiking among the old growth redwood forest is wondering. The afternoon light is filtered through the tree branches onto the greenery surrounding the trail. Once we make it down to the creek, it weaves it way under logs and bush to re-appear. We pass by named redwood groves. We make it past a couple campgrounds exits, including Sempervirens Campground and the Bob Kirch Trail. This last one is a couple hundred yard trail back to the Sequoia Trail. The first is about a third of a mile down and would lead us around to the use trail back to park headquarters.

But have you ever noticed that a lot of times, one mistake can lead you on to a new adventure? That is what happened here. We got onto the East Ridge trail which then started paralleling Highway 236. We travel on this until we hit a wye where we hadthe option to continue up the ridge trail or cross the highway. We crossed the highway and Blooms Creek and then ascended a small slope. At this point we were at the edge of Big Basin. How did we know this? A sign said private property, but the trail turned into a dirt jeep track going westward. So we followed that, enjoying more of the walk. After about two-thirds of a mile, we hit a trail junction to Blooms Creek Campground. From here we knew what to do. Blooms Creek Campground is one of the few campgrounds where you can actually camp amongst old growth big tree redwoods—it is someplace for us to come back and camp someday. From here we grab the Use Trail and follow the highway to the Redwood Trail. We will grab this one another day as it is getting a bit late and we need to head back to Fresno tonight. We get back to the car around 5:30pm. Then it is back to Fresno we go. But not before a quick, be delicious stop at Marianne's Ice Cream.

July 31, 2012 – Overlook to Florence Lake

Title: July 31, 2012 – Overlook to Florence Lake

Trail head: Overlook

Hike Info:

Trail: John Muir Ranch

Destination: Florence lake

Distance: 2.3

Travel Time: 0:33

Moving Time: 0:31

Elevation Rise: 157'

Maximum Elevation: 7,465'

Description:
My morning meditation: Can a Christian ever be alone in this world? For two plus days, we did not see any human besides ourselves and there was hardly a trace of anyone either, except for an occasional duck or if we were fortunate, a little path for a 100 yards. Saw a broken stem of a flower and a couple of foot prints. But you, O Lord, were with us as we wandered. You left signs for us in the beauty we saw. We felt caring in that when we might despair, you should show us the way. Thank you.



Last night read the first chapters of Ephesians. How that makes the heart soar. This morning woke up thinking how hiking is like life. In the cities, we clean up to go to the theater or art museum, which imitates life. But hiking for several days , it is hard work. You sweat, get dirty, strain your muscles. But you see the sights of heaven. Even these are imitations of that which is above. Same way with our walk. We go to church. But it is our life outside of church which is where the real herorics happen. How we live out our lives with others, helping our neighbor on their way to heaven.



Got up around 6. This is a slow day. Just need to make it to the dock by 9—about a mile or a mile and ahlaf. Or we can hike around the lake. Right now, nobody feels strongly about doing the later hike. So down we go. Sherri is leading the way. The trail gets a bit confusing and so we go off on ways unexpected, but still fun. We make it down in plenty of time.



An enjoyable ride across the lake. This is the driver's first time taking the boat, so he is getting directions from his boss—the owner. The lake is low, so the submerged rocks do provide some real challenge to navigation. But we make it cross safe. We get a few drinks from the store and pay the boat fee. And then it is time to make it back to Fresno and the Red Robin hamburger awaiting us.

July 30, 2012 – Goddard Canyon to Florence Lak

Title: July 30, 2012 – Goddard Canyon to Florence Lake

Trail head: Goddard Canyon

Hike Info:

Trail: Goddard Canyon, JMT, John Muir Ranch

Destination: Florence Lake

Actual Destination: About a mile before the lake

Distance: 16.1 miles

Travel Time: 11:20

Moving Time: 7:09

Elevation Rise: 1,191'

Maximum Elevation: 9,933'

Description:
Got up and went for a short walk with Andrea. First we went up and saw the falls I remember as being spectacular—it was not. What I remember was a deep gorge with a water fall of 50' or so dropping straight down. What we saw was the river cascading down. We then went down stream a ways to where a creek fed into the San Joaquin. This was closer to the falls I remembered—the vertical drop. Really nice. This was just a prelude to what we would see today.

 



We were talking about do we want to try to make it to Florence by 5 when the last ferry leaves our end of the lake? Or take the first ferry out. We decided that the 17-18 miles was a bit of a stretch for us right now, even though almost all of it would be downhill. So we did not get an early start—about 8:30 or so.



As we go down Goddard Canyon, we follow the San Joaquin River. It has cut through the stone, leaving a series of small but heart-refreshing waterfalls along the way. It seemed like ever half mile or so, there was a fall which we had to stop and take a picture of. Just downright drop-dead-gorgeous.



We are making faster time than we anticipated. So about 10 we are wondering can we make it to Florence in time. Will our stamina give out? We are also making comments like, we are glad we are going down this rather than up. But looking at the topo map, it is not as bad as the climb into Evolution Valley.



A little bit after noon, we reach the intersection with the JMT/Evolution Valley. We are making good time, but we need to stop for lunch and water. It is starting to get hot again and we will be going down the hot section of the trail—see the notes from July 25^th and 26^th. But we still are in relatively good humor and feeling strong. So on we go.



As we continue down the canyon, we retrace our steps from four days ago. It is still rocky, it is still hot. But we make it to Piute Creek, the border of the National park and the National Forest. There is a pack train, stretched across the train—not along the trail and the pack leader does nothing to move the beasts. So we need to go around through the manzanita—getting pretty scratched up along the way—still think pretty bad thoughts about the pack master. Also the pack master gave out some very bad information about the last ferry and distances—information we knew was wrong. We stop at the creek and evaluate—we do know, even without the pack master mis-information—that we will not make it to the ferry. It is 3pm. So we slow down a little.



As we come down, I need to take a leak and go off the trail a little way. I find a cabin marked as the John Muir Cabin—this is different than the John Muir Hut on top of Muir Pass. The cabin looks a bit run down, some of the floorboards are missing and there is trash in the cabin. But I suppose if you needed shelter in a storm, this would work.



We continue on down the trail. I thought we had decided to stop for a break when we rejoined the San Joaquin—but Sherri and Andrea had other ideas and were pretty upset at me when I stopped. We pass by the John Muir Ranch and Blaney Meadow. We stop and have dinner at ___ Creek. Nice affair. We decide to continue on for a ways, but filling up our water.



We get a little ways from the trail junction where you go down to the ferry or hike around the lake. There is a campsite, up on the ridge, overlooking the San Joaquin. We decide that we have enough water on us and we only need to do breakfast, that we would do a dry camp up here. Very nice view and we need the rest.

July 29, 2012 – Davis Lake to Goddard Canyon

Title: July 29, 2012 – Davis Lake to Goddard Canyon

Trail head: Davis Lake

Hike Info:

Trail: Cross-Country

Destination: Goddard Canyon and maybe a little beyond

Actual Destination: Goddard Canyon

Distance: 5.8 miles

Travel Time: 12:30

Moving Time: 4:32

Elevation Rise: 1,098'

Maximum Elevation: 11,175'

Description:
Got up at first light and hit the trail at 7:30. More boulders and more slow moving. Sherri has gained some experience and is moving better. As we move along the lake, we realize just how huge this lake is. Also with the mountain backdrop, how breath-taking this area is. Davis Lake is so clear and we are the only ones here.



This part of my journal is written from memory. I was so tired, that it was hard for me to put pen to paper and have the words come out intelligible. Once free of the boulder field—Andrea and I did continue our system of ferrying Sherri's pack, we rested. We have not gone far, but there has been a lot of effort. Now we are faced with a talus slope of at least 30-40 degrees. And this is a long stretch. But once across this stretch, we should be in good shape. It turns out that once we climb about a hundred feet or so, there is a pathway across the talus slope. And it is pretty level without much give under our feet.

 



At the end of talus field, we are about three-quarters of the way around the lake, but we will be leaving the lake here. There is a small saddle above us. But before this, we get a splendid view across from where we came. The lake is below us by several hundred feet—from this height you can see almost everything about it. We would not be able to continue on around the lake on our side because of the cliffs coming down to the lake and the falls on the other side. The other side of the lake has even more impressive cliffs. So it is up and over the saddle.



This is easier to do on the map than in reality. We start climbing up the saddle and think we are following a cross country trail—in retrospect, we probably are, but when we come across a ridge, it looks like the path will take us on a pretty shear path, one which I am not sure I want to walk on. So we stop at this pond close to the saddle. It is idyllic. If we had enough food and time, I would say camp here. The pond is really deep—you cannot see the bottom, even though the water clear. We have lunch on a strip of grass and just enjoy the soft breeze blowing. But we need to continue on and we have much of the afternoon left.



I go on and find an easy, bouldering path over the saddle. My memory of this area after 40 years is shot and the things I remember is not very reliable. But after crossing this saddle, we have a nice easy meadow to go down for a quarter mile. But at the end, there is a steep drop, maybe 400'??? down. While it looks manageable, it will be slow going. There is one place where we need to take care and just go down a handhold at a time. Andrea is doing double work by ferrying Sherri's pack. But down we get.



And when we do, it is beside Goddard Creek—this is not to be confused with Goddard Canyon which has the San Joaquin River running down it. Goddard Creek empties Davis Lake and we are coming out below the falls which does the emptying. There is a large sloping meadow here and our only task is to cross the creek to get to the other side, then it should be easy walking for a ways.



Andrea finds some rocks to cross, but Sherri is unsure about this, so I go a little farther up creek to see what I can see. Out of the corner of my eye, I see movement and a flapping of wings next to the falls. When I look over, this bird has a huge wingspan. My guess from the distance I am—150 yards or so—the the wingspan if 5-6'. It has swooped down onto the south side of the creek. The head is white and the body looks black. Sounds like a bald eagle to me. After a minute or so on one side, it flaps up and lands on the north side of the creek. I suspect it has caught a fish. After a minute, it flies away. Unfortunately, I could not get the camera focused on the bird and only got a blurry shot of him flying off.



By this time, Sherri and Andrea have crossed the creek and excitedly join them. They have a small bird chirping close to them—which I get a good picture of. But I can only tell them about the eagle. It is now more down the creek time and the canyon we are in is getting steeper. I see where I think we probably crossed 40 years ago. But this is after we have had another good slope to descend. But on this descent I do find a broken plant and a foot print. So at least someone else has been down this way. We cross a little river-let and it looks like there is almost a path. This leads us on for a ways—right up the side of a cliff. There definitely is a path here which others have taken, but where it goes from here, we are at a loss. After examining the options, we decide, there is a small crack in the rock and Andrea goes up it. She says that we can descend on the other side. So off comes our packs and we push them on up. Sherri has her first chimney under her belt now.



But it is getting late and we are at least a mile, cross-country from the Goddard Canyon trail. We decide that if we do not get down by 8, we will camp. We start our descent again—this time, it is a lot tamer from what we have gone on. But it tame only in comparison. It is still rough. We go up and over a second ridge—this time it is easy. We are able to look into Goddard Canyon and the San Joaquin River. Now the only task is to get down. Andrea leads the way and I work as a guide for Sherri. For the most part, it is more just picking our way down. And down we get as we reach the river at 8. Andrea finds a place to camp—or did I? Anyway, we start pitching the tent and hammock in the dark while Sherri cooks our meal. We will find the trail tomorrow. We turn in pretty much as soon as after we eat, all tired from yesterday.



Note: I found the trail—I went out to relieve myself and found the path.

July 28, 2012 – Sapphire Lake to Davis Lake

Title: July 28, 2012 – Sapphire Lake to Davis Lake

Trail head: Sapphire Lake

Hike Info:

Trail: JMT and Cross-Country

Destination: Goddard Canyon

Actual Destination: Davis Lake

Distance: 4.4 miles

Travel Time: 10:48

Moving Time: 3:35

Elevation Rise: 1,044'

Maximum Elevation: 11,700'

Map of area

Profile of hike

Description:

We get up at 6:30 or so. The wind is blowing but not as strong. We hit the trail at 7:40 and start our 400' climb to Wanda Lake. We cover the 1 ¾ miles in an hour and a quarter—it is not a bad climb, but we are over 11,000'. It is a nice temperature and we make good progress.







We stop when the trail crosses the creek below Wanda Lake and have a break. It is so wonderful looking back down the canyon. Even with it with a series of unnamed lakes. The sloping ground and the cut off of the land below our view.







But it is not time for us to start our cross-country adventure. We will be going up to a small 11,700' saddle and then drop down into Davis Lakes. 40 years since I have been here. We make it up to the saddle pretty good. Sherri's asthma does not kick in. But now we start going down. It is a boulder field all the way down to Davis Lakes and Sherri does not like it. The mountains are a good backdrop and anytime we want to breath, they are there to admire—ie, a good excuse for me to stop and breath.

But the boulders are a calling and they are there to hamper our progress. It consumes a lot of energy and time going up and over and around them. Plus, we are going on a pretty steep incline as well. Sherri is a bit spooked by then. I help her before lunch. After lunch, Andrea works with her. She does really good with Sherri. Even when we get to the lake. There are boulders and a cliff which force us to go high. We come back down a ravine, which gets progressively steeper. We eventually get down to the lake, but the shore disappears and there is 8' of rock cliff which we scoot along in the water. I in my boots am able to hop from low rock to low rock. The others are bare feet or Teva's. We are tired, but not sure where we can camp. So we trudge on. Andrea does find a place and we decide to settle down by Davis Lake for the night. It is a beautiful lake. We even have a little bit of energy and spirit to play a short came of catch with the frisbee.



Trail Lesson: Fear is a mind killer—Bene Gessart saying from Dune.