| Breakfast | Lunch | Dinner | Snacks |
| Oatmeal and add-ins, such as dried peaches, strawberries, nuts, granola. Tang. | Ritz Crackers, Tortillas, Peanut Butter, Nutella | Clif Bar, GORP, Propel, CytoMax, Scratch, Coffee Candy, Jelly Belly |
Type: Hiking
Trail head: Corrine Lake Road
Trail: Corrine Lake Road
Destination: Corrine Lake
Distance: 6.44 miles
Start Time: 11:04
End Time: 2:45
Travel Time: 3:41 (1.75 mph)
Elevation Rise: 623'
Descent: 615‘
Maximum Elevation: 2,535'
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| Flume from Manzanita Lake |
It does not take long for us to drive up Highway 41 to the road going over to North Fork. We turn onto Road 222, keeping a sharp lookout for Corrine Lake Road. Once we find it, we turn off and travel about 100 yards where there is a wide spot on the road and park there. This is where the flume reconnects with your road.
At 11:00, our boots hit the road. Our pathway will take us along the dirt road until it becomes a PG&E road where it mysteriously gets paved. But that is about two miles or so walking from now. The road rolls up and down ridges with the flume following us or going through ridges. Some of the time it is rather plain. But other times the tranquility of gently flowing water is mesmerizing.
Water is not the only attraction. We pass by houses of people who are probably trying to escape from the Life in the city. We have one episode of dogs wanting us out of there, which we gladly accommodated. In the distance we see the Dhamma Mahāvana. At least it was in 2018 We roll through the hills which give the greenness as if it was Spring.
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| Hiking the road |
After about half an hour, we
took our leave of the Lake. We set a nice pace back. Coming in, we
saw a dead animal in the road. The guesses if what it was were a
black squirrel, possum or a skunk. On the way back, we looked a bit
closer-not too close-and determined that the skunk guess was correct.
We get back to the car about 2:45 and the motor starts about 3. Are we hungry? Steven answers yes. We have eaten at a BBQ in North Fork and will see if it is still there. It is. It is a Veteran run restaurant, called North Fork BBQ, of all things, and serves pretty good. I have the Yosemite Yardbird-chicken; both Sherri and Steven had the Carolina Pig. It takes about half an hour to devour our meal before we head out. The trip back is uneventful.
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| Flume from Manzanita Lake to Corrine Lake |
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| Fence post laced with woodpecker holes |
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| Steven and Korra |
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| Drain into Corrine Lake and the long uphill out of it |
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| Corrine Lake |
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| Corrine Lake |
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| Gary |
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| Flume under the ridge |
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| View to the west of the road |
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| Corrine Lake |
Type: Hiking
Trail head: Italian Bar Road
Trail: Million Dollar Mile Road
Destination: Stevenson Falls
Distance: 6.93 miles
End Time: 2:53
Travel Time: 3:50 (1.81 mph)
Moving Time: 2:55 (2.38 mph)
Elevation Rise: 849'
Descent: 868‘
Maximum Elevation: 2,341'
Today we are going on the first hike of 2025. I get up about 6:30 and get my stuff together. It has been two months since we have gone on a hike. My day pack is in disarray, but I was able to get it together in relatively short order. We are scheduled to leave at 9. Leaving about 9:20 is not too bad. It will be just Sherri and I on this trip.
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| Jose Creek |
We get our boots on-which is probably overkill since it is paved all the way. After all, this is the Million Dollar Mile Road. By 11:00, our boots hit the pavement-after rounding the gate. The gate is there because this is a private road used by Southern California Edison to go between its Big Creek facilities.
Gary on the Jose Creek Bridge
The road starts out descending
to a bridge crossing Jose Creek. There are a couple of falls high up
which we have not noticed before. Then we climb up above the
powerplant which is powered by falling water through pinstocks.
The weather right now is pretty nice. A bit overcast or at times some high clouds. The temperature is in the high 50’s, perfect for hiking. We walk at a pretty good pace. During the past couple of years going uphill has pretty much winded me. Today, I will not say I am charging up the slopes, but I am able to walk up them, stopping to take a picture and then catching up with Sherri.
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| San Joaquin River |
We see a bicyclist coming up the road, not struggling. Then a couple of hikers who try to encourage us that it is not that far. Do we look so bad that we need encouragement? But since we have done this walk several times before, we know what is next.
The only question in our minds is how much water is coming down Stevenson Falls? Looking down into the San Joaquin, there does not seem to be much water flowing down there. When we round the final bend, the falls are pretty nice. We have seen it fuller, but these are falls which look good just by being there.
We cross the bridge in front of the falls and find a place to sit and admire them while we have lunch. Peanut butter and Nutella, if you must know. While we are eating, another couple comes along, admiring the falls. Right before we are to leave three women and a guy crosses the bridge as well.
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| Sherri and the adit by the power plant |
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| First view of Stevenson |
The first couple takes off before us-we have joked that they would be passing us by. After a few more minutes of resting and picture taking, we are off. Since we are leaving a few minutes after 1, I figure it will be about 3 before we get back to the car. We actually return at a pretty good pace. That couple which started out before us? We passed them while they took a break. I told them that they just made our day.
Except for a few jelly belly’s, we do not take any breaks on the way back. That is until we meet a couple who had just crossed Jose Creek. I saw that he had a Forest Service hat, so I engaged in a conversation with them. In season, they are part of a trail crew. He is the lead on a crew and she is a packer for them, bringing in supplies. We talked for a bit. They had not been down this road before and we gave them an idea about how long and showed them a picture of the falls. Then we went our separate ways.
It is a short distance to the car now and we cover it in about ten minutes, getting to the car before my 3pm estimate. While we change out of our boots, the slower couple come by and we exchange greetings. Then the group of four wander by. Then to our surprise, the Forest Service couple came up. They had already climbed up to the falls above Jose Creek and had decided they had enough for the day. But we talked for about a good 20 minutes, exchanging names of those who we had communicated with in common.
When Sherri and I left, there were a few drops on the windshield. By the time we get to Prather, it is raining pretty good. We get home after 4:30. I take a shower. Eventually we went out to Hammy’s Smash Burger for dinner with Steven. A good day.
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| Redinger Lake |
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| Sherri crossing Jose Creek |
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| Falls on Jose Creek |
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| Stevenson Falls |
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| Stevenson Falls |
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| Adit by Stevenson Falls |
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| Looking out from the Adit by powerplant |
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| Adit by powerplant |
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| Adit by powerplant |
It is the usual get up and get going. We are aiming to leave around 9-we just need to be out by 11. Breakfast is leftovers and odds and ends and cereal if we want that. There is a nice mist hanging over us.
The first order of business, after breakfast, is to get David’s car loaded. He has the longest drive of the three cars today as he is going back to Eureka. He leaves around 8.
Then the next task is to get our car loaded. While there is not as much stuff in the car as we had coming, we still need the third seat down. So it will be the same driving arrangements as when we come to Dorrington. The difference is that I can now see a little bit out of the back window. Also the weather looks a lot better.
There is a cleaning service for the cabin, but there are a few things they want us to do before we leave. By the time we get everything ready, and Andrea’s car loaded, it is closing in on 10 before we leave.
Our way home is more scenic than coming up. We go back down Highway 4, but before Angel’s Camp we wander around some of the backcountry roads until we hit Highway 49. In our wanderings we see a church called the Church of the 49er’s in Columbia. I do not believe it has to do with the football team, even though that is a possibility. As a note, this is a Presbyterian Church.
We travel to Sonora, and head down 120 for a ways. Sherri and Rachel get some coffee in Sonora-why? I do not know. Then it is backroads to Merced. Once in Merced, we head down the very familiar Highway 99 to Fresno, coming to the end of our time together.
Well, we do have the pleasure of having Rachel with us for a few more days.
Type: Hiking
Trail: North Grove Campground Road, Old Moran Road, Big Trees Parkway
Trail head:Calaveras Big Trees main parking area
Distance: 3.78 miles
Start Time:1:08
End Time: 3:10
Travel Time: 2:02 (1.86 mph)
Moving Time: 1.43 (2.20 mph)
Elevation Rise: 454'
Descent: 369'
Maximum Elevation: 4,935'
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| Pond which Andrea went by on her morning run |
I woke up about 7:15 after not falling back asleep for a while about 3:30. But I am feeling rested, well at least OK. Rachel is up with Friday-they both are reading outside, snuggled under a blanket. When David gets up, Rachel fixes us a breakfast of French toast and sausage. Then it is mostly chatting the rest of the morning.Except yesterday I had lost my car fob, so we did a search for it. Found it under the bed. Then Rachel needed to work this morning.
We read, play cards and talk while Rachel is working. We have lunch around noon. Rachel will then be joining us for an outing to Calaveras Big Trees State Park. That is the good thing about her job in that there are deadlines to be met, but how she meets them is up to her. While it is possible for six people and two dogs to fit into the Highlander, it would not be very comfortable. So David drives his car as well as us.
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| On our hike |
We get into the Park at 12:30. But not with a little hassle. We have a Golden Senior Pass which we know the number, but could not find the actual pass. But the attendant let us in anyway. When we parked, Sherri found the pass. The first thing we did was go into the Visitor Center, of course. Andrea bought a bear hat for a friend’s child.
Next stop is the warming hut where they are serving free hot chocolate and cider. While all the rest went in, I stayed out with Friday. I fell in with Jill, a volunteer. We talked for a while about the awe which people feel when they see Sequoias for the first time. It is the same awe we see in Yosemite and SEKI. I never tire of showing the wonders of the Sierra to first timers.
Jill has told us that there is a loop on roads which are closed to traffic. We started along the road which is not closed which goes past the North Grove area. A few cars come by, but nothing which interrupts our walk.
Gary found his outhouse
We came to the gated road Jill
told us about which is a fire road during the Summer and a ski trail
in the winter. Of course, there is no snow, so no skiing, just
walking. We rise up to a small saddle where there is a trail
junction. We take a left which takes up 200’. Here we continued a
conversation from Christmas eve: why am I reluctant to travel,
particularly internationally. These discussions are helping me to
refine my thinking. I will need to solidify my thoughts.
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| Andrea and the bear |
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| Gary in his aw shuck pose |
Shortly afterwards, we came back to a paved road. Here we take a right and go up to a scenic overlook. Unlike yesterday, the clouds accented the view as they seemed to rise from the forest away. With the rain this morning, the air is clear and there are still raindrops on the manzanita leaves.
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| Rachel and Friday |
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| Fire Road |
But we continue on our way on the Parkway. It winds around Big Tree Creek before heading back to the parking lot. Our total trip is about four miles. We did see some residual Sequoias, but nothing like we were wandering around them. That just leaves us a reason to come back here, maybe to camp in one of the environmental camps.
Walking the parkway 
Pool Wizards
We leave the parking lot and
return to the cabin. Rachel goes back to work and the rest of us
relax. After work,Rachel, Steve, David and I go down and play a
couple rounds of pool. I have never been good at this, but today, I
manage to be almost passable. All in all we enjoy ourselves.
For dinner, it is nachos and
soup. We all enjoyed the dinner and the company. Would we want to do
something like this again-rent out a cabin for Christmas? Yes and
maybe at other times of the year.
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| Andrea on her run |
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| Clouds from the scenic overlook |
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| Gary, Sherri, Steven, Korra, Rachel, Friday, David and Andrea |
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| Clouds from the scenic overlook |
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| Walking the parkway |
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| Sign at the visitor center |
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| Father and his Children |
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| The Outhouse |
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| Korra |
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| Rachel and Friday |
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| Trident Tree |
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| Parkway |
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| Can Gary really make this shot? |
