February 5, 2026 - Blue Oak Trail

 

Title: February 5, 2026 - Blue Oak Trail

Hike Info : Description : Extra Photo's : Animals : Flowers and Plants

Hike Info:

Type: Hiking

Trail head: Blue Oak Picnic Area

Trail: Blue Oak Trail

Destination: Closed trail in Winchell Cove

Distance:  5.78 miles

Start Time: 1:53

End Time:   5:06

Travel Time: 3:12  (1.81 mph)

Moving Time:  2:35  (2.24 mph)

Elevation Rise:  616'

Descent: 548‘

Maximum Elevation: 606'

GPS Tracks

Description:

Today we were to go back up to Badger Pass. But yesterday in the morning it was quite foggy. Also I really lacked a lot of energy. So I called off that activity and said lets see what Thursday brings. If things look good, we can do a hike at Millerton. Today there was hardly any fog and I had at least some energy. So it will be off to Millerton after lunch.

Mystery Boat

Rachel comes over about 11 and continues her work on a puzzle we got at Christmas time of Horseshoe Bend. It is driving us nuts. I have my lunch at noon and have a brief siesta and am ready to go at 1pm. We actually leave about 1:10 with me driving to Millerton. There is some confusion about where the Blue Oak Trail is-not by me. It is on the south side of the lake. We get to the picnic area and park there instead of at the end of the road. This will give us about three more miles of walking. We parked about 1:40 and were ready to hike at 1:50. Before we started, I shed my long sleeve shirt and take off my pants legs. Even though it is February, it is that warm of a day.

The trail from the picnic grounds to the end of the road is not all that interesting. On the west side of the trail, there is the road; the east side has a fence which is the border of the State Recreation Area. Beyond the fence are houses with barking dogs and overlooks of the lake. The trail goes over a series of low ridges and shallow ravines.

I feel like I am walking pretty well. I am in the lead with Rachel following me. Sherri and Steven follow at various lengths behind. We make pretty good time, probably walking around 2½ mph. There are some wildflowers along the way-Blue Dicks, Skunk Monkeyflowers and Popcorn flowers is what I think we mostly encountered.

A little past the end of the road is a bench. It gives a nice view of the lake and we stopped there for about 15 minutes just to gaze onto the lake-and if the truth be known, also to give my lungs a respite. 

 

A little ways further we spot something moving in what appears to be a haphazard way in the lake. There does not appear to be anybody and to the naked eye it is a strange shape for a boat. Out comes some binoculars and I get my phone’s camera to a good magnification. It is a boat with a couple of fishing poles out the rear, a sonar in front and a guy dressed in light blue almost motionless sitting in the middle. Mystery solved! It can be interesting to speculate, then a bit relieving to come up with something definite.

Then it is off again. Rachel and I talk about various subjects. Like last week, it is one of the pleasures of walking with my children. They have all reached the age where they have a certain maturity of thought. This makes it fun and many times enlightening hearing from them.

Mystery Building

I had set a 3:30 turn around time. If we had not reached the end of the trail, we would turn around anyway. I wish I could say it was because of superior planning, but we reached the part of the trail which has been closed for about a year now right at 3:30. We enjoy the view here as well. Like when Sherri and I were here in December, the trail is still closed because the trail is endangered of being eroded away.

We are hoping to get back to the car at 5 before the sun goes down. Off we go. We had seen a building a bit beyond the docks at the entrance to Winchell Cove. I am speculating that it is an outhouse-later on when I look at the pictures, I am thinking it is something else. The mountains which we are seeing beyond it, which should be covered with snow, presents a nice backdrop to the still waters of the lake.

Steven is taking the lead, while not far ahead during much of the walk back, Sherri is ahead of Rachel and myself-not sure Sherri wanted that honor, particularly when she stops to take some pictures. I think Rachel just wants to make sure her father does not do anything stupid, so she makes sure she is the sweep.

 

  

The skies are darkening as the clock closes in on 5. It is not dark yet. The diminished light gives both an interesting fullness in the pictures. I do stop mostly to take pictures of flowers and scenery, but this also gives me the opportunity to take a few breaths before starting out again.

We catch up with Sherri about half a mile before the car. It has been awhile since I have walked this far. It is good to know that I came in tired but strong. We arrive at the car a little after five to find Steven waiting for us. I drove us back home. There we take a shower while Rachel goes on a training run for half an hour-to be young and have that energy. I do not think I ever had that kind of desire to run after walking close to six miles. When Rachel comes back, she takes us to a Mediterranean restaurant called Mayd. Not bad-I had a chicken sandwich. When we got back, Rachel and Steven worked on a puzzle while I gave them moral support until I went to bed.

Extra Photo's

Specks of green on a rock

Father daughter hiking

Interesting hill

Steven, Gary, and Rachel at trail's end

Mystery boat

Animals

Hawk in flight

 
Flowers and Plants

Iris

Iris

Blue Dick

Blue Dick

Blue Dick

Blue Dick

Miner's Lettuce

Miner's Lettuce

Popcorn Flower

Skunk Monkeyflower

Skunk Monkeyflower

Skunk Monkeyflower

January 29, 2026 - Snowshoe Badger Pass

 

Title: January 29, 2026 - Snowshoe Badger Pass

Hike Info : Description : Extra Photo's 

Hike Info:

Type:  Snowshoeing

Trail head: Badger Pass Parking Lot

Trail: Glacier Point Road, Summit Meadow Trail, Old Glacier Point Road, 

Destination:  Loop and possibly Tempo Dome

Actual Destination:  Ridge where Tempo Dome is

Distance:  3.94 miles 

Start Time: 10:52

End Time:     3:07

Travel Time:  4:15  (0.93 mph)

Moving Time: 3:01   (1.31 mph)

Elevation Rise:  692'

Descent: 719‘

Maximum Elevation: 7,653'

Minimum Elevation: 7,250'

GPS Tracks

Description:

Sherri cannot come today-she has an appointment. But Steven and Rachel can. We decided that it looks like we can go to Badger Pass today. It does not look like we will have fog in Fresno, even though in the morning, it looked like the temperature is 20 degrees up at Badger Pass. But by 10 it will be at least 40, at least that is the forecast.

We planned to leave at 8 so we could get a full day up at Badger Pass. Rachel got hung up, so I started driving about 8:40, but with all three of us. When we got to the Yosemite entry station, Rachel had her first opportunity to use her digital Park pass. It worked! The road is dry and there is no concern with there being ice on the road. We did stop at Chinquipin before going up the Glacier Point Road. We get to the parking area, parking close to where we will start off.

Our snowshoes touch the snow about 11. But we do not get too far before we get in conversation with a couple of young ladies who are on cross-country skis for the first time. At least they are upright. Their friend gets up and then falls, repeating that a couple of more times. It turns out they are part of a group.When the group comes along, we leave.

One of the things which I want to do is to see if I can identify why I get shortness of breath when going uphill. I have brought along an Pulse-Ox meter to measure both the oxygen saturation levels and my heart beats. We are at 7,200’, so that is also a factor. About the time we are at Summit Meadow, I am at 90%, a bit low, but reasonable. By the time we hit lunch time, it is up to 94%. That is a bit unusual since between Summit Meadow and the trail back to the parking area is the steepest part.

Rachel with Mt Clark

To go back to the start, once we leave those who are going to learn to cross-country ski, we start up the snow-covered Glacier Point Road. The slope up is gentle and in places we can look north across the Merced-but not into Yosemite Valley. Once we reach the top, it is a short descent to Summit Meadow. There had been a couple options which we rejected. There are a couple routes to Dewey Point-the site of my debacle last Spring. We would not have made it there, but Sherri and I have gone a ways on them and found routes back. Then there is continuing on down the Road, but that means a long uphill return. We decided to go south out of Summit Meadow up to a return route to the parking lot.

When we get to the trail, we found a log to sit on and have lunch. One of the good things about being outdoors and doing things with people whom you like, is that you get to talk with them. And by talking I mean more than just “how are you doing” type conversation. Rachel was talking about some training she is doing with yoga. Part of it is recognizing and responding to trauma. This brought up a conversation about trauma, the type and causes of trauma and how you could respond to it. It is good to be able to talk with both Steven and Rachel as adults.

After lunch we take the trail starting towards the parking lot. In about a quarter mile, we come to a junction with what looks like a service trail to the top of Tempo Dome. I think this is also part of the Old Glacier Point Road. Also at this junction is the true Badger Pass.

Cloud's Rest and Half Dome

We debated for a minute about what we should do. All of us felt like we wanted to do more. So we followed the road which goes up the ridge. But first, it goes on a small, gentle descent. Along the way, we noticed places where the snow had settled, leaving large cracks where snow sank. We take a little detour around these.

The road curves to the south before heading up the ridge. That climb is pretty steep-later looking at the stats, the slope was at a maximum of 13%. I definitely am huffing and puffing and stopping on the way up. Rachel is trying to pace us by keeping her heart beat within an aerobic area. Somehow that pace just does not suit me-even though it would have been better for me. My O₂ saturation is still OK at 91%, but the heart rate is in the upper 140’s.

When we reach the top, we turn around and see across the Clark Range. There we play the game of trying to identify peaks. The one just to the east, I say is Mt Starr King, but Steven and Rachel think it is Clark Peak. I suspect they are right and may King be behind some trees. Just looking over all of this would be breathtaking except the climb up already took my breath.

We spent about 15-20 minutes at the top of the ridge-there was still more up if we wanted to. After all Tempo Dome is another 200’ above us and about a quarter mile to the south. But, we have enjoyed this outing and rather than getting too tired out, we decide to head back down the ridge. Nobody is wild about taking off directly to Badge Pass, so we fall the same track as what we came up on. From Badge Pass down to the parking area, it is about a mile and almost all downhill. I am glad as the last 10 minutes or so, my legs were starting to feel the day. That indicates this has been a good one. We reach the car at 3:00pm and Rachel drives us out at 3:15. Just for the record, my O₂ level is now 94 and the heart rate is 110-getting better. We decided to do Mexican food in Oakhurst. Rather than El Cid, we go to Los 2 Carnales. The helpings there is satisfying and we arrive back in Fresno tired, but content.

Extra Photo's

Shadow Snoeshoers

Gary, Steven, Rachel

Half Dome and Cloud's Rest

Father and Daughter confering

Steven and Rachel going up the Summit Meadow Trail