Title: November 22, 2014 - Ft Monroe and Beyond
Trail head: Bridalveil Falls parking Lot
Hike Info:
Type: Hiking
Trail: Old Wawona Road
Destination: Ft Monroe
Start Time: 9:15
End Time: 2:41
Travel Time: 4:09 (1.23 mph)
Moving Time: 2:44 (1.86 mph)
Maximum Elevation: 5,391'
1My GPS did not start picking up a signal until about 30 minutes into the hike. So the miles and elevation rise is based upon a hike we did a couple of weeks ago, as well as the map and profile. Also the start time is an approximation. The Travel and Moving Time/MPH is the actual recorded.
Description:
It is a wet day and has been predicted to be so for many days now. It is my second meetup hike as an organizer and at one time, this hike had 25 people signed up for it. But through normal attrition and the impending weather taking a toll, we are down to eight people on hike day. Still for the rain predicted that is good. Three people will meet us at the trail head, so I tell non-family to meet us at my house instead of Kohl's. It turns out this is sort of like the last meetup hike I lead: on that one we had 17 signed up and 18 returned. Today we have eight signed up and will have nine return. For you see, as we enter into Oakhurst, Dana texts us saying she is waiting at Starbucks in Oakhurst-she had decided to go at the last moment.
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| Our Group |
We actually get to Bridalveil Falls parking lot just a tad after 9:00-about half an hour earlier than I was expecting. But all three of the people whom we are to meet are there: Jerry K, Mark and Jan. Mark and Jan are people I have not hiked with before. But that is one of the good things about meetup, you get to meet new people. The rest of our group includes Carol-a friend of ours, Steven and Sherri-son and wife, Betty and Dana-meetup friends, and myself. We drive up a quarter mile, a little above the W1 sign post where we get out and start in.
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| Cathedral Rocks |
Did I say that it was already raining? Not badly, but we do have on our rain gear. We start up the trail: me in the lead and Sherri and Jerry K being the sweeps. A lot of times Yosemite can be spectacular with clouds: the clouds playing tag with Half Dome or creating contrast with El Capitan. But that is not today's experience: no Half Dome or El Cap in view. There is a solid blanket of clouds obscuring almost all views. In places, we can make out a bit of a nearby ridge-line. Still there are some benefits in this. For one, the trail is not dusty and the rain has rinsed off the leaves, causing them to glisten.
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| Gary talking |
We
climb up the historic Old Wawona Road 2, with the light rain which we
started with now becoming a real rain. One of my interests when I travel
a trail is to understand who came here before me. In this case, the
road we travel and the fort we are going to have many stories to tell,
and I enjoy talking about these stories. After crossing a couple of dry
creeks-Meadow and Artist-we stop at Artist Point 3. This place has
inspired many a Promethean pioneer artist. But this would not be one of
those days. I do stop with explaining what the artists would see here.
But somehow, it is not the same.
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| View from Artist Point on a clear day |
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| Clear Day View-Artist Point |
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| Looking across the Valley |
Now we continue to divide the rain waters and climb up Old Wawona Road. The rain does drive us on rather than having us stop and try to gaze at the cloud-hidden wonders surrounding us. We do some of that anyway. The rain and time of year have knocked down some of the amber and orange leaves, but we still see the immense big-leaf maple leaves underfoot. Some of the autumn leaves still dangle from their perch on the trees surrounding us. After Artist Point, we quickly pass the Pohono Trail. We then climb a coupe of switch backs before emerging onto a flatish area. I sort of thought this must be where Ft Monroe 4 is. But it does not correspond to a description which Tony Krizan has given more nor the GPS coordinates which GNIS has. So I think I am mistaken. But that does not stop me from giving background on George Monroe.
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| View on another day from Inspiration Point |
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| Artist Creek |
Now it is a short walk to New Inspiration Point where we were to have lunch. But it is raining harder than ever. For once, people do not want to stop and rest and enjoy a peace lunch. I wonder why? So we then head down the Pohono Trail back to the Old Wawona Road. Here some of the faster hikers want to get back to the comfort and dryness of their vehicles-I do not blame them. But I cannot get much wetter than I am, so I wait around and just make sure everybody is going in the right direction. The trail down from New Inspiration Point is pretty steep, but with water running down the trail, at least we are not choking with dust
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| Artist Creek |
As we come back down the road, there is one aspect of the trail has changed: we now have a creek crossing at Artist Creek. There is a nice bit of runoff there, nothing too dangerous or anything, just a nice surprise. The creek also brings out the colors, so despite the rain, we stop for awhile and enjoy the view before us. But the dry cars are calling, so we march down the road for the final mile.
But we were surprised when we get down to the spot where we started: the cars are gone! It will be a long and wet walk back home if that is true. But before we have a chance to moan about this, along comes Dana. Then Steven and Jerry K is right behind her. So we slosh into our cars, trying not to flood them and agree to meet up at the Chinquapin restroom. Jerry K does say goodbye to us. But we are stopping in Oakhurst at El Cid. We eat and enjoy each other as we warm up before heading back to Fresno. I think we all agree I will need to schedule another trip up this trail this Spring, preferably not in the rain.
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| Leaves on the ground |
Trail Lesson:
Rain is survival able. What you make of being in it depends on you, not the rain.
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| More Gary talking |
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| Autumn Leaves |
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| Autumn Leaves |
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| Autumn Leaves |
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| Autumn Leaves |
Talking Notes:
2Old
Wawona Road
Starts
at the Wawona Covered Bridge. Crosses the road around the campground.
Around Misquito Creek, it drops below 41 and parallels or crosses it
several times. Dr. John Taylor McLean created the road. Once only one
of two ways into the valley. remarkable achievements of these
pioneers using picks, shovels, black powder and sweat to achieve
their goals. Their only monetary reward was a wage of $40s a month,
food, and lodging.
Soon after
enthusiast James Hutchings began escorting sightseers to view
Yosemite Valley in 1855, Andrew, Milton and Houston Mann built a
45-mile toll horse trail from Mariposa to the already-famous Valley
via the South Fork. Mainly, they followed the old Indian trails. It
was opened August 1, 1856, and operated as a toll route until 1862
when Mariposa County purchased it, declaring it a “Public Highway.”
Until then, tolls were: [“]Man and horse each way, $2.00; pack mule
or horse, each way, $2.00; Footman, $1.00.” 31
In 1869, Galen Clark organized a stock company of eight men to
build a wagon and stage road from Mariposa as far as Clark’s 22
(Wawona) which was used as a toll road from 1870 until 1917. As early
as 1870, Clark had a survey made for a wagon road from his lodging at
Wawona to Yosemite Valley. This road was begun by Chinese laborers,
under the direction of John Conway and Edwin Moore and finished by
Washburn, Chapman & Company in July, 1875. 32
Most of the 16-foot-wide road was constructed during severe winter
weather. The era of the stagecoach, which was to continue, in
jolting, dusty fashion for forty years, began for Yosemite-bound
visitors.
By mid-April, 1875, the rough road was
passable for stagecoaches except for a narrow, 300-yard section still
under construction near the old Inspiration Point. To the passengers’
temporary inconvenience and amusement, they walked the unfinished
stretch while their quickly-dismantled stage was carried in pieces by
hand, then reassembled, harnessed up, reboarded and driven off with
considerable aplomb. 32
The Yosemite Stage & Turnpike Company (Washburn brothers), ran
stages from Merced to Wawona via Mariposa where they had a livery
stable.
The road from Raymond to Wawona generally followed the route of
present State Highway 41, while the stage route from Mariposa, called
the Chowchilla Mountain Road, exists today, rutty, dusty and
little-changed from its 1870 route.
The Wawona Hotel was a logical and popular overnight stop for
stage travelers, and the Yosemite Stage & Turnpike Company,
operating two stage schedules and 700 horses, saw to it that their
passengers traveled speedily and safely, though dustily.
In 1865, 369 hardy, saddle-sore travelers visited Yosemite. In
1875, mostly in stagecoaches, the Park had 2,423 visitors; 2,590 in
1885; 8,023 in 1902; and in 1914, when automobiles were allowed on
the Wawona Road, 15,154. Travel doubled in 1915 when 31,546 visitors
chugged in; 209,166 came in 1925 and 498,289 in 1932,
33
the last year of Washburn ownership.
The Wawona Road accounted for a number of Yosemite “firsts.”
The first automobile to enter the Valley traveled it in 1900, and 32
miles of it had the honor of being the first paved road in the
Yosemite region in June, 1902 34
Mud and dust were tamed!
Soon increased automobile traffic made oiled roads a necessity
and, in 1932, the new, modern Wawona Road was completed from the
South (Fresno) Entrance to Yosemite Valley.
3Artist
Point
Thomas
Hill is the most noted artist who worked at this point. From sketches
he made here, he painted the Great
Canyon of the Sierras
in 1871. Also he painted Yosemite
Valley.
This painting gathered top honors in the 1876 Philadelphia Centennial
Exposition. He eventually worked out of Wawona at what is now the
Ranger Station there. For paintings of his, look at the Yosemite
Museum, Oakland Museum and Sacramento's Crocker Museum.
J
Smeaton Chase: Yosemite Trails
The road to Fort
Monroe was hot and dusty, but mitigated with cool streams and
intervals of grateful forest and enlivened by many tracks of deer and
bear. The afternoon sunlight was streaming full into the valley as we
reached Artists’ Point. The narrowness of the gateway as it is seen
from this point brings out strongly the gorge-like character of the
depression, and in my opinion renders this the most striking of all
the comprehensive views of the wonderful valley.
When we reached Inspiration Point it lacked only an hour of sunset.
The vast shadow of El Capitan lay already far across the valley, and
a long purple promontory ran out from the foot of Three Brothers. I
was reminded of the line of Virgil, by which, it is said, Millet was
always deeply affected,—
“Majoresque
cadunt altis de montibus umbrae.”1
1“And
the great shadows fall from the high mountains.”
Certainly
it harmonizes well with his sombre and sensitive genius.
4Ft
Monroe
At
the elevation around 5,600 feet we arrived at Fort Monroe. These
structures were removed when the Wawona Tunnel was completed in July
of 1933.
Fort Monroe was named for
George F. Monroe, a stage driver for the Yosemite Stage Line. The
"fort" was a stage team relay station, and a place where
stage line customers and other travelers camped.
Monroe came to California with his uncle from his native Georgia
in 1856 to meet his parents who had recently moved to
Mariposa
as part of the gold rush. George was 12 at the time. George's father
Louis became a successful barber in Mariposa,[
citation
needed] and eventually bought and lived on
a prosperous ranch south east of town.
In 1866 Monroe started working for the Wabash brothers, who ran the
Yosemite Stage Line, and eventually got promoted to driver. He was
said to excel at taking the team over the treacherous road, which
included many sharp drop offs at the side of the road and numerous
tight switch backs. He never had an accident that cost the company
money nor injury to his passengers.
[1]
It is thought that an accident precipitated his own death at the age
of 42. According to one account, he was riding as a passenger in the
stage when a horse got away from the driver, and George clambered to
the front horse to stop the team, in the course of which he injured
himself. A few days later, after complaining of feeling ill, he died
at his parents ranch. He was their only child.
[2]
Monroe was said to be well known to travelers from Europe, as well
as throughout the United States. Among his passengers over the years
were presidents
Grant,
Garfield
and
Hayes
The location retained
Monroe's name after his death. It was always a site of significance,
from the stage and horse era of the late 19th century, well into the
automobile era when for a time it was an entrance station, and was
said to have a fine automobile camp.[3]
When the Wawona Tunnel was built, the upper road was converted into
part of the Pohono Trail, whose starting point is now located at the
Tunnel
View
parking lot.
J
Smeaton Chase: Yosemite Trails
We camped at Fort
Monroe, and ate our supper between exclamations at the sunset color
on the pines and cedars on the opposite hillside. The level light
illuminated the forest with a radiance that was indescribably royal
and august, and the great trees stood thoughtful and reverent,
ripening their harvest in the golden air.
From
just beyond our camp there opened a wonderful outlook to the west.
The land here falls away almost precipitously two thousand feet to
the cañon of the Merced, where it forms a sweeping amphitheatre at
the point where Tamarack Creek enters from the north. Opposite, the
unbroken forest rises to the high ridge that is held by the Merced
Grove of Sequoias, and which here forms the watershed between the
Merced and Tuolumne systems.
In
the gathering dusk the myriad pinnacles of the forest rose into a
pale, clear sky, down which the new moon passed musingly to sink
behind the western mountains.
