Gary-Summer: March 2018

Wednesday, March 28, 2018

March 28, 2018 - Yosemite Valley Wander

Title: March 28, 2018 - Yosemite Valley Wander
Hike Info : Description : Extra Photo's

Trail head: Camp Curry

Hike Info:

Type: Hiking

Trail: Vernal Falls-both trails, trail along Merced

Destination: None

Distance: 5.08 miles ¹

Start Time: 11:26

End Time: 2:23

Travel Time: 2:57 (1.72 mph)

Moving Time: 2:27 (2.07 mph)

Elevation Rise: 938'

Descent: 784‘

Maximum Elevation: 4,553'

GPS Tracks

¹My GPS lost signal for a ways while I was in the trees.

Description:

Sherri and Steven at Yosemite Falls

We leave our house around 8:30 for Yosemite Valley. Sherri is driving. The plan is for Sherri and Steven to ride their bikes around the Valley while I wander around a bit on foot. We stop in Oakhurst to change drivers and gather in some donuts at Judy’s. Then it is off to Camp Curry.

We arrive there about 11:15. And now we split up. I get my boots on and am off by 11:30. This is going to be more of a wander than a set plan.

I head off towards Happy Isles, taking The Fen trail. Along the way, I wonder if I can get above the tree level, maybe on the apron of Glacier Point. I go up a ways, following a flow of a creek. But the more I go up, the more brush I encounter. So I turn around and return to the trail.

Valves along the trail

North and Basket Domes

At Happy Isles, I take off towards the Nature Center, but do not go in. Instead I continue around on a service road until I get to a trail. This is paved, but gentle. The trail pleasant and I travel quickly. Unlike the trail across the river, this one keeps close to it. Consequently, I follow a couple tracks to the river. One leads me to a sand beach.

Very pleasant being by the Merced, on a sandy beach, looking up at a paved trail with many people going by. Wonder if they see me? Actually I am not hidden, more accurately, does anybody notice this sole figure below them? Isn’t that how things are? We wander through our life, noticing only those things which almost hit us in the face? But ignore the fascinatingly? The interesting? The beauty? O Lord, help me to observe that which you placed around me, particularly that which you want me to see and understand!

Vernal Falls Trail above the Merced My little beach from the trail

Water Tank

Now the question to me is: do I stay here and enjoy the day on the beach reading and meditating and praying and the like? You know that sounds like a good day, doesn’t it? Or do I continue on up a trail I have not seen before? Both sounds like a good day, now that I think about it. While I plan this more as a day of wandering than hiking, it feels like I should continue on. Maybe another time relaxing at the beach will win out.

Illilouette Creek

The service road continues to parallel my trail. What could so interesting this way? Shortly I see some valves, then a large pipe, looking like it goes to the river. Then the service road ends and there is a large water tank. I continue on and there is a trail junction saying I had gone a half of a mile from Happy Isles-and I not having met one person!

Illilouette Creek

The other trail, which looks well maintained comes from the water tank. Not that my trail is unkept. But why is this part of the trail so well kept up? Why the good bridges over Illilouette Creek? What are these red flags doing along the trail? Oh! There is a power panel back here as well. Why the panel? That one I do not know. But my guess is that the trail for this quarter of a mile is all part of the infrastructure of the Valley-maybe going up to the bathroom at the base of Vernal Falls.

The one disappointment I found on this trail was that Illilouette Falls was not visible-its creek was very nice, but not the Falls. After crossing the fantail of the creeks, the trail moved back from the Merced and I started my ascent up the the base of Vernal Falls. For some reason, it does not seem as steep as the other side, I still have to go up the same elevation though, so it must be better graded. The Merced is really nice from this side-I am still closer to it than on the other side. Also a lot of it is paved.

As I get close to the top, Four things happen:

Fan Tail on the Merced

First, I meet my first people, a family who is going down the trail.
Next, I meet up with the John Muir Trail. At that place, there is a sign saying Horse Trail, No Foot Traffic. Of course, there is not anything I saw at the base of the trail. (As a note, I have sort of reconciled in my mind that if I go up this trail again, it will only be when the stables are not open.)
Third, when I come down to the junction with the Mist Trail, up to the top of Vernal Falls, there is a gate which indicates the trail is closed due to rock falls. I see at least four groups of people go up, with at least a dozen people total. The smartest one of the whole bunch was a four year old who begged his parents not to go that way. (Note: I would think that another sign would be appropriate. it would say: Hiker’s Intelligence Test).
Last, I found myself a nice rock away from the trail and had lunch.

Illilouette Falls from Vernal Falls Trail

Then it is off. Both since the sign going down says No Foot Traffic and I am interested in making a loop, I go down the popular way, paved way. I group of four people seem to be struggling, except for one female who is encouraging them on. The guy says I am encouraging to them-must be the age thing. Illilouette Falls shows up good and I take several pictures. Also I stop at the place I saw from the bottom and take a picture there as well. One guy zooms by me, nothing unusually, but he is really fast-not a runner. When I get to the bottom and meet up with road at Happy Isles, I have a decision to make-to go straight back or do I have enough time to do more wandering?

The Merced River

Since I have about 40 minutes, I decide to wander along the Merced River until I reach Clark’s Bridge, then cut over to camp Curry. Pretty peaceful, even with the Spring break crowds. I only meet three groups of people. The first are some people speaking a foreign language. The second is a trail runner. But the third I have a conversation with. You remember the guy who passed me coming down from Vernal Falls? This was him. He asked me if I knew where he had parked. After describing where he did, I told him he was in the backpacker’s parking area and gave him instructions to get there pretty quickly-actually the same way I was going. But he was sure it was in a different direction. So I told him to backtrack and go past Happy Isles. That seemed to satisfy him.

Now it is off to Camp Curry and the car. It is only a short ways there. I cross Clark’s Bridge which brings me right to Camp Curry. I follow the path to the parking lot and there is the car, as well as Sherri and Steven. When I look at the time, it is 2:27. Not bad since I was aiming for 2:30. Steven and Sherri had been there only five minutes or so before me. Good plan. We pack up and go on home via Oakhurst where we stop at the Southgate Brewery for dinner.

Extra Photo's

Merced River

Pool by my beach

Glacier Point

Illilouette Creek

Tuesday, March 27, 2018

March 27, 2018 - Briceburg to the West

Title: March 27, 2018 - Briceburg to the West
Hike Info : Description : Trail Lessons : Extra Photo's : Animals : Flowers and Plants

Trail head: Briceburg

Hike Info:

Type: Hiking

Trail: Merced River Gorge Trail-West

Destination: Railroad Flat Campground

Actual Destination: about half of a mile beyond the campground

Distance: 11.10 miles

Start Time: 10:08

End Time: 2:26

Travel Time: 4:17 (2.59 mph)

Moving Time: 3:48 (2.92 mph)

Elevation Rise: 646'

Descent: 618‘

Maximum Elevation: 1,305'

GPS Track

Description:

Briceburg Bridge

We have wanted to follow the Merced River Trail coming out of Bagley. But with last week's storms, Highway 49 got washed out in many places and it is closed just north of Mariposa. So that sort of forced us to do a different route.

At 8:15 we left Fresno and made it to Briceburg at 10:00. Our first decision was, do we drive down to Railroad Flat Campground or park at Briceburg and walk. We decided to walk.We got on the trail about 10:10. The start is to cross the Briceburg Bridge. We found out that our decision was wise as there is a locked gate and sign saying Road Closed.We are of the mind, this means to vehicular traffic, so we charge forth.

The Merced

The Merced River is running full. The river alternates between swiftly, raging rapids to long placid pools. We quickly find the reason why the road is closed : there are many places where the bank above the road has collapsed, leaving boulders strewn across it. But a little bit of dirt and mud does not stop us.

McCabe Outhouse

After a mile and a half we spot the first surprise of the day: an outhouse! There is a day use area for a beach on the river. The facilities were made use of. Then we continue on.

Redbud and River

The road is very flat with gravel and small rocks. For the most part it is easy to walk on and we make good time charging on. At the three mile mark we come to the first campground, McCabe. This is really on a section called McCabe Flat. But we just pass through.

A little ways afterwards, Sherri stops up and has us look across the river. There is a turkey strutting around there. This keeps us interested for about 10 minutes, watching it strut around. When we start moving, so does it. This prolongs out enjoyment by another five minutes. And then Steven spots a couple of ducks swimming in the Merced. Of course we need to stop and observe. I think this is one of those things where if you look you will find things of interest.

Halls Gulch

Onward with our walk. Another campground, North Fork Campground. At least it has a bathroom. And we continue on. When we get to Railroad Flat, we have met our turnaround time. But I have been trailing behind, taking pictures and the like. Also, I smell smoke, but the source is not evident. There is a grave at Railroad Flat, so I hunt around for the tombstone.

Robert Berg's grave at Railroad Flat

Field of poppies

Sherri and Steven have gone on ahead, passing through the turnstile at Halls Gulch. Looks like an old train stop-at least the bench and covering have that feel. Not sure if this is original or replica-guessing a replica. They are still a couple hundred yards ahead of me. But now we are seeing whole hillsides covered in orange. Sheets of poppies give the hills a Golden State cover. Fantastic.

I suggest it is time to turn back for two reasons. First, we are beyond our turnaround time and Steven would like to be home by 5:00pm. The second is that it is getting pretty warm and I am not sure we brought enough water for this warmth. They are ready to start back, and so am I.

More poppies

But first, when we reach Railroad Flat, we decide to have lunch there. Also there is a toilet which is a luxury we do not have on many hikes, even if it is a pit toilet. The lunch break is good and we get a bit of strength back again. Now to continue on.

Remember that smoke we felt earlier? Still there. So we investigate a bit. There is someone camping here, probably a bit under the radar. We talk for a few minutes. He asks if we know when the road will open-no. But we do tell him that a major storm is in the forecast later this week. He thanks us and we are on our way.

Hikers-Gary, Sherri, Steven

Now the heat is picking up, reflecting off of the dirt. I have the one thought of keep on putting one foot in front of another. But I still do get a chance to look around. Occasionally we pass a road or something which takes off up the hill. I wonder where does it go to? Also the wildflowers, particularly the poppies are an attraction. Across the Merced we see a creek emptying into the River. Looks like it is running strong now, but I suspect in a couple of months, it will be dry.

We have only met a person on a bike coming out and the man at Railroad Flat. But now we see a couple coming towards us. Not highly sociable, so we just continue on. Steven and I are keeping up a pretty decent pace. But Sherri is starting to be affect by the heat, even more than I am. So I wait for he and we finish out our hike together.

Gary hiking back

I think we will be adding this walk to our repertoire of hikes. Just the hill with the field of poppies is worth the walk. Who knows, maybe next year we can drive to Railroad Flat and hike further down the Merced.

Trail Lesson:

If you look, you will find. Maybe not something which you are looking for, but something which is interesting.

Extra Photo's

Two Guys and Sign

Bridge over Halls Gulch

Poppy Fields on a hillsdie

Settlement after Halls Gulch

More poppies

Manly Hikers

Animals

Canadian Geese

Flowers and Plants

Redbud by the Merced

Redbud

California Golden Poppies

Poppies

Mustard

Sunday, March 25, 2018

March 25, 2018 - Snowshoeing on an unnamed Road

Title: March 25, 2018 - Snowshoeing on an unnamed Road
Hike Info : Description : Extra Photo's

Trail head: General’s Highway, Road 14S10A

Hike Info:

Type; Snowshoeing

Trail: abandoned road

Destination: none

Distance: 0.73 miles

Start Time: 2:28

End Time: 3:17

Travel Time: 0:48 (0.91 mph)

Moving Time: 0:32 (1.37 mph)

Elevation Rise: 131'

Descent: 117‘

Maximum Elevation: 7,139'

GPS Tracks

Description:

We are not properly ready to go snowshoeing today. But the advantage of living in Fresno is we are close to the mountains, so it is an hour or so drive there.

Last night, I would have gotten ready, but we had forgotten there was a game night. I has not gotten stuff together before then. So that left this morning. First, we went to church. Then we talked with several people. Which we enjoyed. Then we got ready to go. By then, it was almost noon. So we had lunch. By the time we started the car, it was 12:20.

Clouds in our path

But away we went. Bright sun shiny day, a nice ring of clouds in the mountains. Clouds? By this time, we were well on our way. Sherri figured out that she should have brought her rain jacket. Probably a bit too late to turn around. So we continue on, thinking these are just clouds. But at the 4500’ mark, there is a chains required sign, complete with a checkpoint-I think of my friend Fritz and his numerous checkpoint issues and feel lucky not having to put on chains. We have both snow tires and four-wheel drive, so we get a free pass. Nothing really serious, just slowed down a bit to make sure we do not encounter anything. The temperature is nosing down-by the time we start hiking , it will be a wet 28 we we get out of the car.

Sherri bundled up and travelling

Once at the park entrance, there is a line where people are being checked. We get through, once again. After a stop at Big Stump, we decide to go down the General’s Highway. Sherri notices a few snowflakes hitting our windshield. Also there is a pretty good overcast. Looks like there was a small crash as two cars are on the side of the road, but they said they did not need help. The road after Quail Flat is open, unlike last time, so we continue on. When we reach Buena Vista Peak trailhead, we decide that we will save this for a clear day. So we turn around and go back to a closed forest road. We will wander for about an hour and see how that goes.

We have not been on this road before. It is closed to vehicular traffic and we wonder why it was even built in the first place. But for our purposes, it is good. Sherri is first out on snowshoes. She waits for me as I get situated. But then we get going. The road is gently sloping downward and goes around a ridge. I gaze up at the top of the ridge and wonder what is over there?

Gary looking for sunshine

Sherri wants a picture and so I turn around, and around, much to her frustration. Now we are off again. There is a good thing. I am now moving pretty good on the snowshoes. Only a couple of weeks ago Sherri was definitely stronger than I. The road goes around the ridge we are on. Sherri hears the noise of cars. Wonder where they are? Soon that question is answered-right below us about an eighth of a mile is the General’s Highway. We go a little ways further on our road, when we get blocked by a screen of young trees-about ten years old. Now what to do?

From my perspective, there are two ways to go: return back the way we came, or go up on top of the ridge and see where that takes us. If you are a reader of this blog, you pretty much have guessed which way we went. Even with a snow cloud settling in, we go up. I think the slope is a bit more than Sherri wanted, it was not too bud. The route I chose, avoided most of the shrubbery. So we reach the top. Nice and flat on top, but a bit of snow, cutting down visibility-not white out or anyplace close.

General Grant Tree

I think going around the ridge turned Sherri around, so that even though I can see where we came in on the road, Sherri is trying to get her bearings. I gallop off down a gentle and short slope to the road and stand there like I have just swallowed a chocolate chip cookie. I love these little trips like this. In five minutes, we are back at the car, ready for our next adventure: getting my boots off. Which Sherri helps me with.

Once we got going, where to next? It is only 3:30. Sherri would like to see the General Grant Tree in the snow. So off we go. I go up in my tennis shoes-I may regret it. Sherri still has her boots on. Much of the paved path has been kept free of snow. But it is wet and in a few places slushy-ice. But the Grant Tree looks good. We continue around the loop, a little over half a mile. Enjoyable and the feet did not get too cold.

Sherri and Gary at General Grant Tree

Now, it is back to Fresno. We get into town around 5:30 and stop at DiCicco’s for dinner. I have three cheese calzone. Tasted good. Then to home and a nice shower. A good short day.