Gary-Summer: February 10, 2021

Wednesday, February 10, 2021

February 10, 2021 - Boole Tree Road

Title:February 10, 2021 - Boole Tree Road
Hike Info : Description : Extra Photo's : Flowers and Plants

Trail head: Highway 180 and Forest Service Road 13S55

Hike Info:

Type: Snowshoeing
Trail: Boole Tree Road
Destination: As far as we could go
Distance: 4.09 to 4.5 miles 1
Start Time: 10:55
End Time: 3:19
Travel Time: 4:24 (0.93 mph)
Moving Time: 3:12 (1.28 mph)
GPS Tracks
¹The points on the tracks wrapped around, so I lost some of the original track. I did take the points from the return trip and used that to calculate the distance. Rose’s tracker gave her 4.5 miles which sounds pretty good.

Description:

Start of our trip

I am Excited! Today Sherri and I get to snowshoe with both Betty and Rose, a couple of our dearest hiking friends. While we have walked with Rose around her ranch and last week we snowshoed with Betty, it is a special day in these COVID times when we can be with both. They have been maintaining themselves as safely as anybody can in these times.

View to the east

Sherri and I leave our house at 9:14 and meet with Betty and Rose around 9:50 at Bear Mountain Pizza-no not to eat, just a convenient meeting place. Then it is onward to Grant Grove. We do stop at the Visitor Center for our human needs before moving on to the Boole Tree Road, 13S55. This is a mile or two on the other side of Cherry Gap where we were last Friday. There is a long off road area where three cars can park right before the Boole Tree Road.

Converse Mountain

There is not much snow by now-it has been a warm couple of weeks. A lot of the snow from our storms three weeks ago has melted off. I think there is about 6-12” of snow generally. But that is enough to snowshoe on. We get our shoes on and start a little before 11.

The first part of our route is up a short rise, maybe about half of a mile. The good part is there is some instant gratification with a nice view to the east. The spoiler is that there are lots of dead trees left standing from the Rough Fire several years back. Still the mountains to the east give a good visual.

When we reach the top of the rise, there are three roads we can take. None of the ladies seem to be interested in visiting a Borrow Pit. The road to the right goes up the ridge and the snow looks spotty that way. So down the Boole Tree Road we go.

Stumps by where we ate

It is pretty easy walking-snow is not deep and we are going downhill. Skies are mixed with some clouds and a lot of blue. As we descend, I notice several younger, nicely shaped Sequoias. Instead of the mushroom topped Sequoias of maturity, these form more of a cone pointing to the sky. It is when we see a tree lacking the symmetry do I wonder what happened to it?

This is part of the Converse Basin, where loggers in the late 1800’s tried to make a go of these majestic trees of beauty. The nicely shaped trees are the offspring of those cut down. And now we start seeing the evidence of this logging. Large cut off stumps line our way.. Even these retain their majesty in the say which the Aphrodite statue without her arms still attracts the eye.

By this time, we have gone close to two hours. I am on the lookout for a place to have lunch. We have descended about 300’ and just crossed a creek-it went under the road we are on. And there is a nice log in the sun. A good place to stop. All of us enjoy a bite to eat while basking in the sun.

We went about half way to the Boole Tree

Gary enjoying the sun

I have set a 1:30 turnaround time-that should get us back by 4:00pm. We finish up lunch by 1:15, but I think we have had a fun enough day and there is not enthusiasm to continue on down the road for another 15 minutes. Beside, we are only halfway to the Boole Tree parking area. So not much chance we will make it that far.

While I am waiting for everybody to get ready, I am enjoying the sun, sort of basking in it. And then we start back up the road. This is where I can tell that I am still getting into shape, but doing better with more stamina than before. Still I enjoy the various stops to take pictures.

As the afternoon goes on, clouds come in, blocking the sun. It casts a subdued light on us. The forecast calls for rain/snow tomorrow, not today. Not terribly worried, still with the gathering clouds, I wonder.

Starting to cloud over

Betty is walking with me, while Rose and Sherri are behind. When we reach the top of the ridge, Rose and Sherri catch up with us. Still nobody wants to see the Borrow Pit. So we start back down the final stretch to the cars. I do spot what looks like a clearing so I explore over there. I think on a clear day, it would be a fantastic view. Even now with the billowing clouds, it is enjoyable. My picture taking does not do justice.

Clouds and Sequoias

I rejoin the ladies and we continue on down. It is very evident that the snow is melting fast. Places where there was a smattering of snow is now bare ground. Short enough, we do not take off our snowshoes, still enough to make us realize that if we do not get snow soon, a lot of our area will not be available for snow play. We get to a cattle grate and it is a bit delicate making sure we do not slide between the bars.

By about 3:15, we are back at the cars and putting away our stuff. We meet one more time at the Visitor Center and say our farewells, socially distance-it will be nice when we can give each other hugs. On the way down, we sink into a cloud-our fog lights come on and we drive cautiously. Once we pop out underneath, it is clear driving back to Fresno.