April 3, 2021 - Fish Camp Road Hike

 

Title: April 3, 2021 - Fish Camp Road Hike
Hike Info : Description

Trail head: Road by Tenaya Lodge

Hike Info:

Type: Hiking
Trail: Jackson/Big Sandy Road
Destination: Out and back
Distance:  3.83 miles¹
Start Time: 1:58
End Time:   4:34
Travel Time:  2:35 (1.48 mph)
Moving Time: 1:50  (2.09 mph)
Elevation Rise:  621'
Descent: 618‘
Maximum Elevation: 5,307' 

Steven and Gary on the road

GPS Tracks

  ¹Both elevation and mileage are substantially different between our Foretex401 and 60CSX. I have taken the elevation from Google Earth computation of the Foretex401 track and the ForeTex401 mileage.

Description:

Remnants of the Railroad Fire

Since Sherri did not get to go hiking with me last Wednesday and Steven and Korra wanted to go to the mountains, we decided to go up towards Yosemite, but not into Yosemite. There is a road off of Goat Meadow right before the Park. But first, we need to leave Fresno. This is where we ran into a little confusion. I thought we said we would leave after lunch, so I had lunch at my normal time, but others thought it was at 11:00am. We do manage to leave at 12:30.

 

 

Sherri, Gary and Korra

When we pass by the Lewis Creek parking area, the cars are stacked up and even a turnout a hundred yards back is full. The traveling is good-only one Korra stop. After we pass through Fish Camp, we encounter a line of cars-the cars to enter Yosemite. We are about two miles away from the entrance and a mile and half from Goat Meadow. Does not seem promising for either. So we turn around and head back through Fish Camp.

I know that there is a road in back of Tenaya Lodge which should allow us to have a nice walk. It is called the Big Sandy Road. The gate is closed right after the Tenaya Lodge driveway and a car is parked there. So we will have company. By the time we get parked, it is 1:45. When we start walking, we will have a lot more company.It will be a short walk while we are up here-we get started about 2pm.

 

 

Korra, the snow dog

Once we cross the gate, Sherri starts chatting with a bicyclist. Turns out he is a local and pretty knowledgeable of the local area’s history, along with much of Yosemite and its older and not traveled trails now.. Talked about a crystal cave near Mt Hoffman. Also about a mutual acquaintance-Tony Krizan. We both got ready to leave. Enjoyable exchanging trails and talking with Mark.

And now we are really off. Not sure how far we will actually go. Mark said that after the pack station, about a mile down, there is pretty solid snow. We go along and there are patches of snow and patches of dirt. Not too bad of traveling. We met a few people, but not bad. Travel is steady, even across the snowy areas. So we come to the pack station and there are croaking frogs on the other side of it. Here there is another gate, followed by a long patch of snow. We continue on. The snow slows us down a bit, but does not stop us. It is a bit harder.

Snow covered road

After a ways, we meet a group of people having lunch or a snack. We talk for a few minutes and they indicate it is nothing but snow ahead. So we go a ways further Sherri is still a bit weak from the second vaccine shot so she decides to turn around I am interested in seeing what is around the bend-so is Steven and Korra.

The sow is getting deeper and I am sinking more, making the travel a bit slower and more tiring. So what is around the bend? Why a bit more snow, not as deep and another bend. I go to the other bend. Nothing spectactual to see. So the three of us turn around and start back.

 

Close to the turn around point

For the most part, our trip back is not eventful. There is one very shallow snow field which Steven tromps across. I follow in his footsteps. But the snow collapses on both feet, setting me to tumble. I am not hurt, just now having to loosen my feet from the snow and do an old man get up.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Gary, stuck in the snow. Korra there to help

From this point on, we walk a bit faster. We catch up to the people who had a snack. They are surprised that we were able to do that. But we do not catch up to Sherri. But she was in sight of us when she reached the car. Not a road which I will constantly be walking down for a hike-there are more interesting ones. But it will be someplace to go to snowshoe.

On the way back we stop at Carl’s Jr for dinner and then on home.