Gary-Summer: December 18, 2021 - Snowshoeing Princess Campground, Indian Basin Grove Trail

Saturday, December 18, 2021

December 18, 2021 - Snowshoeing Princess Campground, Indian Basin Grove Trail

Title: December 18, 2021 - Snowshoeing Princess Campground, Indian Basin Grove Trail
Hike Info : Description : Extra Photo's

Hike Info:

Type: Snowshowing
Trail head: Entrance to Princess Campground
Trail: Indian Basin Grove Trail
Destination: Loop
Distance: 1.65 miles ¹

Start Time: After 1pm
End Time: Before 4pm
Elevation Rise: 226'
Descent: 226‘
Maximum Elevation: 5,947'
GPS Tracks

¹My GPS recorded, but not the tracks. The above is from a guess on our travels with Google Earth.
It really did seem further. And maybe it was as various guides put the trail as being 1.4 or 1.5 miles
(one says 2 miles), and this is from the trailhead and not the road like we did.

Description:

Korra and the camp gate

I woke up early, really early, like 5:45. This was not planned for. But it still allowed me to get various things ready and made for a relaxed morning. We were not going to leave early as Kings Canyon NP was reporting snow and ice on the roads. I would like to give the ice a bit of a chance to melt before we get there.

Sherri, Steven and Gary at lunch

A little after 11, Steven, Korra, Sherri and I piled into the car and we started on our journey. In the Central Valley, we have a thick layer of low lying clouds blocking the sun. The temperature is in the low 40’s and probably not going to get much higher. But when passing through Dunlap, we break through the clouds into the bright sunlight. At one point the car’s thermometer says it is 50 degrees. Seems like it will be a good day.

The Indian Basin Grove Trail

The road has only small patches of snow on it, so we can have a pretty good time. We get to the closed entrance to Princess Campground. We park here. By the time we got all ready-Korra was ready from the moment we stopped, it was a little after 1. The first part of our trip is down the snow covered entrance road and then the road to the trailhead.

Bridge over an unnamed creek

By this time, it is 1:30. We should have had lunch. There are some picnic tables, albeit, covered with snow. Steven clears off the bench part and we cover them with rain jackets and sit for lunch.

The paved part of the path-it is covered by snow-leads out from our lunch spot. It is easy to follow. I comment that I can read the snow better than I can the canyon washes of Death Valley. Indian Basin Grove Trail is a pretty easy walk. Mostly flat with some easy grades. That is good as this is our first time out this season. Even walking in got us breathing pretty good. The snow is starting to be a bit crusty. Sometimes we walk on top, but mostly we break through. During this part I am breaking snow. The top crusts break apart and have jagged,m hard edges which scrape against my legs, sometimes on the verge of tripping me.On the other hand, Korra is in her element. She bounds around, leaping up the trail, snooping at the base of trees, most of the time floating on top of the crusty snow; other times sinking to her belly. If dogs could smile, I would say she had a wide grin.

Steam and sawed Sequoias

Still the scenery is fabulous. During the summertime, there is this long, wide meadow with Indian Creek running through it. But now with snow, it is a flat blanket of white. But beyond this, in between trees we can see a few mountains on both sides of the Kings. Just spectacular. Also the Indian Basin Grove Trail is an interpretive trail. There are signs every so often which explain various facets of the area. Most of the signs are covered with snow, but we wipe away this covering to read about the flora and fauna of the area. This includes the Sequoias which used to be numerous in the area, but now are stumps. One sign points out some young Sequoias, about a hundred years old. Two signs which draw our attention are about Converse and Hoist.

Aspen in the meadow

Another sign talks about having a cabin at the edge of the meadow and the view they had. Of course, the sign only talks about the now. I suspect that in the person’s day, there would have been logged activity right in front of them. They may not have admired the sight, but more computed how many more logs they had to cut to make a profit.

Steven

Korra

We briefly lose the trail, not because of being lost, but see one of the numerous benches along the way. Evidently the trail curled around the low lying ridge we are on. This is our signal to start heading back. Steven is once again breaking snow. We shortly come up to a forest service gate and wonder, where did we lose “our” trail? It almost looks like a road now. Checking the Forest Service map, there is no road here. So we backtrack about 50 yards and see where the trail goes off.

The rest of the trail back to the trailhead is in the shade of a pretty forested area. A few “young” Sequoias, but mostly pines, cedars and some broadleaf. There is a sign which describes the change of environs from the time when the area was lumbered till now. Someplace in this section, we cut another corner, but rejoined the trail a couple hundred yards from the trailhead.

Once back at the trailhead, our route back is much easier-no breaking snow, just follow our tracks in. Korra must have had one too many times on the coarse top snow as we see dabs of blood in her tracks. But she does not seem to care. But she is getting a bit tired, aren’t we all?

We got back to the car a bit before 4pm. Some kids are playing on sleds. As we pack up, so do they. Evidently they had gone into the meadow and one of the kids fell into Indian Creek. Wet, cold with a bit of embarrassment, but no damage. When we leave, Steven notices something flying off the car-my gloves. We go back and retrieve them. Steven drives us home.But, we stop briefly at the McGee Overlook-there is a blanket of clouds below us in the valley.We decided to have burgers from Habit close to us. A bit tired, but glad for the day. I think Indian Basin Grove Trail will be put on my list of snowshoeing trails.

Extra Photo's