Hike Info : Description : Extra Photo's : Animals : Flowers and Plants
1I did not turn on my GPS. I discovered this a good way through our walk. Sometimes it is good to be free of that burden.
I woke up at daybreak this morning. Sherri is just returning from a trip to the little girl’s room. And I go off to make my own trip. Then I go and observe the meadow in the morning. Having seen yesterday’s meadow picture, you can understand how radiant it can be when the new sun shines through it.
Today
is the last day of our trip. It is always a bitter-sweat time, no
matter how long or short the trip is. There are regrets in leaving a
place which I enjoy; doing stuff I like doing. But there is also the
call of home, with its comforts and showers and routines well known
which I find contentment in. In this case, it is the continued work
of tearing out the front lawn and putting a front which is more water
efficient.
Gary after retrieving backpack
As we get ready to leave, we have already talked about returning and other trips. But will we make that effort? I hope so. Our last breakfast is oatmeal. By 10:20, we have broken camp and are heading towards Grant Grove.
The General Grant Tree Parking Lot is a short distance away, so we have our boots on the ground by 10:50 and walk the North Boundary Trail Loop. About a hundred yards onto the trail I realized something-I forgot my pack. So I go back while Sherri continues up the trail. Later on I discovered I did not turn on the GPS either. I guess it will be one of those days.
We
take the less traveled way to begin our trek. There is a small,
unnamed creek which goes east from the parking lot. We follow that
for a short way, then cut over to the General Grant Tree. Beyond the
General Grant Tree is the Gamblin Cabin and there is the short
connector trail to the North Boundary Loop.
Sherri among the Sequoia
We
go counter-clockwise and meet the first obstacle: a fallen tree
across our path. But it has a slight break which allows us through
it. We see parts of the upper pieces of the Grant Tree. But what
amazes us even more is about a 30’ section of trail just littered
with Sequoia cones. We have seen many Sequoia cones, but never so
many in one place and so green, like they just dropped.
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| Beginning of Autumn |
The day is warming up and I can tell I am not moving very fast, but neither is Sherri. Guess that makes us a good pair for this hike. We get to the junction which goes to the horse corral and then head more northwest to the edge of the Park. This climbs a ridge which overlooks Abbott Creek. By this time, it is noon and I use the excuse of waiting for Sherri to stop and rest for about 20 minutes, looking up at the clouds passing overhead. Poor Sherri only gets 17 minutes.
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| Matchstick Tree |
Then coming down the ridge, we descend into a sea of green brush-where the land is recovering from the fire. In the midst of green, there are a few flames of red showing that Fall is right around the corner.
There is one more ridge to climb. And when we reach the top of this ridge, we keep with tradition: we have our lunch break. From our vantage point, we can look down onto the paved trail which goes to the General Grant Tree. So we know our path is coming close to an end. We, or maybe it is I, who decide, let's not do the North Grove loop. We do complete the North Boundary Loop, going through the Grove, back to our car.
By this time, it is 2:30 when we get the car going. We reach our home in Fresno around 3:40 and unpack. I am tired, but good. A shower always feels good after a trip like this. When Steven gets off of work, we send him out to the Doghouse Grill for dinner.
Extra Photo's
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| Early Morning at Indian Basin |
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| Unknown Sequoia |
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| Gary chugging up the trail |
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| Looking up at the young trees touching the clouds |
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| Brush growing up after Rough Fire |
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| Delilah Lookout |
Animals
Flowers and Plants
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