Title: November 24. 2022 - Miami Mountain Trail
Type: Hiking
Trail head: Miami Creek OHV Area - Lone Sequoia Entrance
Trail: 21E244A, 23E244, 21E245, 4S04, and 21E243
Destination: None
Distance: 3.71 miles
Start Time: 1:20
End Time: 4:18
Travel Time: 2:57 (1.26 mph)
Moving Time: 2:13 (1.67 mph)
Elevation Rise: 523'
Maximum Elevation: 4,826'
Today is Thanksgiving. Both of our daughters and their boyfriends could not make it to be with us-or is it we could not arrange to be with them? Either way, we will miss them. But we have Steven.
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| Steven completing the Turkey Trot |
Sherri had made German pancakes which she and Steven ate-I already had eaten breakfast. We were a bit lackadaisical in getting ready to go on a hike. today. So we did not leave until just before noon. But the only effect is how long we will be able to hike as we are only going just a ways above Oakhurst. It takes a bit more than an hour to get to the trail head.
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| Start of our hike |
Miami Mountain Trail is not really a hiking trail and is different from going up to Miami Lookout.. This is an area for off road vehicles, such as motorcycles or OHV type vehicles. We are the only ones in the parking area, so we are not too concerned. There are several choices, three of them are roads, one of them is a wide trail. That is the one we take. The actual trail name is 6S244, It looks more like something which a motorcycle might use than a hiker, but the trail is only moderate in places, is wide and pretty even.
We go along and it is a pleasant walk. Some of the trail has us going through overhanging trees, giving the feeling of going through a series of arches. And then we open up into views to the south towards Miami Mountain itself. Or looking east, we can see some of the area which Nelder Grove is in. I think we see the Grandfather Tree up on a ridge.
We are glad we are walking it today when the temperature is reasonable. I think that on a summer day, even in the morning, this trail would be really warm and unpleasant.
There are several offshooting trails. One goes up to a road which we will return on. But another one would eventually take you to a campground with an intriguing name: Lone Sequoia. In several of the places which we could lookout over, I was trying to spot this tree, but was not successful-from a description of the area, it is not large, yet. After passing by this trail, we head up to a road which has been parrelling us. While most of the trail has been moderate at worse, this little segment is pretty steep, but doable.
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| Possible Grandfather Tree |
Shortly after getting on the road, three off-road vehicles come by us-they are courteous, not raising a whole bunch of dust and acknowledging our presence. A short distance later, Steven finds a place to sit down and eat.
As we finish lunch, our OHV’s
pass by again. We are then off, going further down the road. When we
round a corner, I lookup and see a picket fence. A hiking friend of
ours had told me about a cemetery around here several years ago. I
believe I found the Westfall
Burial Grounds.
Looks like there are two men buried here: John Ruffin O’Neal and
John LaTouche.Evidently they both got killed, at different times,
when trees fell on them. See the Sierra
News Online
article by Candace Gregory for a fuller writeup.
Miami Mountain Lookout
And on we went. We come to a
sheltered spot with snow around the road and a bit of icy, packed
snow on the road. Korra is in her element now. We continue on in awe
of what we see of the Autumn coloring interspersed with the greens of
the conifer forest. It is getting close to 3pm and we hear the sound
of an alert dog. Soon we came to the part of the road which runs
through private property. We could go on, but the time says we should
turn back so we are not walking in the dark.
Sherri at lunch with Korra
Much of the road looks about the same. But there are a few things which I observe a bit more. One of them being Silver Knob. There has been a time or two I have heard this on the lookout radio and now it is here on the other side of the creek. It is an interesting looking mound, but not particularly beautiful. I am glad to have gotten a decent photo of it.
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| Autumn Leaves |
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| Gary walking through mud |
We decided to take the road all the way back in rather than backtrack down the trail. The road is a bit smoother and gentler than the trail, so it meets our Thanksgiving stroll criteria. A couple of vehicles, regular vehicles, pass us by. We get opportunities to look down into the Miami Creek drainage. Lots of trees, a pleasant afternoon view. When we get closer to Highway 41, we start to hear the traffic, But before we hit it, we go down a motorcycle trail. Evidently it is well used and it is pretty muddy. Snow covers parts of it and where the snow has melted, there are pools of water. We get down OK to the car.
I drive back to Fresno, stopping in Oakhurst at Carl’s Jr, our favorite go to spot when we do not know where else to eat at. And then it is back to Fresno. We get home in time to shower and watch Jeopardy.
Extra Photo's
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| Sherri hiking through mud |
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| Sherri on the road |
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| Korra and her snow |
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| Autumn Leaves |
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| Autumn Leaves |
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| Gary coming down from Westfall Burial Grounds |
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| Log crossing, Sherri style |
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| Korra being cool, waiting for us |
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| On the trail through the trees |
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| Steven at start of run |
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| Autumn Leaves and Steven |
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| Looking southeast |
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| Forest and result of a fire |
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| Silver Knob |
Looks like a great hike. I took a picture of the particulars and will save this for a later meetup hike.
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