Gary-Summer: February 7, 2023 -North Boundary

Tuesday, February 7, 2023

February 7, 2023 -North Boundary

Title: February 7, 2023 -North Boundary

Hike Info : Description : Extra Photo's

Hike Info:

Type: Snowshoeing

Trail head: Highway 180

Trail: North Boundary Trail

Destination: Go up the trail as far as we feel like

Actual Destination: Abbott Creek

Distance: 1.47 miles

Start Time: 1:28

End Time: 3:23

Travel Time: 1.54 (0.78 mph)

Moving Time: 1:20 (1.10 mph)

Elevation Rise: 349'

Descent: 339‘

Maximum Elevation: 6,949'

GPS Tracks

Description:

Sherri-first time on new shoes

Today we had scheduled a day up in Yosemite to take a friend who wants to see the Valley in Winter. But it looks like he has a conflict. So Sherri and I have decided to go to the Grant Grove area instead. We leave about 11:30 and get to the parking area by 1:00. On the way I ask the entry station about getting to Big Meadow. He does not know how long it will be closed, but he thinks it will be a couple weeks still-the area north of Ash Mountain is still a mess.

We eat lunch and do not get started with our snowshoe walk until 1:30. Sherri is on her new snowshoes. After observing my shoes, she got the same model, MSR’s Lightning Trail. We will see how she likes them after our time out today.

Unbroken snow-our trail

The first obstacle on our walk comes up quickly. The snowplow has thrown up a lot of snow, making it hard to get going. But we do. There is not much in the way of tracks. But I can follow the trail well enough. There is a telltale indention in the snow. Later on the indention will turn into more of a wide shelf which I am able to follow well enough.

Sherri climbing

Also the trail goes up pretty steeply. I am feeling pretty good about how I am going up this. The snow is pretty much settled, so even with my weight, I do not sink down more than an inch in most spots. I guess when the last storm came through last weekend, this area did not get much snow. Sherri is going up a bit more slowly, but she is going up and that is what counts.

We come to one of the forks in the trail. The lower one goes off and eventually meets up with the road up to Panoramic Point. We choose the higher one and continue our progression up. There are lots of downed trees. Most of them are pretty well buried. But there are a few which offer a bit more of a challenge. But we conquer. They only slow our progress.

But what stops our progress is a small tributary of Abbott Creek. There is not much water, but there is a moderate amount of difficulty climbing the far side of the rivelet. We stop, take some pictures, admire the beauty and decide that we did not want to put forth the effort. Besides, we could only go on for another 40 minutes-I had set a 3:00pm turnaround time.

Abbott Creek

Side trail

Going back down the trail is both faster and easier. When we got back to the junction, we decided to take the other way. The path is a bit harder to follow. But the good thing is that we are on snowshoes. The worst which happens is we follow our tracks back. But evidently I am following the clues right and the path is before us. But after a little ways, so is that tributary of Abbott Creek.This time instead of one side being sheer, both sides are, something like around 4-5’ on each side. Reminder to Gary-pack a small snow shovel. I think we could have gotten over Abbotts by digging steps.

And so we backtrack to the main trail. And now we head back to the car. Not really anything noteworthy, except I notice a few footprints in the snow. Evidently someone had been up a few yards after us. We got back to the car a little before 3:30.

And then back to Fresno. There was a boulder in our lane. When we get cell reception, we call it in to the CHP. We get back home a little before 5. Steven goes out and gets us a Habit burger which gets eaten during the State of the Union address. After all of this, I am a bit tired and ready for my 10pm bedtime.