Gary-Summer: September 8, 2023

Friday, September 8, 2023

September 8, 2023 - Big Baldy

Title: September 8, 2023 - Big Baldy
Hike Info : Description : Extra Photo's : Animals : Flowers and Plants

Hike Info:

Type: Hiking

Trail head: General’s Highway

Trail: Big Baldy Trail

Destination: Big Baldy

Distance: 4.50 miles

Start Time: 8:22

End Time: 12:09

Travel Time: 3:47 (1.19 mph)

Moving Time: 2:47 (1.62 mph)

Elevation Rise: 1,225'

Descent: 1,064‘

Maximum Elevation: 8,215'

GPS Tracks

Description:

I had realized a day or so before that I had not been hiking since we came back from Oregon. When I asked Sherri about going for a hike, she said that she was too busy and that I should go. So I thought about where would be a good, short hike and Big Baldy came to mind. Maybe because all of last weekend I was looking at it.

Trailhead warning of burnt trees

I got up at 5am with the idea that I could be on the road by 6. I had breakfast, did my lightning report, and got ready to go-my day pack had already been packed. So the only thing I had to do was grab my pack, and then my boots and poles from the car. I was taking the Ranger instead of the Highlander-Sherri can have the more comfortable drive, but I get the stick shift. Finding the boots was easy, but where are my poles? I could not find them So I took my old poles, the ones Sherri uses to snowshoe with and got on the road at 6:15.

I had a brief stop at Big Stump at 7:25, then got held up in construction on the General’s Highway. But I still got to the trailhead by about 8. It should not be to long to get my boots on and hit the trail. But I did not start walking until 8:25. How come?

Burnt Trees

There was a Jeep parked at the trailhead. The other guy was texting something and about the time I got ready and was locking up the truck he finished and said that the cell tower kept dropping. I noted that Park Ridge had a cell tower. He knew about it. Why? Because he had been a lookout at Park Ridge for 9 years, overlapping with Mattie Sims, the legendary lookout of Park RIdge. We talked for awhile. and then he went off to hike Weaver Lake and then climb Shell Mountain. That seems much more strenuous than my Big Baldy hike.

With that in mind, I start my walk. While I am huffing and puffing pretty good, I still am moving at a reasonable pace.The trail is one of my standard ones. It consists of following a ridge line. Sometimes the trail makers have us going up and over the hills on the ridge; other times we go on the side of a hill. At one point I texted Sherri a picture saying I am almost there, which surprised me. But that “almost” is more like half way. Even though I see the end, there is still ¾’s of a mile to go and at least half of the ascent to climb. I am the only one on the trail so I enjoy the solitude.

Big Baldy Benchmark

At 10 sharp, I stand on top of the Big Baldy benchmark. I have arrived. I give Sherri a call and we chat for a few minutes. I figure I would take in the view and enjoy my time up here. It has been two years since I have been up here. The view has changed, particularly to the north. Instead of seeing the majesty of Sequoias in Redwood Canyon or gracing the sides of Redwood Mountain, I am seeing devastation. The trees look like burnt matchsticks. The Sequoias are still recognizable, but only as being the tall skeletons sticking about the rest of the devastation. Sadness at the loss of such magnificence.

As I stand up to take a few pictures before I leave, a couple from Michigan come up. They ask me where Kings Canyon is from here. I, being a tour guide at heart, point out the general course of the Kings River and where the canyon starts and many of the peaks along the way. Also I suggest they visit Buck Rock to see higher up into the backcountry of the Sierra. We talk about their travels-they wanted to go to Death Valley on this trip, but it is closed after Hilary came through-the storm, not the person. So they had gone up the coast and hit the Pinnacles and now they are here. Apparently I have them snookered as he states that I seem to be pretty knowledgeable. He then asks about Sequoias. I show them what the KNP Complex did to our trees and where they grow in California. Then progressed to talk about the Coastal Redwoods as well as China’s Dawn Redwoods. I guess that will teach them to ask questions 🙂

Buck Rock Lookout

And now I start on my way back. It is a lot easier and faster going down. I do spend more time looking at the burnt husks of trees. This ridge was one of the edges of the fire. I think the firefighters were trying to stop it from spilling over this ridge and going down into the Montecito Sequoia Lodge area. Along the way, I met three people from England who were getting used to breathing at 8,000’. Interesting to hear their accents. There were now several groups of people going up the trail. Some which looked like they could run up the trail and others looked like they would struggle. Just glad all are out and glad I got to spend time alone at the top.

One of the groups, a couple of middle aged women, had just climbed a fallen tree, about four feet in diameter. They gently asked, in my words not theirs, if an old man wanted assistance to get back over the tree. I smile at this now as I must have been looking particularly hobbled, but I did decline their offer. It does say something about them that they would offer to help.

I got back to the truck at 12:10. I ate lunch on my tailgate before heading out. The construction was still there, holding me up for 20 minutes. I got home about 2:00pm, finding it was vacant. Sherri was out with a friend to find clothes to wear for an event. So I was able to clean up before she got back and make myself presentable.