Hike Info:
Type: Hiking
Trail head: Wawona Visitor Center Parking Lot
Trail: Chowchilla Mountain Road, Four Mile Road, Part of the Bills Hill Trail, Wawona Meadow Loop
Destination: Loop
Distance: 6.45 miles
Start Time: 12:17
End Time: 4:47
Travel Time: 4:30 (1.43 mph)
Moving Time: 3:47 (1.71 mph)
Elevation Rise: 1,121'
Descent: 1,102‘
Maximum Elevation: 4,839'
GPS Tracks
Description:
I got up at 5:30. Today we are
going to do a hike up at Wawona.
Unlike a
couple of weeks ago,
we will be doing an extended loop around Wawaona Meadows. But first,
I have a 9:00am appointment with my dental hygienists. I worked on my
book blog-we are having the author of Consummation
for my Book Group Thursday and I need to be prepared for it. The
hygienist visit went well. I think this was the first time ever that
I was told I am doing well with my flossing.
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| Fall Colors |
At 12:15 we started walking up
the
Chowchilla Mountain Road,
but only about ¾ of a mile up. Tthis part of the trip is where we
gain most of the elevation. It is huff and puff time for my part. We
did not go on the first junction, but the second junction to the Four
Mile Road. This second one is a bit overgrown from disuse. Maybe it
would have been better to have taken the first junction.
One of the things which I like
walking the Four Mile Road happens right at the apex of the triangle
between the three roads. There is a tree which stands right in the
center of the two roads. In the Autumn, this whole section is covered
with leaves, forming a carpet of brown for us to walk on. The trail
now does a series of undulations as it climbs its way across Mt
Savage-you
have to go either cross-country or find a use trail to go to the top.
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| The Poseiden Tree |
As we walk along the Four Mile
Road-not the Four Mile Trail, it gives us a chance to talk. The
subject of meditation is brought up. Particularly when walking or
hiking. We discuss the various aspects of being able to meditate.
There seems to be an element of calming your physical body or at
least getting in a rhythm where you do not have to think about what
the body will do. But there is also an element of letting your mind
rest. Silence is part of this. When walking alone, you only get the
sounds of nature-the birds, the wind, the crunching of your feet
against the ground and sometimes the little trickle of water running
down a hillside. These work to calm and help you to focus your mind
on the subject of your meditation. In a Christian it is God. In the
outdoors, I usually think about God, the Creator and the God who
loves me.
Eventually we decide we want
to stop and have a bite to eat as it is around 1:40. We spot a nice
log about 15 feet above us and we scramble to it. It is a nice log
just to set and eat at. I do notice there are some fungi growing
under the log.
About ten minutes later, we
came to the trail junction down to Wawona Meadow. Something has
changed-there is a sign. The first time we walked this, there was a
barely noticeable indentation in the mountain misery to guide us
where the trail was. Over the years, a bit of flagging was added to a
metal pole. Now, the whole world knows where to turn. What fun is
that?
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| Going down Bills Hill Trail |
This is a little used trail
which I think is part of the Bills Hill Trail. I think it is one of
the more enjoyable trails in the Wawona area. We see very few people
on it-today the number is less than one. It takes you down from the
Four Mile Road to Wawona Meadow. There has been trail work down on it
as the downed trees which we used to crawl over have been sawed
recently. I have never gone up it, but I think it would tax a person
who is in shape, which I am not. But coming down, we see all sorts of
trees and brush. Towards the bottom we run into the power lines which
come into Wawona. And then there is the service road which goes up to
the lower poles. The trail repeatedly crosses this road-you can take
the shorter route, but the road is steep.
When we come out on the Wawona
Meadow Loop, we find the log which we rested on a couple of weeks ago
and eat an energy bar. I give Sherri and Rachel a choice: continue on
the Bills Hill Trail up to the top of the ridge to the east of the
Meadow, or follow the Loop trail around the rest of the meadow. The
choice is to do the Loop Trail. That probably is wise.
Walking the Wawona Meadow Loop
trail is comparatively faster than going up either of the roads.
Still we found plenty of occasions to stop and take pictures while
enjoying the company of each other.
 |
| Gary |
The Meadow has some very
historical aspects to it. Such as tucked away in some trees is the
site of Galen Clark’s Inn. Or there was once a landing strip in the
meadow. Or there were orchards to supply fresh fruit for guests. It
is the last item which has a bearing. The Washburns ran a flume from
the South
Fork of the Merced
over to the Meadow. You can still see the flume and where it drained
onto the meadow. It has been one of my fascinations to walk the bank
of the flume on the over side of Highway 41 around until we are above
the hotel. So endeavored to do that. Rachel decides this type of
adventuring is not for her and retreats back to the trail. I think
Sherri is doing the same thing.
 |
| Walking the Flume is Blocked |
I try to walk the flume. It
has gotten a lot more overgrown since I last walked it before the
Pandemic. I detour around part of it. Then bushwack through other
parts until I reach a solid wall of young pines. I know when I have
been beaten and descend down a steep slope to the trail. I eventually
come across Rachel waiting patiently on a log for me. I asked her,
“Where is your mother?” “She is following you.” Oh Oh. So we
took off looking for her. We were yelling her name and then we heard
a response, and then had visual of Sherri. I need to back up a bit.
Sherri is coming down the area which I did. When I came through, I
noticed a telephone line just about 4½’ off the ground. Since I
was lumbering along, I ducked under it. Sherri on the other hand
makes a bee line straight for Rachel, not stopping for the line in
her path and gets clotheslined,
just like in the cartoons. If I was more sensitive, my first response
would have been to run over and see if she is OK. But from the way
Rachel and I are laughing, you would think this was the funniest
thing to have ever happened on earth. After we stoped laughing, we
checked on Sherri’s well-being-nothing damaged except for her ego.
Even with this mishap, we are
only a short walk back to our car. We get back as the skies are
darkening, as this time of year that would be 4:45. Rachel takes up
the driving responsibilities. We decided that we wanted to eat
before reaching Fresno. I suggested Mexican, to which there were no
objections. We decided we wanted to eat at our new restaurant-at
least new to us-Los
2 Carnales.
We get home at 7, just in time
for watching Jeopardy.
Rachel watches it with us. At the end, she goes home and I go to the
shower.
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| Wawona Meadow |
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| Four Mile Road |
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| Tree roots by the road side |
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| Four Mile Road covered with pine needles |
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| Autumn Colors |
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| Rachel and Gary on the Four Mile Road |
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| Red Leaf |
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| Sherri and Rachel walking the Bills Hill Trail |
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| Rachel and Sherri walking the Bills Hill Trail |
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| Rachel consulting Mr Garmin |
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| Light and Tree |
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| Christmas tree |
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| Walking the Flume-what was bushwacked through |
Flowers and Plants
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| Phlox |
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| PuffBall |
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| PuffBall |
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| Shelf Fungus |
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| Mushroom |
