Gary-Summer: January 23, 2025

Title: January 23, 2025 - Miami Mountain
Hike Info : Description : Background : Extra Photo's Flowers and Plants

Hike Info:

Type: Hiking

Trail head: Miami Mountain Road

Trail: Miami Mountain Road

Destination: Miami Mountain Lookout

Distance: 4.24 miles

Start Time: 11:25

End Time: 2:53

Travel Time: 3:27 (1.23 mph)

Moving Time: 2:21 (1.80 mph)

Elevation Rise: 1,013'

Descent: 1,047‘

Maximum Elevation: 4,332'

GPS Tracks

Description:

I am a bit miffed. I was interested in leaving the house earlier, such as close to 8, even though I was not ready to leave then. Sherri was thinking closer to 10. We actually do leave at 10 with me driving. We get to Miami Mountain Road about 11:10. We could have been there sooner in that there was something going on the road which caused a long line of cars to back up. It is only a delay, not threatening.

To get to Miami Mountain Road, you go up Highway 49, passing Nipinnawasee and going over a saddle. Immediately upon descending, there is a little road, hidden, on the south side, left, of the road-you blink and you will miss it. We go up a few hundred yards and there is a split. This is where you park.

Smoke we spotted

We hit the road, because our way is the Miami Mountain Road. There is a sign saying this road is not recommended for automobiles. I think this is generally true. At least with our Highlander, we have good clearance, built in places, if the gates are unlocked, it would take some pretty deft navigating to drive to the top. But we are walking this, so we do not care.

Sherri and the Lookout

I remember this road giving at least a quarter mile grace before rising. Either the road has changed or my memory is faulty. there is no grace and we start climbing almost immediately. We get to a Y and head to the left and continue to climb.

It is a warm day in the 60’s, unlike in Fresno where it was mid-30’s. So I am hiking in my T-shirt. My big decision for the day is do I take off my pants legs? No, at least not now.

We continue going up. I do not poop out like I did on Bishop last week, but Sherri is definitely doing better than I am. I am going to make it, but I will be doing it slowly.

Gary almost to the top

And I have some excuses to stop and gawk. As we look down towards Nipinnawasee and Ahwahnee, we see several columns of smoke. Besides just practicing our skills in detecting smoke, we pretty much ignore them. As we approach the southern part of the road, I look over, almost due east of us and see in the distance what looks like a pretty hefty smoke way in the distance. A bit later when I caught up with Sherri, I pointed out this smoke. It looks more like something of significance.

Miami's Shower

The road rounds back and heads north. We are now on the west side of the ridge and in the shade, for the most part. While not terribly cool, we come across some white stuff in the middle of the road. On our return trip, I examined this white stuff a bit closer-it is white, cool to the touch and melts. Sounds like frost to me. That is on the way back. Going up, though, I just want to make it up to the top.

Frost on the road

And we are close to the top. One final turn and the lookout is in sight. The road up to it is about 100 yards long. From the top, we can still see the smoke to the east-now it is more like southeast. I decided to call Sierra Dispatch, which I do. I give a description which I am not sure is really good. But I do give a description of the smoke, the azimuth-149 degrees from Miami Lookout. But I do not have maps of the area, so that is the best I can do.

The road goes ever onward

We had our lunch and rested. We picked the shaded side of the Lookout. When we left, we noticed a couple of things. First, the Lookout has been inspected last year and is in need of some work, mostly corrosion issues. Would I want to climb those stairs and work here? But it does have an added bonus, which I had not seen before-a shower! With what looks like both cold and hot water! None of our lookouts have this.

We took off about 1:30. It is a lot easier going down than it was coming up-well duh! While Sherri showed more strength coming up, I moved faster coming down. It seems a lot faster coming back, but the time difference is only about 15 minutes. When we approach our car, I see a cherry picker bucket parked close by. The man from ArborWorks and I talked for a few minutes, before we got into our car.

We managed to leave about 3:15 with me driving. We get back to Fresno and run into traffic. So we do not get to our house until 4:45.