Title: May 30, 2025 - Big Stump
Type: Hiking
Trail head: Big Stump Parking Lot
Trail: Big Stump Trail Loop
Destination: Loop
Distance: 1.74 milesStart Time: 10:20
End Time: 11:52
Travel Time: 1:36 (1.09 mph)
Moving Time: 1:05 (1.60 mph)
Elevation Rise: 331'
Descent: 272‘
Maximum Elevation: 6,375'
It is fire season again and I am getting up early to do my lightning report. No lightning to report, so this is easy. We are talking about hiking the Park Ridge Trail
to the Lookout. So I eat breakfast, get packed and am ready to leave by 7:45. Everybody is up as well and we take off by 8:15. Rachel is driving. But before we really hit the highway, we need to stop at Costco to fill up with gas.Now we are ready to go. The rest want to stop at Clingman Junction to get coffee. I have them drop me off at the Hume Lake Ranger District office. I found an old book about fire detection which I think Division 3 would enjoy. He is not in, but I leave the book for him. A short time later the gang pick’s me up.
The general mood is to do something lighter than Park Ridge. The Big Stump Trail loop fits that. We pull into the parking lot and start walking at 10:20.
At first, I was slightly disappointed since I really want to push myself. But once I start walking I realize that this is the right walk for me. Two weeks ago I fainted on our backpack trip and I do need to get out and make sure my body is
We have walked this trail several times, so we know it well. You can look at other blog entries for the details on the walk. Today I am just enjoying being out and walking. I can tell I am enjoying this walk not only by the lightness of my step, but that I frequently lag behind to look at something. There are not too many flowers out yet. But just the Sequoias then a dogwood. Rachel has seen a couple of birds fly by, but when i catch up to her, they are gone. In one of the pictures I notice a couple of specks which almost look like geese.
Rachel and I walk together, taking the trail through the feather bed. I go into pontification mode-Sherri’s term-talking about feather bed. Rachel is quite patient and plays the good daughter, waiting out her father’s long windedness. We rejoin Sherri and Steven at the Mark Twain tree. There we spent about 15 minutes talking with a retired couple from Arizona, comparing notes about their travels.
Then we are off again. The trail crosses highway 180 just inside the Park from the entrance station. It does a short climb before leveling off. We walked for a while, enjoying the trees and the feel of dirt under our feet. There is a branch off of the trail with a sign saying SAWED TREE. I have been there before and there is not much to see or experience. But Steven and Rachel race up the trail. Steven makes it up to the tree; Rachel decided it was not worth it. Sherri and I stayed behind.
One of the good things about walking with others is that you can talk. Sometimes the conversation lends itself to things about which gets beyond our daily woes and concerns. When you are mostly alone on a trail, this is a good place to explore the nature and need to sometimes to have times of silence and being alone. Silence is also the natural context from which we speak. As Cornelius Plangia said,
A loss of silence is as serious as a loss of memory and just as disorienting. Silence is, after all,the natural context from which we listen.
This was a short hike which ended by going under highway 180. Nobody, including myself, is interested in taking another walk down to Hitchcock Meadows. We arrived at the car at 11:50. This is good timing as it is a 35 minute drive to Bear Mountain Pizza. Sherri orders us a pizza and Steven takes us down the road. 40 minutes later, our face is full of sauce, toppings and dough. A good way to end our hike.
Steven then drives us home. For as little as we hiked, we all seem to be needing a rest this afternoon. Some of us read and some of us sleep. All are pretty content.
Feather Bed. Sequoias are a brittle wood. When they were felled, there was a tendency for them to shatter. In order to soften the fall, a trough was dug and lined with pine boughs and other materials. While the concept was good, it did not do much to prevent the splintering of thousands of tons of Sequoia landing.
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Snow Plant |
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Dogwood |
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Dogwood |
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Fern |
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Bitter Cherry |