June 13, 2025 - Park Ridge Trail

 

Title:  June 13, 2025 - Park Ridge Trail
Hike Info : Description : Animals : Flowers and Plants

Hike Info:

Type: Hiking

Trail head: Panoramic Point

Trail: Park Ridge

Destination: Park Ridge Lookout

Actual Destination: Saddle about a mile before the lookout

Distance:  3.24 miles

Start Time: 1:09

End Time:  4:08

Travel Time: 2:59  (1.09 mph)

Moving Time:  1:46  (1.83 mph)

Elevation Rise:  605'

Descent: 595‘

Maximum Elevation: 7,720'

GPS Tracks

Description:

A month ago I fainted. I was hoping to be able to stress myself during this time just to see if my body reacted or came close to reacting the same way to the stress. Unfortunately, today is the first time I have had the opportunity to do so. A couple of weeks ago we went to Big Stump for a short walk which showed I could at least hike OK.

We have a few things we want to do before we go up to Panoramic Point and start our walk. I do my lightning stuff, take Friday for a walk, and spend time weeding. Sherri works around the house and does some trimming of the lavender out in front. By 10:30, we have done the needed chores and we get ready to go. We leave our house about 11:15 with Sherri driving.

She drives all the way up, including the narrow road up to Pan Pt. This may be the first time she has driven it and I am happy that she is doing it. She parks the car and we find a log in the shade and have our lunch. As I wait for Sherri to return from the bathroom, I talk with a couple who;we license plate holder says Drink Coffee. Read a Book. Be Happy. I comment on it and we talk for a while. They used to live in Coarsegold and now are in Ventura. It is their first time in Kings Canyon and are wondering about some easy hikes. I give them the Indian Basin Grove Interpretive Trail. I guess I cannot help being a tour guide.

We start our own hike at 1:10. We have walked this trail so many times, you can see the description on my other blog entries. What seems different today is how I am affected by both the altitude, about 7300’, and the uphill. I am glad when we reach the bench at Pan Point where we can enjoy the view. Many of the peaks we know, such Mt Goddard or Spanish Mountain. What catches our attention is Buck Rock. I think our friend Kathy is there, but we do not see her-she would look smaller than an ant from this distance.

Now we start on the Park Ridge Trail. As we go up this trail, I can feel that I have not been at altitude enough and feel the lack of oxygen in the body. But then there is the thing that my body has not done much uphill and it shows. I stop and take pictures of flowers and butterflies. And also a few of the scenery. Anything to give my body a rest.

Fortunately, not all of the trail is uphill. As we head to the saddle, the trail goes on a long downhill. I do much better on this stretch. I would really hope that I would do better. Sherri has noticed that I do not have a bounce in my step.

When we get to the saddle, we find that our favorite logs have been moved around and are in the sun. But there is a stump which will suit our needs. We have our lunch and sit for a while, a long while. We have decided that we are turning around here instead of going on to Park Ridge Lookout. 

 

As we are thinking about doing our return trip. A mom and her adult son came up the Azalea trail. They look like they are wondering what to do now. I, being every so helpful, tell them about how far away the lookout is. We talk about and find out that they are from England-that part was obvious. They give us some recommendations for our July trip to Ireland. They suggested the Guinness Factory Tour, the Blarney Stone and Castle, and the Ireland Eye.

They take off and so do we. We take the service road back. There is more uphill than what I remember. But this is gradual and I do not feel like I am struggling. The road can be a bit exposed, but today it is good for our strolling pace. We got back to the car about 4:10.

Once we get settled into the car, Sherri allows me to drive down to Grant Grove Village. We have decided to have dinner at DNC before going back to Fresno. It is a good choice. DNC is practically empty, so we get served pretty fast. Which means that Sherri gets us to Fresno about 6pm.

I cannot say that it was a good hike, but it was a hike that I am glad we did, if for no other reason than to let me know what kind of status my body is in

Animals

Tiger Swallowtail

 
Flowers and Plants

Buck Brush

Philox

Indian Paintbrush

May 30, 2025 - Big Stump

 

Title: May 30, 2025 - Big Stump

Hike Info : Description : Background :Flowers and Plants

Hike Info:

Type: Hiking

Trail head: Big Stump Parking Lot

Trail: Big Stump Trail Loop

Destination:  Loop

Distance:  1.74 miles

Start 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'

GPS Tracks

Description:

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.

 

 

Background

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.

 

Flowers and Plants

Snow Plant

Dogwood

Dogwood

Fern

Bitter Cherry

May 16, 2025 - Yosemite Backpack

 

Title: May 16, 2025 - Yosemite Backpack
Hike Info : Description : Menu : Extra Photo's : Animals

Hike Info:

Type: Backpacking

Trail head: Bridalveil Creek

Trail: McGurk Meadow Trail, Pohono

Destination: McGurk Meadow Trailhead

Distance:  2.01 miles 

Start Time: 10:47

End Time:   12:33

Travel Time: 1:45  (1.15 mph)

Moving Time:  1:13  (1.65 mph)

Elevation Rise:  539'

Descent: 221‘

Maximum Elevation: 7,087'

GPS Tracks

 

 

 

 

Description:

Bridalveil Creek

I woke up at 5:50 and must have fallen asleep again as I really got out of the sleeping bag at 8. It being pretty cold outside could have also been a factor. I took a walk down to Bridalveil Creek. I enjoy a time just watching the water rush by me like lemmings ready to go over the Valley rim. Somehow the picture of lemmings is not right because the water seems joyful in its travels.

It is Steven's birthday. I am glad he chose to go backpacking with Rachel and I. We have our Oatmeal breakfast, is this really a birthday breakfast? We talked about plans for today. Obviously we are walking out today. Originally I was going to give Rachel and Steven the option of walking to Glacier Pt and I get the car. But for obvious reasons, that will not happen. Also, there is a spring with a great overlook of the Valley about a mile and of half east on the Pohono trail. Or just go back to the car. We decided to just go back.

 

 

 

 

Our camp deer

Rachel sees something off in the distance. Turns out it is a deer-maybe a year old. It moves cautiously closer to us and we just watch it while it watches us. Something startles it and it scampers away. But a few minutes later it brings back some friends-three of them.While they never came through camp, they did get near. Great entertainment for us.

But then we do not need to get an early start, so we leave at 10:45. I have almost all of the pack I came in on-both Rachel and Steven were willing to take some of my load considering yesterday. They already have the food and our tent. The first quarter mile is a steep climb up to the junction. I am already huffing and puffing. Fortunately, the rest of the trail is more of a gradual up. We still have the snow patches and logs to contend with. This just gives an excuse to catch my breath. This definitely a leisurely walk.

 

 

 

Crossing a snow patch

 We get to the car about 12:30. Steven drives us to Washburn Point. There we do the appropriate oohs and ahs of the country. I tell Rachel about what we are seeing. I notice somebody listening in, so I told about the Indian legend concerning the creation of Half, North and Basket Domes.

We decide that we are ready to go home. When we reached Oakhurst, we decided to try a new place to eat at: Los 2 Carnales. As it turned out this was a good move. Rachel and I shared a chilli relleno burrito while Steven had a steak fajita. I think we will add this place to our list of eating establishments. While there I give Sherri a call about what happened yesterday.

Then Rachel drives us back to Fresno. When we get into a stable cell service area, I give Kaiser a call to talk about what to do. Just as we cross the river, Kaiser recommends going to ER to get checked out. Rachel comes in with me while Steven takes the Highlander back home and fills in Sherri.

Kaiser runs all kinds of tests on me. Most of them show I am good. There is some concern about a protein which may indicate a heart attack may be coming. So I get admitted for observation overnight. The next day I have a stress test and ECG. Eventually they come out showing that the heart does not have an issue. I get released Saturday afternoon. 

 

You know I said that it was good we stopped in Oakhurst to eat? With everything else, I did not get to eat until close to noon Saturday. Also when I got home, it really felt good to have a shower.

Menu

Breakfast	Lunch	Dinner	Snacks
Oatmeal and add-ins	Los 2 Carnales		Jelly Belly

Extra Photo's

Steven at Washburn Point

View from Washburn Point

Another snow patch crossing

The backcountry with Nevada and Vernal Falls

Animals

May 15, 2025 - Yosemite Backpack

 

Title: May 15, 2025 - Yosemite Backpack

Hike Info : Description : Trail Lessons :  Menu : Extra Photo's :  Flowers and Plants

Hike Info:

Type: Backpacking 

Trail head: McGurk Meadow Trailhead

Trail: McGurk Meadow, Pohono Trail

Destination: Bridalveil Creek

Distance:  2.12 miles

Start Time: 10:45

End Time:    12:04

Travel Time:  1:19  (1.61 mph)

Moving Time: 1:06   (1.93 mph)

Elevation Rise:  334'

Descent: 507‘

Maximum Elevation: 7,084'

GPS Tracks

 

 

Type: Hiking

Trail head: Bridalveil Creek

Trail:  Pohono Trail

Destination: Dewey Point

Distance:  5.23 miles 

Start Time: 1:57

End Time:   7:05

Travel Time: 5:07  (1.02 mph)

Moving Time: 3:42   (1.41 mph)

Elevation Rise: 1,266 '

Descent: 1,203‘+

Maximum Elevation: 7,351'

GPS Tracks

Description:

I get to go backpacking with my kids. Well, at least two of them-Rachel and Steven. It did not work out for us to backpack last weekend when Andrea was with us. Still, it is good to be out there. Two more things: they are no longer kids and two, we do not know if we are really going to be able to backpack. When I go to recreation.gov, it shows no permits are available anyplace in Yosemite. Our plan is to go to Yosemite and see if we can find availability. If not, we will do a day hike today, return to Fresno and go on a hike tomorrow with Sherri.

The three of us say our farewells to Sherri and leave at 7:45. I am driving. We stopped in Oakhurst at MacDonalds for some substance. Then at the Visitor’s Information. Both the Park and Sierra National Forest no longer have a presence there. All which the docent can tell us is that we will need to go into the Valley to get our permit. We enter the Park and go to the Wawona Ranger Station, which is closed. But I notice they have a bulletin board out in front. Is it possible we can do self-registration? Yes!

 

Now the question is where to go? I proposed a couple of places: Alder Falls or Bridalveil Creek. We chose the more relaxing trip to Bridalveil Creek. We set off for the McGurk Meadow Trailhead and arrived about 10:30. It takes us a few minutes to get ready, but our feet touch dirt at about 10:45.

Rachel's Log Crossing

Sherri and I have gone down this trail all the way to Dewey Point as a day hike. Also nine years ago, Sherri, Sonya and I did an overnighter on this trail after an aborted JMT and Chain Lake trips. Memories. That is one good thing about taking a walk down a trail you know well.

But today is a day for new memories with my son and daughter. We go the first ¾ mile down to McGurk Cabin. Here I make my usual comment that McGurk must have been a pygmy as the doorway to his cabin is only about 3’ tall. Then we see the beginnings of the greens of his meadow. Somehow this meadow which does not look that big continues for over a mile. It is a breath of refreshment, especially since so far we have not attracted any mosquitos.

There are two notable things about the trail today. First, there are good patches of snow, even about 10-15 yards long. Nothing which causes a problem, just being on the alert for any ice under the snow. Then the other thing is the trail crew, if we have any things year, has not been out yet. It is a bit early for them. There are numerous logs across the trail. Some we go around, some we go over and one tree we do a limbo under. I guess I am going to get my exercise today.

We get to the junction with the Pohono

Looking east from Dewey Point

trail pretty quickly-after all it is mostly downhill. It is about a quarter mile to Bridalveil Creek. Once there, the mission is to find a campsite. While the area is pretty level, there is a slope to it. For Steven, that does not matter as he sets up his hammock. For Rachel and I who will be sharing a tent, it does. But we find a place which is reasonable and pitch our tent. Then it is on to lunch as it is a little past noon now.

We discussed what we wanted to do. It was decided to go to Dewey Point, only a little more than two miles away. The trail does have some debris, but not the number of downed trees like we encountered from McGurk. The trail leads us around the Valley rim, but never at a place where we have a few. It is mostly forested.

There is a sense of a rolling uphill towards Dewey Point. I am breathing hard, but by stopping occasionally I make it to the Point a little after 4. The view is spectacular. Anytime you look into the Valley, it is enough to take your breath away. Today it is not only figuratively, but literally. But Yosemite provides even a better backdrop. The snow is still heavy above 8,000’. Tops of mountains show a bit of granite but their flanks are coats of white. One can stay here a long time just gazing. God does know how to paint a picture.

Rachel takes a picture of our conquest. Then I leave a few minutes ahead of them. I realize that I am the weak link of this party, so I leave a few minutes before the others. I start off following some footprints to the southeast of Dewey, but quickly realize this is not the way. I spot the mileage marker just 20 yards away and head towards that.

 

When I got back on the trail, something did not seem right, so I stopped to let my body catch up with what I wanted to do. The next thing I know, Steven is asking if I am OK. I am wondering where I am, as in why am I on the ground. From what Steven said, I was out for about ten seconds. After a couple of minutes I got up, a bit concerned about what happened. Rachel puts her Apple watch on me to get some heartbeat and O2 readings. I looked at my CGM to make sure I did not go low. Everything looks good. Heart rate 115-130, O2 low 90’s and blood sugars at 180. After some discussion, we decided to call my brother David who has had some EMT training. We described the situation. He walked us through some of the concerns and possibilities.

With David’s input, we discussed what to do. I am feeling better, so the decision is to try to walk back at least to the junction, about two miles and see how I am doing. Rachel keeps David on the phone until we leave the service area. But that is not too much of a concern as both Rachel and I have PLB’s. Steven walks in front of me, pacing me, with Rachel making sure I look OK. The pacing is slow, very slow with lots of breaks.

 We get to the junction and I am doing OK. So Steven goes quickly to camp to draw water for dinner. By the time I get to camp, it is 7pm. Fortunately there is a lot of sunlight left. I rest while Steven and Rachel prepare dinner. Dinner is freeze dried lasagna and chicken pot pie. We have a little bit more than we needed. Still it is better to have too much than not enough.

By this time, the sky is darkening. But even more which we are aware of is that it is getting cold. Around 8:20, Steven retreats to his hammock while Rachel and I duck into our tent. Even in the tent and sleeping bag, the temperature gets a bit brisk until the bag warms up. I read for a bit and then go to sleep around 9:00.

Trail Lesson: Realize what is important in your life.

Menu

Breakfast	Lunch	Dinner	Snacks
At home and McDonalds	Ritz Crackers, Peanut Butter, Nutella	Freeze dried lasagna and chicken pot pie	Clif Bar, GORP, Jelly Belly

Extra Photo's

Clark Range From Dewey Point

The Gunsight

Ribbon Falls

McGurk Meadows

Clouds Rest and Half Dome

El Capitan

 
Flowers and Plants

Snow Plants

Snow Plants