July 28, 2023 - Huckleberry Meadow

 

Title: July 28, 2023 - Huckleberry Meadow

Hike Info : Description : Extra Photo's : Animals : Flowers and Plants

Hike Info:

Type: Hiking 

Trail head: Highway 180 and Road 13S52

Trail:   Road 13S52 and 13S02

Destination: Top of Park Ridge

Actual Destination:  Huckleberry Meadow

Distance:  5.62 miles

Start Time: 7:54

End Time:   11:54

Travel Time:  3:59 (1.41 mph)

Moving Time: 3:15 (1.73 mph)

Elevation Rise:  1,124'

Descent: 1,167‘

Maximum Elevation: 7,242'

GPS Tracks

Description:

Today is another solo hike. There are two things I hope to achieve today. The first is obvious. I am to continue to get into shape and enjoy being out hiking. The second is to verify what I thought I saw last Summer from Delilah: that would be Buck Rock. When I was looking over Park Ridge, I thought I saw Buck Rock. I was able to semi-verify this with one of the Buck Rock lookouts, but not another. This will be the first time I have been up this road, either driving or walking.

Meadow at top of Park Ridge

Lush ravine

I got up earlier than I wanted to. That is a little before 5am. But this gives me time to finish getting ready, such as eating breakfast, looking for yesterday’s lightning, or just taking care of personal items. So I ended up leaving the house at 6am, getting the truck loaded and out. But as I am about to take off, I realize I don;t have a bottle of water in the car. So my official leaving time is 6:15.

The drive towards the rising sun is uneventful. I get to the Park-not that the hike is in the park-at 7:25. But I get stopped by the Wye because of construction. So I do not park my truck until 7:45. There is another truck dispersed camping right by Highway 180.

Looking into the Middle Fork of the Kings

I get on my boots and start walking up road 13S52. Right away, there appears a reason to walk this road: wildflowers. There are flowers along the road and I start taking pictures. Not sure if that is to give me a rest or to capture the beauty of what I am seeing. 

 When I stopped to take some pictures, I noticed that some things fell out of my pack. I could have sworn I zipped everything up. I gather several items, including my GPS and put it away, making sure everything is zipped up. Apparently the Zoleo which is attached to the pocket is pulling it open as there is another time this happens during the hike.

 

The road up is pretty steep. The flowers continue to give a reason to interrupt the climb to ponder and record their beauty. I got to the top of the ridge quicker than I thought I would and wandered along the east side before I realized I was beyond the point which I wanted to check out if I could see both lookouts from the ridge. I still have time to go on, so I do.

The saddle where road 13S52 runs through

I come across this ravine with water still running through it. This is the result of our heavy snowpack this year. I think it would have been dry and starting to turn brown by now, but there is green with ferns flourishing and the purples of lupine thrown in. A little while later, I see a PG&E weather station, #1950.

When I go to a point to look out over the area, a black truck goes by on the road. It is a good reminder that this is a road and I need to be alert for vehicles. The truck did not see me as I was behind some brush. It was not particularly menacing.

Huckleberry Meadow

Now the road takes a downhill tilt. I decide I have plenty of time to get back up, even at a slow pace. I am certainly glad I am tackling this road in the morning. There are stretches where the road is shaded and tree covered, sometimes crossing a creek or a little meadow. But there are many places where there is the road with nothing to protect me from the sun. And I am going downhill now. Wonder about how it will be going back up?

After a mile, the downhill starts to flatten out. I come to a major junction. Looking at the map, this must be road 13S02. I take a left and walk down it for a ways. There is a gentle rollingness to this road. I can tell I am getting close to Huckleberry Meadow, not only because I can read a map, but also there is a shallow bowl. And there it is. I come to a wide place. Looks like cows have preceded me here, but probably last year. I walk to the edge of the meadow and enjoy the view. A few mosquitos make their presence known, but I would expect a lot worse.

I rested for about 15 minutes before starting back up the road. I then heard a noise. There is something in yellow making its way slowly towards where I am. But it stops every once in a while and looks up. It is a person. I greet him. He says that the company he works for is under contract with PG&E to look at trees to make sure they will not interfere with power lines. I notice it is a Fresno company, Mario Tree Service-I have seen their trucks around.

Natural ice?

And now I am off. I quickly make my way back to road 13S52. There are a few bugs and bees which seem to want to go along for the ride. I do not need any freeloaders riding on me. And now I am on my way back up. The heat is there, but not as bad as I feared. I put my head down and trudge on up the slope. Every so often I take a breathing break. But the breaks are usually kept short. My friends the bees seem to find me quickly. 

 

 

 

Map of where the line of sight is

I am climbing quicker than I expect, but I am also drenched with sweat. I came to one dispersed camp spot on the way up and noticed a pile of ice somebody, maybe the black truck I saw earlier, left. I put some of the ice under my hat. For a few moments my head cools down. But then I start getting brain freeze.

I realize how quickly I have been climbing when I reach a stretch of road almost to the top of Park Ridge. This is my cue to try to get to the top, where I think I can see both Delilah and Buck Rock Lookouts. When I get to the top, I realize that I am probably not seeing Buck Rock from Delilah. First, there is a pretty solid screen of trees blocking my view in both directions. Second, I am realizing that Buck Rock is not up high enough for Delilah to see it over the ridge-the vertical angles are wrong. Then lastly, when I get home and plot out my path with where the line of sight would be, I am a hundred yards to the north of where the line of sight catches the ridge. I am now speculating that what I saw was a vehicle or something on Park ridge which made it look like the lookout.

 

 

Dispersed camping at top of Park Ridge

From the top of the ridge back to the truck, it was only a 15-20 minute walk-a lot easier than the hour walking up the ridge. I made it back to the truck about 11:30. This was a bit quicker than I thought. I then had my lunch before heading back home. I think I must have been more tired than I thought I was since I managed to stretch my lunch break into 40 minutes. I ended up waiting for construction again. Also the air was a lot warmer going down into the Valley than it was going to the Valley. I drank a whole liter of water. I got back to Fresno safely at 1:30.

Extra Photo's

Hume Lake and Middle Fork of Kings

Mt Goddard

Spanish Mountain

Buck Rock Lookout

Delilah Lookout

Animals

 

Fliterary

 
Flowers and Plants

Western Wallflower

Stickey Cinquefeil?

Corn Lily

Sticky Stickseed

Sticky Stickseed

Mountain Strawberry

Indian Paintbrush

February 18, 2015 - Crescent Meadows Wandering

Title: February 18, 2015 - Crescent Meadows Wandering

 Trail head: Crescent Meadows Parking Lot

Hike Info:

Type:  Hiking

Trail: Crescent Meadows/Log Meadows/High Sierra/Trail of the Sequoias/Congress Trail/Alta Trail

Destination: Loop

Actual Destination:

Distance: 8.33 miles ^{1 2}
Start Time: 9:51
End Time: 16:53
Travel Time: 7:01 (1.19 mph)
Moving Time: 4:49 (1.73 mph) ²
Elevation Rise: 1,461' ^{2 3}

Maximum Elevation:

 ¹Others in the group measured 9.2 and 9.6 miles. I am inclined to believe in the additional mileage.
 ²I went about a half of a mile further than most of the group-even though there was some like Steven who I think went farther. My half of a mile was coming back on a couple of occasions.Because of the extra walking, I did hike longer and had more elevation rise, but not terribly significant, maybe another 100' rise and 10 minutes more walking.
 ³I noticed that the GPS starting elevation is 6,326' and ending is 6,736', or about 400' difference. So I suspect the true elevation rise is 1,060'.

Description:
It is a bit foggy today. Saw that one of our hikers has dropped today, so we should be 16 people. We get to Kohl's at 6:50 and a few people are there before us. We quickly grow to the 14 people with picking up two more along the way. As we head out on Hwy 180, the fog is not too bad, but enough to remind me to be cautious. Below Squaw Valley we break out into the sunshine. We make Wuksaki Lodge around 9 and Carl from Visalia is waiting for us there-Rob has picked up Richard along the way. The group makes use of the restrooms and coffee pots before getting to Crescent Meadows.

Picture from Richard

The day begins with it being a bit cool, but clear and looks enjoyable. Apparently we lost somebody between Wuksaki and here. So Sherri is staying around for a few minutes to see if he shows up. It is a little bit before 10 when our boots hit the trail, or should I say the pavement? We tackle the Crescent Meadow trail first. It is paved and we curl around the south end of the meadow-at the end of the hike we will see the north and west part of this trail. Even with it being warm these days, the meadow grass has enough sense to stay dormant until it knows snow won't come again this year. This trail is level and there is an offshoot to Log Meadow.

Tharp's Cabin

As we travel this short segment, I realize that I really wanted the next trail to Log Meadow. But that is ok, nobody notices, except for the comment about are we walking paved trails all the way? This area has many intertwining trails and this will be my constant refrain today, I wonder if I am on the right trail?

Deer in Action - Picture from Richard

Tharp's log cabin quickly comes to us. Many are fascinated by it and so we spend time here. Before we leave, Sherri rejoins us with our last hiker, and they also look into the cabin. But I quickly am about to lose two more people as they take off on the wrong trail. What is this? We go a mile and I am on the verge of losing three people? What kind of a ship am I running? 

Sequoia at Log Meadow

 But we do end up all going along Log Meadow. Some of the prettiest views of Sequoias I see along the edge. Also there is this large root ball towards the south of the meadow which fascinates me each time I pass by. It is at least three times as high as I am, just lying on its side, stark in the meadow.

Rose and Christine

Moro Rock - Picture from Richard

At the end of Log Meadow, we take off towards The High Sierra Trail (HST). But before we meet the trail, we find three deer munching along the side of our trail. This has the effect of gathering us all together to gawk at them. But eventually we move and the deer make way for us. This brings us to looking over the Kaweah River. Some people do not believe that we are seeing Moro Rock; all are amazed at the view. But like the commercial says, there is more to come.

View from Eagle's View

When we go about a third of a mile to Eagle View, the Great Western Divide Kern-Kaweah Divide  comes into play. Many have not seen this view, some this is their first trip to the Sierras and there is jaw dropping reaction of this cannot be. I am glad to be their first guide on this. This view is truly magnificent and so close. Whats more, today is the perfect day to see it. Triple Divide, Steward and Lippincott are all so clearly seen. I show them where the HST goes and some want to continue on, that is until I say that the end is 59 miles from here, Mt Whitney. Maybe another day. Still there are folks looking at those mountains wistfully.

Peaks seen from Eagle View from the PeakFinder application

Sawtooth

So we retreat back to the junction with the Trail of the Sequoias and wait for those still gawking at Eagle's View. And we waited, And waited some more. What can you say, when you give a group of people the visual equivalent of crack, should I expect to tear them away?

If Eagle View is like crack, then the Trail of the Sequoias is methadone. It does not have the siren call of the grandiose view seen a few minutes before, but it has the means to bring serenity to the soul. As we progress along this long stretch of trail, we see the younger redwoods with their un-scarred bark and tall, gangly frames. At the end of the trail, there is the mature sequoias which have reigned over the forests for a couple of millennium. In between, we look and see green and red, plants still dormant, but some manzanita have gotten an early start with an early bloom, maybe errant. Sherri has been leading us and finds a nice, sun-lite area to rest for lunch. We may be going a bit slower than I was hoping, but no one is denying the enjoyment factor of what we are witnessing: the forest in Winter wearing shorts and short-sleeves.

Congress Grove

View from ridge

After lunch our trip continues up slightly to the top of a ridge-this is the literally the high point of the trip, but not the last of the climbs we will be doing. From here we get a last view of the snow-covered mountains to the south of Giant Forest. Then we descend down into the Congress Grove area. Today we will not be going to the General Sherman Tree. Instead we head more west and meet up with the Alta Trail. But even this simple maneuver was  confounded by  people being interested in the Chief Sequoyah Tree and the Congress Grove trees. I guess there could be worse things to be detained by.

But we move on to the final third of our hike, and it turns out the hardest of the day. We start a gentle descent towards Giant Forest, but we will not walk that far. Along the way, we come across some Indian grinding holes, along with a large sheet of granite.  After about a mile and a half we come to a junction. We take the trail to Huckleberry Meadow. This is the start of the first real up-about 300' rise. The first part of the group charge right up. But confession time, I make it about half way up this slope before I need to savor some mountain aire. But it is time to continue on. Sherri is taking up the rear. So we crest the top of the rest and the remainder of the journey is mostly down or flat.

Big Tree - Small People

A few minutes afterwards we come to the remains of the Squatter's Cabin. There is a couple versions of what who the squatters were. One sign says it was a guy who wanted to live up there until he found out that Hale Tharp already owned the area. The other is that this was part of the Kaweah Colony and they were driven out by the park service.

Huckleberry Meadow

After waiting around for a time, I sent most of the people forward, except for Kurt. Sherri's group had not come yet, so Kurt and I went back up the ridge, but did not get far until we came to the last group. We walked down with them. Some folks were pretty tired by now, so I walked with them and everybody else went to the car, about 3/4 of a mile from the cabin. I think this was the first longer hike for some people. Still we hiked the whole thing, going past Huckleberry Meadow and over a small ridge before dropping into Crescent Meadow. When we topped to rest, we saw a bird, I thought it might be a Western Tanager, but not being an ornithologist, or even something remotely close, I think I am wrong.  But it is interesting that going slow, we get to see a lot.

We have one more adventure and that is sometime over the Winter two trees knocked down, blocking the trail. But Steven E and Sherri found the way around it and all got to the cars. A couple of us said, lets eat-always a fitting way to end the day. So we stopped at Bear Mountain Pizza in Squaw Valley for some eats. We got home around 7:30 or so, a bit tired, but having enjoyed the day.

Trail Lesson:

It is easier to maintain your energy as you go along, than to regain what you have lost.

Places: CA-Huckleberry Meadow (Fresno-Grant Grove)

 

Huckleberry Meadow-6,536' (Hume) (36.7641128, -118.9401074)
Legal: T13S, R28E, Sec 28

	Deg	Min	Vertical Deg	Minutes	Distance	Visible
Delilah	105	35	2	36	10.3	No
Park Ridge	4	13	-3	7	2.8	No
Buck Rock	292	54	-4	34	4.8

Description : Trips : References : Pictures 


Description:


Trips:

• July 28, 2023-Gary solo trip along road 13S52 to Huckleberry Meadow
  

References:

• 
  

Pictures:

• 
  

  

  July 28, 2023
  

  
  

Places: CA-Huckleberry

Huckleberry Meadow (quad)   
(long, lat)

Description:


Trips:

• February 18, 2015 - Crescent Meadows wandering

References:

•  American Southwest - Huckleberry Trail
• Modern Hiker
• Redwood Hikes
• 
  

Pictures:

•