January 13, 2021 - Badger Pass Snowshoeing

 

Title: January 13, 2021 - Badger Pass Snowshoeing
Hike Info : Description :   Extra Photo's :  Flowers and Plants

Trail head: Badger Pass Ski Parking

Hike Info:

Type:  Snowshoeing

Trail: Old Glacier Point Road ¹

Destination: Ridge above Badger Pass

Distance:   2.1 miles ²

Travel Time:  2:46  (0.8 mph)

Elevation Rise:  484'
Descent:  484'

Maximum Elevation: 7,545'

 

 

 

GPS Tracks
 ¹Once I laid down the GPS track onto both Garmin’s Base Camp and Google’s Earth, I saw that we did not go up the Old Glacier Point Road. It is a bit more to the north. But the hill looks steeper to get to where we had lunch. I was wondering where the steep hill we had to climb up to get to the top of the ridge was.

   ²The GPS went a bit funky. It changed its internal readings to being fine, so many more points than could be kept was recorded and cannot be shown. Also the GPS did not record the elevation. Elevation came from Google Earth. The first part of the map is a drawed-in route.

 

 

 

 

 

Bruin Slope past First Aid hut

Description:

This trip started off for four people. But or two friends could not make it. So Sherri and I went up to Yosemite, Badger Pass particularly. The day is bright and shiny. I start it off the day by taking Korra for a walk around the park in Fresno-she will not be able to come with us because of it being a National Park.

We have breakfast and leave Fresno around 9:15. Sherri drives and we listen to a Paul Swearengin podcast on the way up. Once inside the park, we change drivers and I drive the rest of the way to Badger Pass. When we get onto the Glacier Point Road, I see a dirty grey cloud, rising from the forest, a long ways away to the northwest. I think it is a fire, but way out of range for us to report anything. Still wish I got a picture.

Looking down the slope we came up

There is a concern as we start up the Glacier Point Road-where is the snow? As we travel along, we start seeing more, but it is really patchy. It is only when we get close Badger Pass does the snow seem at least it is covering the ground. But my guess is about a foot to a foot and a half. Really sparse.

We get parked and get our gear together. By the time we start it is 20 minutes to twelve. Today we will go up the Old Glacier Point Road. But to the West, not East like we normally do. Since the ski lifts are not running this year due to COVID restrictions, we do not need to worry about skiers.

A couple goes up the slope a little ways . But we put them behind us. We follow a snowmobile track. It is not rutty like a lot of tracks are, pretty smooth and it has made the snow firm for us. We stop every once in a while to catch our breath. When I look at the resort map, I think this is the Bruin run. It says it is easy. For us, there is a lot of huffing and puffing. When we approach the top, it is just pretty steep. But we find our way up.

Mount Hoffman

When we turn around, a spectacular scene awaits us. The Clark Range with Mt Starr King is there front and center. Through the trees is Mt Hoffman and Mt Conness. Clouds Rest is just above Horizon Ridge.. Peak Finder says that Half Dome and Sentinel Dome can be seen, but I think the trees on the far ridge block our view. Such a good view. And then we found a dry patch under a tree in the sun for lunch. Score! After lunch, I lay down and enjoy a few minutes with my eyes closed.

 I could have laid there for a long while. The sun was warming my body-Sherri was concerned about burning, I was not even roasting. I got up and walked around while Sherri got ready to go. We decided that we have enough energy to continue on for a time across the top of the ridge. Besides, this delays our needing to go back down.

Gary on the ridge top

The ridge is a bit rolling-not a steep roll, just enough to let you know you are going up or down. We catch glimpses of the Clark Range. But mostly it is nice just going through the trees. Skiers have been along here, but not recently. We follow an even older snowshoe track.

We shortly come to the top of another ski life and the Badger run. The tracks go on and we still have energy, so we keep on going. More of the same. Just plain old enjoyable walking along the top of this ridge. There is another run which is below us, we only know about it because there is an equipment stash.

We finally come out about two-thirds of the way up the Red Fox run-the longest run of the area. It is turn around time. But rather than turn around, we check with each other if we are game to go down the run-Yes. About that time two cross country skiers came along. We wave and they wave and then go straight up the path of the ski life. We are in awe as they do not break stride or stop to breath going up this thing. A thing of beauty.

 

Ski lifts going to the top at Tempo Dome

And now we are on our way down. Nobody on the slopes, nor will there be this year, except for a few people who skin their way up to slide down. So we cut across the Red Fox run, following what turns out to be a service road. Pretty easy descending across the run to the trees across the way. At the Eagle run, we zig back across and down until we hit the flat area of the bowl.

You know those two guys we said looked so good going down? Well we met them when they finished their run. They are Tom and Art, who live in Yosemite West. Enjoyable talking with them. Tom does sort of a BnB. This sounds interestings. He says that his place can be found at YosemiteHouse.com. Also Art rents out his as well. We will have to figure out a reason to do this. We are thinking when there is snow up in Yosemite, it will save us a drive when the days are short.

 

Gary going back to the car

They return for another run down the slope. We go on to the road and get our gear off. Then it is to the car. That couple which we saw when we were going up the slope? They are lounging in the back of their vehicle. We have a few pleasant words.

We take off-it is about 3:15. By the time we hit Oakhurst, it is 4:30. So we stop at Carl’s place for a burger. Then it is back to Fresno. One more stop at Costco for gas and we get home at 5:56. Just in time to unpack and take ashower before meeting up with our family on Zoom. A good day.

 Top of Bruin Slope view from Peak Finder

 
Extra Photo's

Black and White of Sun, Trees, Snow and Sky

Sherri showing her form

Mount Hoffman with Mt Conness to the right

Tracks at top of the ridge

Clouds Rest

Looking back down to the east

Sherri, Woman of the Mountains

More Black and White of Sun, Trees, Snow and Sky

First Aid Hut and Bruin Slope

Main slopes of Badger Pass

 
Flowers and Plants

Moss on snow

October 26, 2020 - Glacier Point

 

Title: October 26, 2020 - Glacier Point
Hike Info : Description : Extra Photo's :

Hike Info:

Type: Car 

Destination: Taft Pt and Sentinel Dome

Actual Destination:  Glacier Point

Description:

We got a Yosemite Park pass so that we could go up on October 31st. So we need to make a trip up to Yosemite. Besides, it is good after my birthday trip for a now much older man. Such hardships we endure, woe is us. We are planning to hike over to Taft Pt and up Sentinel Dome. A loop we have done several items. While well within our capability, it will stretch us a bit in our current condition.

View from Washburn Pt

We don’t get an early start, but a start which should get us up there by about 10am. It is a quick drive up. The line at the entrance station is a bit long, but not by Yosemite standards. We make a quick stop at Chinquapin. And then go up the Glacier Point Road.

Oh, Oh! As we approach the parking area for Taft Pt/Sentinel Dome, we see nothing but cars parked on the side of the road, leading up to the parking area. Does not look very promising. After a quick consultation, we decided that area is too crowded for us. Now what to do? For a short term solution, we will go on to Glacier Point and see how crowded that area is.

Horse Fire

On our way to Glacier, we stop at Washburn Point which is pretty open. We are a minority mask wearers, but there is a lot of room, so that does not seem to be an issue. Washburn Point is my preferred overlook. I think it is because we can see far into the backcountry. I can see places I have been and dreama bit about walking there again. Also there are places my feet have not traveled yet. I can only imagine what they like. Looking east, the view is pretty clear. I gaze that way for a while. Half Dome is dominae, and Vernal and Nevada falls are there. But the Clark Range with Mt Starr King is a wonder.

Snow Creek Trail

And then farther back we see the Crest. Such a wonderful view. So glad not that many people stop here. Also, when we look south, we see the Horse Fire on Horse Ridge, right before Ostrander Lake. Actually, Sherri spots it first-hopefully it is because I am distracted with everything else. This fire was started by lightning in August. The Park is letting it burn itself out.

Onward down to Glacier Point, not far. The parking lot is maybe about a quarter full. Looks like we score. We go out to the point. Yosemite Valley is always impressive and particularly from Glacier. There is a haze coming in from the Creek and SQF Complex fires. I start to pick out various places-Camp Curry, Happy Isles, Snow Creek Trail, and where the Hidden Falls probably is. When I look at Ahwahnee Meadows, I am seeing something man made which I cannot figure out. It is only when I realized that it was a Christmas ornament.

 

 

Lunch Time

We have lunch a little ways off, facing out to the Valley. Very pleasant. After a stop at a bathroom way at the end of the parking lot-it is a long lot. So we did get a little bit of a walk in. We started back up the road thinking maybe if the Taft Pt parking area is not busy, doing that walk. Nope. So on we go.

Mysterious design on Ahwahnee Meadow

Sherri wants to stop at the Mono Meadows Trailhead. So we do. Not a great view, but looking through the trees there are places which you just wish for a bit broader of a view. We just wander in an arc around the area and see what we could see. Oh yeah, we were not sure where the trail was-that is a common problem with me. I can wander many places in the backcountry and find where I should be pretty easily. But finding the trail at the trailhead? I have a history of having issues there.

Time to move on. We stopped in Oakhurst at Carl Jr’s. but the power has been out. They said to wait around for about half an hour. We decided not to-we can almost be to Fresno by that time. We order a take-out dinner from Red Robin in Riverpark and have a content dinner.

 

 Extra Photo's

Horse Fire

Closer View of the Horse Fire

Half Dome, Vernal and Nevada Falls and beyond from Washburn Pt

View from Mono Meadow Trailhead-Half Dome on left

The Clark Range "humps" from Mono Meadow Trailhead

Sherri

August 8, 2016 - Little Yosemite Valley

Title: August 8, 2016 - Little Yosemite Valley
Hike Info : Description : Trail Lessons : Background : Menu : Extra Photo's : Animals 

Trail head: Illilouette Creek

Hike Info:

Type:  Backpacking

Trail:John Muir Trail

Destination: Little Yosemite valley
Actual Destination: Sunrise Creek

Distance:  5.61 miles ¹

Start Time: 9:22

End Time:  4:35  

Travel Time:  7:13 (0.74 mph)

Moving Time:  4:19 (1.30 mph)

Elevation Rise: 1,179'

Maximum Elevation: 6,844' 

 ¹Usually I figure anything less than a half a mile an hour is GPS error. But because we were going through brush, I lowered that threshold down to a tenth of a mile per hour.

Description:
Today's start is a quote from Tolkein's The Lord of the Rings:  "Short cuts makes long delays." ² This is where Frodo tried to elude the Black Rider and take off across a bog. Our route did not include a bog, but a good amount of brush. On the other hand, it could also be a title of a book which I will never write: My Life in Buck Brush. As if this walk today does not have enough titles, I could christen it "The Cranberry Girls".

Rose breaking camp

Got up at 6:30. It is was between 30 to and 35 degrees. It was a cold last night. I kept warm enough until I would roll over. Then I would need to warm up the spot which had been on underneath me. But Sherri had difficulty sleeping last night so I suspect tonight we will have a tent. Apparently we were not the only ones who felt a bit cool as when I grab my clothes, a lizard bolted out from there, wondering why in the world are we waking up when it so cold.

As it turns out today will be a turning point in our JMT adventure. If we can make it at least to Sunrise Creek, near the Clouds Rest trail junction, then we should be in good shape to reach Sunrise Meadows tomorrow. I am hoping to make it beyond that, maybe to the upper part of Sunrise Creek.

We did not get started until 9:20. Since the trail is only about a third of a mile above us with a climbable slope-maybe 300' to go up. The trail would take us about a mile with 500' of climbing. Sounded like a good bet even though there was brush, we could find a path through it. And for awhile this was a good strategy. But with about 50 yards of brush in front of us, we could no longer find a way around and had to go through. The manzanita was not too bad, but the buckbrush came up to about my chest. Poor Rose had it at head level. At one point looking back, I see a sea of green manzanita with Sherri and Rose just floating in it looking like the guys in the Ocean Spray cranberry commercials of a few years ago.

The Cranberry Girls

So the "short cut" cost us about an hour and a half and took a lot of our energy. By the time we break through the brush, it is past 11 and we are only a third of a mile from our camp. In retrospect, this may have been the central event of our trip.

Once we are on the trail, I take my rear position and following both Sherri and Rose. We walk pretty good. But it is hot and we are on an exposed part of the trail. By the time we reach the top of the rise, 600' above our campsite and about 2 1/2 miles travel, we are ready for lunch, even though there is no water, we make due.

Rose with Clouds Rest before her

Sherri and Half Dome

There is something refreshing about trail junctions. Maybe it is because of the signs telling us where we have been or where we are going. More than likely it is also  means a marking of a passage. In this case, we meet the horse trail coming in from the upper part of Illilouette Creek, which is nothing really big. But a little ways further we hit the Panorama Trail. Here we wonder, has Kate and Sonya already been by here? Have we been that long in getting here? On the one hand, with the heat and exposure, we really want them to be past the real hot part. On the other hand, it would be somewhat deflating to know that they just started out this morning and have already passed us. See what I mean about trail junctions marking passages?

Grizzly Peak

Liberty Cap

The good part is because of the openness, we are able to have some really good views. Half Dome does loom in front of us, along with its little sibling, Liberty Cap. Clouds Rest soars majestically along a far ridge and Mt Starr King is at our side. Below us towards Yosemite Valley is Grizzle Peak. I love views like this.

And now that we have lost all of the elevation we climbed up this morning and more, we get to Nevada Falls.  It is time for a pee (not over the Falls) and water break, along with shade from the hot sun. I rest in the shade on the south side of the river while Sherri and Rose go off for their business. Earlier Sherri had talked with some musicians who travel the parks playing their music. I talk a bit more with them-never learn what their names are or where they are from-just enjoying the chit-chat as I sit against my rock.

But the afternoon is progressing and we are not. So off we go. The stretch from Nevada Falls to Little Yosemite Valley starts with a bit of a climb, about 250' as it goes over a shoulder of Liberty Cap. What makes this a particularly wicked trudge is the heat, openness and what you have done just to get to this point. When we come down, I sense that this has just about done us in. So I take off, hoping to get a resting place in Little Yosemite Valley, find Kate and Sonya, and be able to come back and grab a pack. I only succeed on the first task. After wandering around the camp area, I drop my pack and start to go back when Rose and Sherri come up the trail.

We set up camp and I go down to the Merced to draw water. And there I see a couple of blondes-Sonya and Kate. They are flabbergasted to see me and wonder what is going on. I just say that Rose and Sherri are close to their camp and I am drawing water. While we are starting to put together our camp, we discover we are squatters on someone's camp and start to move when they come back. No problem-this is sort of a everybody-loves-everybody-else camp. We end up staying with Kate and Sonya.

As you might have guessed, we are staying the night here rather than trying to make Sunrise Creek, about 1,300' above us. We are beat. After eating and talking for a little while, it is time for bed, or should I say for the bag. And yes Sherri did put up a tent.

Before I end this post, one thing which I have been contemplating is that experience itself does not make you better, but learning from experience does.  So the big question is, what did I learn today?

• First, just because a map shows a direct route does not mean that it is.
• Second, scout out your route. Maybe I could have gone around the area if I had been more alert.
• Third, remember the rule of thumb: a mile of cross country is about the same as three miles of trail.

Trail Lesson:

• Short cuts may not be the shortest or quickest ways-either on the trail or in life.
• Experience itself does not make you better, but learning from experience does

Background
 ²From Tolkein's Lord of the Rings, Chp 4, A Short Cut to Mushrooms

Menu

Breakfast	Lunch	Dinner	Snacks
Oatmeal and add-ins, such as dried peaches, strawberries, nuts, granola. Tang.	Ritz Crackers, Tortillas, Peanut Butter, Nutella	Mountain House Lasagna	Clif Bar, GORP, Propel, CytoMax, Scrytch, Coffee Candy, Jelly Belly

Extra Photo's

Gary with his full pack

Half Dome

Half Dome

Animals

Mangy coyote

Same coyote, different view