January 22, 2026 - Snowshoe Rabbit Meadow

 

Title: January 22, 2026 - Snowshoe Rabbit Meadow
Hike Info : Description : Extra Photo's 

Hike Info:

Type: Snowshoeing 

Trail head: Big Meadow Winter Parking Lot

Trail:  Big Meadow Road (14S11), Rabbit Meadow Trail (13S11B, 14S11E)

Destination:  Loop

Distance:  2.37 miles 

Start Time: 11:52

End Time:     2:40

Travel Time:  2:47 (0.85 mph)

Moving Time: 1:40   (1.30 mph)

Elevation Rise:  323'

Descent: 335‘

Maximum Elevation: 7,788'

Minimum Elevation: 7,636'

GPS Tracks

Description:

Thin Snow and Bare Spot

The only thing which I am pretty sure about when I got up this morning is that we are planning on going up to the snow. Where and when is an open question as we have not determined that. We have talked about going to Badger Pass. But more than likely we will not be going there as it needs a full day's worth of time. We need to get up and leave pretty close to 8-maybe later on as the days get longer it will be easier to do.

Korra, the snow dog

 

 

 

 

 

 

Also a contributing factor is the fog. It seems like almost each day in January the fog has been pretty thick until about 10. And it turns out that 10 is the magic time as everybody is ready then. We left the house at 10. Even then there is some fog. Visibility is OK until we get out of Fresno when there are some places it becomes a little dense. But not bad. We made it to Big Stump without knowing where we wanted to go. Steven and Sherri left it to me on where to go. I thought going up to Rabbit Meadow along the Big Meadow Road would be good.

 

Sherri

 One bit of concern is that there is hardly any snow at Big Stump. It is not until we get to the Kings Canyon Overlook does the ground look promising. Even here there is not a complete covering of ground with snow, but it gets better. When we get to the Big Meadow Snow Parking Lot, at least there is mostly snow cover except for around the trees. We get there at 11:35 and get our equipment together.

By 11:55 we start on our way.Sherri and I with snowshoes on; Steven on his skis while Korra can only use her paws-she seems to thrive with them in the snow. The road is the same as what we did two weeks ago. But there is noticeably less snow than then, but more snow than the Pan Pt Road last week.Still there are several bare spots under trees.

When we hit the junction with the Rabbit Meadow Trail, we leave the road. Steven has gone ahead of us. At least we are seeing his ski tracks and Kotta’s paw prints leading the way. This route to Rabbit Meadow is not a stranger to us. There is flagging leading the way as well as the tracks. It is enjoyable being away from the snowmobile tracks. Being courteous snowshoers, we try to keep off of the ski tracks, at least as much as possible. There are places where we come across fallen trees and need to go around the fallen logs. There are also places where the route goes between rocks and we walk on the tracks.

Gary&Sherri crossing the creek

Generally it is a pretty mild route and we are enjoying ourselves. We are close to the far end of the loop when we see Koraa bounding through the woods. Either Korra is playing Lassie and we need to rescue Timmie or Steven is close by. Looking at Korra’s route, we think Steven is just on the other side. So we cut across the mostly snow covered meadow. There is a little bit of runoff cutting down the center of the meadow. I find a place which is snow covered and cross there. I hear a bit of a woof--the snow collapsing under me. Fortunately I sink only a few inches so nothing bad. Still I have Sherri go around that area.

It is closing in on 1 and we have not had lunch. About ten minutes later we spot some logs which look dry. At 1:05 we stop and have our lunch. It would be nice just to spend a few more minutes there, but with the sky being overcast and the temperature in the mid-40’s, I need a bit of movement to keep warm. So we take off after about 15 minutes.

 

Big Meadows Road with Sherri, Gary and Korra

One thing about being in the snow is that little creeks which you would step across hiking becomes a bit more of an adventure crossing when the ground is level and you only have boots on your feet. But when that little creek cuts through snow banks, there may be a steep V of 2-3’ to descend and climb up without splashing. Steven does it on ski’s. I try to finesse this, but not very gracefully. I do not end up in the drink. Sherri does it better than I did and climbs right up the bank.

Steven continues to follow the route of the Rabbit Meadow loop. But there is some nice unbroken snow which I decide to walk over. That is always fun for me.Sometimes it leads me into trouble. But not today. Just pure, easy pleasure. I notice that Steven has come to another little creek. He crosses and goes over a mound. I noticed that 100’ sooner, there is a nice flat place to cross that creek and I navigate around the logs which make up the mound Steven went over.

On the other side of the logs we meet up the trail, heading back over to the Big Meadows Road. Then it is time to head back. We get to the car at 2:40. We take a few minutes to put everything away. By the time we leave, it is 3pm. Now the question, where and what do we want to eat? We decided to head all the way home and pick up dinner at the Doghouse Grill.Sounds like a good way to end the day.

Extra Photo's

Foggy Valley

Redwood Mountain two weeks apart

Sherri's selfie

Gary

Rabbit Meadow

Gary, Sherri and Steven

Steven and Korra

Gary, Korra and Steven

Valley Fog

January 13, 2026 - Pan Pt Road

 

Title: January 13, 2026 - Pan Pt Road

Hike Info : Description : Animals

Hike Info:

Type: Snowshoeing 

Trail head: Grant Grove Parking Area

Trail:  Panoramic Point Road

Destination: As far as we could by 2:00pm

Actual Destination:  Ridge before going into meadow before big climb

Distance: 2.44 miles

Start Time: 11:56

End Time:    3:16

Travel Time:  3:19 (0.74 mph)

Moving Time:  1:53  (1.30 mph)

Elevation Rise:  655'

Descent: 558‘

Maximum Elevation: 7,067'

GPS Tracks

Description:

Snowshoes on

Today is full of things which we were going to do, but circumstances had us change our minds. Badger Pass is not open yet, except for Nordic activities such as cross-country skiing and Snowshoeing. But this will be a long day as there is a lot of travel. So we needed to get a start by at least 8:00am. But the forecast for that morning is heavy fog. Not good for an early start.

Thin Snow

That means Sherri can sleep in and I get up at my normal time. But where to go? That morning, I suggested going up to find the Muir Snag-our third attempt. Sherri and I are the only ones going. We leave at ten after 10 and make it up to Grant Grove at 11:15. When we get to the road where I think the Muir Snag is, Forest Service road 13S55, we see a long stretch of dirt. Not very promising. We discussed the situation for 30 seconds and decided to move on.

But where to? Several options were discussed. But then we decided to push ourselves and see how far we can go up the Panoramic Point Road

out of Grant Grove. As we went through Grant Grove, we saw a sign for the Manzanita Trail. This also looks promising, but maybe when we have this a bit more thought out. We have not been up it either on snowshoes or with our hiking boots on. So we keep with the plan.

We park at 11:50. It is a pleasant temperature, in the high 50’s. We start our short walk to the road at 12:05. The first thing I noticed was that the tips of my poles were tapping against the pavement. I guess that the snow is only a couple inches deep. This means that we will see patches of bare ground. This is particularly true when we started off as there is a lot of tree covered in the first eighth of a mile. When we moved out of the tree cover, the snow was not much deeper, but at least when it snowed, it could hit the ground.

Gary on the move

We traveled uphill for about 45 minutes. I start off doing good going uphill-might be that I am getting some of my lung capacity back. Not that we are traveling that fast. But at least there is a steady pace. When 12:45 hits, we also come to the top of one of the ridges and spot a good rock to sit on for lunch. That is what we do. Now we are surrounded by snow. But somehow a moth and bee came to visit us. 

 

 

Sherri climbing

We spent about half an hour sitting on the rock before we decided to move on. The road actually gets a bit steeper. And I take several steps and look like I am waiting for Sherri -in reality, I take my time getting my breathing right before going on. This gets to be the rhythm of my ascent.

 I have set a 2pm turn around time and it is five minutes before that when we get to the top of yet another ridge-definitely not the top of Park ridge as that is another 500’ above us. That will be for another day it looks like. Maybe when I can climb further without being breathless.

As much as we are climbing, you would think there would be some scenic vistas. But that is not so. Plenty of greenery as in the pine trees. Just being out here is reward enough.

 

 

 

We do go up a few feet onto a dry log where we have an energy bar. We relax for a while before heading down. Going down is a lot easier. While the incline was steep coming up, it is not bad going down. One thing which we noticed is that there is less snow than when we went up. While there are the same number of bare spots, the bare spots from this morning are larger. Also the snow is not as deep. 

 

 

About 200’ before we came to the gate for the road, we needed to navigate around a bare spot. I do that very successfully, as does Sherri. But as I was about to regain the road, either my snowshoe caught a stick or I stepped on my left snowshoe. Either way, I went down. Nothing hurt, except my pride. We made it down without incident and back at the car by 3:20.

Now the question is do we want to eat on the way down. Do we want to eat at the DNC? Bear Mountain Pizza again? Eat in Fresno? Or eat at home? Sherri has been wanting this shop off of McCall which she heard about on Channel 30 a year ago. She has been calling it her Cuban place. We go there. It is a sandwich shop called Jon Smith Subs. Turns out it is a chain-all the others are in Texas or beyond. We also got fries with our order-a large amount in a medium request. The Cuban aspect of the place? They have a Cuban sandwich. We get home at 5:20

 

 

Animals

September 12 and 13, 2025 - Park Ridge Lookout and Dark Sky

 

Title: September 12 and 13, 2025 - Park Ridge Lookout and Dark Sky
Hike Info : Description :  Extra Photo's

Hike Info:

Type: Lookout

Description:

Clouds above Buck Rock

 

Sept 12

We will not be going into service this afternoon. But we want to get up there and spend the night, so we do not need to get up early Saturday. We get packed at a pretty leisurely pace. Then went out for Mexican food at Fuego Taqueria y Resturante, The food was pretty good and my wet burrito would keep me fed for three dinners-two of which I will eat when we get back. We puttered around until 2pm when we took off for Park Ridge Lookout.

Sherri starts off our trip by driving. Our travel comes to a quick slowdown on highway 180. There is an accident which backs up traffic. But after about 10 minutes we pass the accident and the rest of the drive is uneventful. We get into the park about 4:15, We first visit the Visitor Center to make sure that the Dark Sky events we are interested in will be held-they are.

It is a bit late to go on a full fledged hike, but we can go on a short side trip. Since we need to go up to Panoramic Point anyway, we decided to go up and do the short trail to Pan Point. We walked the loop which takes us to both the Old and New points. We do our gawking, even though it is a bit smokey. After observing, we head back to the car, then drive over to Park Ridge Lookout, arriving at 5:30. Jose has just gone out of service and is waiting for us.

Night Sky above Pan Pt

We talked for a while with him. Being a lookout usually means we do not see anybody for long periods of time. Most of us are good with that, but we also welcome interactions with our fellow lookouts when the opportunity presents itself. So we find out a bit more about Jose before he drives off.

We lounge around for a while until 7:30. There is a Dark Sky event at Pan Point. We drive back, but do not even try to go into the parking area; we just park behind the locked gate. We walked to the gathering point, the start of the trail to the Point. We realize that we did not have red lights, but we will make do. We end up towards the last of the group, and it is a pretty good size group. The program is presented by a SEKI ranger. But this puts us into the presence of the Sequoia Conservancy person, Chora. I am not sure if she took pity on us or what, but she gave us a private tour of the skies. Chora is going to Spain next week. We talked about various things including trails in the area and our various backgrounds. We walked back to the car and drove back to the lookout. We arrive around 10 and go to bed shortly afterwards.

Sept 13

Morning Star

I slept well, but not long, having woken up at 0520. Why? Well, I knew there was lightning which needed reporting. It is the first time this year which I am reporting off of my laptop and it shows. I stumble and fumble through it all. There were 79 strikes, mostly in the Evolution Valley area. I got it mostly out by 0730.

This gives plenty of time to get ready to go into service. We were able to get most of our stuff down to the car. It is pretty smokey this morning. I think we have a visual of about three miles, barely able to see Redwood Mountain; Big Baldy is only a bit of an outline. At 0930 we went into service with both Porterville and Ash Mountain Fire. With such limited visibility, the scans are pretty quick.

Not really an interesting day. It is nice having Sherri up here-it is her first time this season. While I do most of the scans-Sherri does some of them as well-she does pay attention to the radio, particularly when I am out of the cab doing the scans. It is also nice just having someone there with me.

 

Sherri's Breakfast

 

 Two weeks ago I discovered the ease of making omelettes for dinner in the lookout. So I am back at it. As I was making it, two men came up, so Sherri talked with them while I cooked her meal. Once done, we change places while we have visitors. Once done, I go back and cook my omelette. Well before I did, I noticed that there was a bee in the egg batter doing a backstroke. The omelette has an acceptable taste sans the bee.

Park Ridge Lookout

 

After taking the weather I laid down for a few minutes. When I woke up, I found that Sherri had been keeping the lookout stable for over an hour. I am grateful. I feel much more refreshed after my nap.

 

 

 

By now, the smoke has cleared up some. I can now see about 6-7 miles without straining. A couple more visitors come through and we do our shtick about the lookout. I talked with Delilah about a BC31 we have been hearing, but there is no resolution there. We know that BC32 is the duty officer. But we cannot figure out who BC31 is. Turns out Wendy had sent out an email saying that BC32 would be the Duty Officer, but he would be driving the truck for BC31. I guess I was not paying good enough attention.

The skies keep clearing and by the time 1700 comes along, we can see in most directions pretty well. But we are also cleaning up for our departure. Almost all of our stuff is down in the car now.

Tomorrow’s lookout sounded like he was coming in tonight, but we have not heard from him. So at 1800, we go out of service and lock up the lookout. Then we are off. Normally we would go straight home, or at least stop to eat. Tonight, we do stop to eat, but at Big Stump. We have a peanut butter and Nutella sandwich and enjoy a somewhat peaceful time.

Night Sky at Big Stump

But what makes this a more imperative stop is that there is a Dark Sky event here at 2000. I see Chora here, but she is pretty busy to talk with, so after a couple of minutes, I leave her alone. The event tonight has the Central Valley Astronomers coming up and sharing their telescopes with the general public. We stay here and enjoy the evening until it opens. There are at least a dozen telescopes set up. The first several we visited were still trying to locate their celestial objects in the fading light. In this case, light is a hindrance. But we do find several telescopes which we can look through. About half are pointed at stars. But the really interesting ones are the ones with clusters of stars. We see a globular star cluster-I do not remember which one-and the Andronmena system. Spectacular! Displays of this beauty always makes me wonder about the parts of Creation which have been hidden until now, whether it is the stellar activities 22,000 light years away or that which is so small, only powerful microscopes can see. Like Paul would say, all creation displays his glory, Romans 1:20.

By 2045, we think we should be going. This will make room for others to enjoy. Off we go and arrive home at 2200. It takes a few minutes to unpack the car. Then into the shower we go. Then to bed by 2300.

Extra Photo's

Friday's night view of the Valley

Moon

Night Sky from Pan Point

Friday Evening Sky

Morning View to the West

Sherri relaxing before going into service

Park Helicopter on its way north to a rescue on Temple Crag

Night Sky from Big Stump