January 1, 2020 - Pa’San Trail, San Joaquin River Gorge

Title: January 1, 2020 - Pa’San Trail, San Joaquin River Gorge
Hike Info : Description : Trail Lessons :  Extra Photo's : Animals

Trail head: Ya Gub Weh Tuh Trailhead

Hike Info:

Type: Hiking

Trail: Pa’San Trail

Destination: Loop

Distance:  7.55 miles

Start Time: 9:26

End Time:   3:02

Travel Time: 5:36  (1.35 mph)

Moving Time: 4:55  (1.54 mph)

Elevation Rise:  1,706'

Descent: 1,561‘

Maximum Elevation: 1,861'

GPS Tracks

Description:

Start of hike with Meetup group

Several firsts today. It is the first day of the new year, so today’s hike is the first hike of 2020. That is sort of obvious. But this is also the first hike we have done with the meetup group since August. I hope that today is just a start of consistent hiking with them rather than the sporadic times we have had the last several years. Also a bit apprehensive as this is a 1,500’ climb over 7-8 miles. It has been awhile since I have done this.

I got up at 6:30 and we made it to the gathering place a little before 8:00am. At 8:10 we take off with three passengers besides Sherri and myself: Mary, Todd and Adriane. Adriane we have hiked with before and are glad she is with us again. It is a short drive to Ya Gub Weh Tuh parking area, which is already crowded. By the way, the name is not something which Yogi Bear might say, but the name is a Native American word-sorry cannot find the meaning. We gather up here about 35 or so of us.

Hiker Bridge over the San Joaquin River

I start off towards the end. Cathey and I talk for a bit. The first section of this lollipop trail is downhill to the bridge. When we get close to the bridge over the San Joaquin River, I drop back, somewhat to take a picture of people on the bridge. This still does not make me last.

But when I leave the bridge, we start going up hill on the Pa’San Ridge Trail. So I drop back to huff and puff up the hill.Some others are back that far as well. But as someone has said, this is the first hike of the new year, so we are not under any pressure to act like we are completely in shape-I am not, just improving. This is low level elevation hike on a cool day. Still I am sweating going up it. Enough sweat that it is running into my eyes and I am constantly having to wipe them off. But the area is pleasant. All the grasses are green. Some trees have their leaves out for us to enjoy, others offer silhouettes, and then there are the trees with a touch of gold in them-not sure if those are still shutting down for the Winter or gearing up for the Spring. But overall it has a nice effect.

San Joaquin River-west from bridge

After an hour of going up the hill, the effect is starting to wear on the last of the pack group. There is the wondering of if we should turn back or not. I has been five years since I walked this trail, but I think we are getting to the top. But every time I think that, the trail goes away from where I think the midpoint is. So up we go some more. But when we top on ridge, we see the rest of the group at the top of a ridge a couple rises away. So there is hope. After 15 more minutes, we arrive and the back part of the group sits down to rest.

But those who have been waiting a while decide it is time to get up and leave. How discouraging! But we do rest up for about 15 minutes before continuing our trip down the hill. For some reason I feel more energized-not yet like my old self, but sufficiently that I feel like I could do the return trip pretty well. Still not a spring in my step though.

Gary on the Bridge

When we go past one ravine, Becky has found a skeleton about 20’ up the ravine. I go up it and get a picture. Looks like a horse, at least its hoof and skull. Then it is on down the trail. Places are steep, but not the worst I have ever seen. Still glad we went counter-clockwise on this loop. I did not do much picture taking on this part-maybe just concentrating on not stopping rather than enjoying what is there. My bad.

Area in red is where we hiked. Aerial view from Kay.

We now get down to the bridge. Here is the part I dread. Uphill at the last. I like hikes whose last part is either level or a little downhill. While not steep, it is up. Will my energy level last? Will I be able to make it up without pain and agony? Yes! Still not a lot of energy at the end. Still enough to be cheerful. Now to go out for pizza.

But when we gather our car together, we only find two of them. Where is our third passenger? In another car a person is missing as well. Have they taken another car back-they were faster than us. Cathey and John go ahead to the pizza place in Prather to see if they are there. We wait in case they are in the area. I figure we will wait another 15 minutes-after all, we were the last ones in and it had been at least 15 minutes since we arrived. This situation is one of the worst things that can happen to a hike organizer. There is a fear that they are still out on the trail, but with the suspicion they may already be back in Fresno. Also there is no phone service here.

John and Gary

While we waited in the parking lot, there was speculation about where the pair might be. We saw a couple groups come up the trail, but not ours. The trees against the clouds did provide some calming influence. Then a couple of females came up the trail-there is our missing hikers! They had missed the turn for the bridge. So they did a bit of over-achieving. Great joy and relief. We get going to Prather for pizza, texting that they were safe. 

 

Looking down on the San Joaquin River

Relief is shown when we get to the Prather Pizza Factory. Everybody is hungry. But then when we try to order a pizza, it is a 45 minute wait. We decide that we can be back in Fresno in 30-45 and ordering our own food, so we take off. While the ending of the day was less than satisfying, as a whole, it was a good day. All hikers came back safe and we all made the loop in pretty good condition. Glad we went.

Trail Lesson:

Not a traditional trail lesson, but just some thoughts about what to do when we have a misplaced hiker. First, the hikers, in this case, just missed the turnoff to return over the bridge. But they did the right thing by traveling in a pair and not splitting up. Once they figured out they had gone too far, they returned. So maybe a bit more understanding to pass on to hikers about where to turn, if they are going to go ahead. Or have people wait at trail junctions.

Now the question, what should the organizers do in a situation like this. But even before that, I am thinking that what is good practice is that the driver should have some contact person for each person in the car. Also to give instructions to the passengers that if they go with someone else, leave a note on the car saying that they are leaving with someone else.

The Mountaineer’s group has a potential leader’s course. They say to do the following if there is a lost hiker situation:

• Keep group in view and count noses regularly to prevent lost hikers!! But if you lose someone:
• Determine when and where hiker was last seen.
• Plan a search – review where searchers will go on the map (everyone must have a map!)
• Don’t send anybody out alone; nobody should be waiting alone while group searches. People should bring their pack and gear.
• Designate a time and place to reassemble all search groups
• If hiker is not found, contact local search and rescue via 911.

From Backpacker magazine: The key is to be systematic in your efforts:

1. Gather information and make a plan.
   1. Identify when the person went missing and his last known location.
   2. Discuss his or her personality traits. Is the person likely to panic and move, or stay put? Is he or she reliable?
   3. Brainstorm what survival gear the missing person may be carrying.
2. Organize search teams.
   1. Make sure no one is looking alone.
   2. Each team should have marked maps and a clear sense of their location and the area they should explore.
   3. Set return times.
3. Do an initial “hasty” search.
   1. Send searchers to obvious places: water, trails, and so forth.
   2. Lost people tend to follow linear features like streams and trails, so focus initial searches accordingly.
   3. Leave notes in obvious places instructing the lost person to sit tight. Recheck these spots regularly.
4. Do a fine search.
   1. If it becomes clear that you’re not going to find the missing person easily, shift efforts into a detailed “fine” search. At this point, you’ll probably need to bring in outside help, as fine searches require lots of people power. Call 911 or send runners to the trailhead to seek assistance. While you wait, you can continue searching:
   2. Organize your group into parties of three or more with a designated leader. Give each team a specific area to examine, and designate a length of time to search. The timeframe will be determined by terrain, number of searchers, resources, and distances, so it may vary anywhere from two hours to six or eight.
   3. Each search team should spread out in a line, close enough so they can see and hear each other. Call the missing person’s name, and listen for responses. Mark the edges of searched places. Flag clues you find, but leave them in place. Repeat this until you can clear the search area (meaning no sign of the person has been detected).
   4. Keep one incident commander in camp to track teams, determine search areas, and make sure everyone’s rested.

Extra Photo's

San Joaquin River looking west

San Joaquin River Looking east

Hikers and Tree

Animals

Bovine Trail Guardians

October 14, 2015 - San Joaquin River Gorge Loop

Title: October 14, 2015 - San Joaquin River Gorge Loop

Trail head: Ya Gub Weh Tuh Trailhead

Hike Info:

Type:  Hiking

Trail: Pa'San Trail

Destination: Loop

Actual Destination:

Distance: 7.41 miles

Start Time:  8:25

End Time:   1:57

Travel Time: 5:31(1.34 mph)

Moving Time: 4:02 (1.84 mph)

Elevation Rise: 1,582'

Maximum Elevation: 1,811'

Description:
Got up at 5:45 and just sort of mosied around the house. We get to Kohl's right at 7:00. John gives his speech about hiking safety, albeit a shortened version of it. We have a couple of new people in our group today. We are able to hitch a ride with Tom, which is a relief. Even though it is a short drive, less than an hour, I did not feel like driving and neither did Sherri.

San Joaquin River looking West

We get to the parking lot at the San Joaquin River Gorge BLM area a little after 8. But take awhile to get organized.  At the trail head you pay $5 unless you have a park pass. Also there are pit toilets. But at the end, there is a trail which descends to the San Joaquin River. It sort of meanders around the bluffs about the river, before dropping down about 300' to a bridge. Here we all wait till everyone catches up. I talk with Betty and Rebecca on the way day down. 

The water under the bridge is pretty low, but there is not much movement, giving the river a pond-like texture. But after the bridge, I fall back and walk with Jerry, Cathey and John up the north side of the San Joaquin River. At first, it is just a climb, but as we rise up the slope, so does the sun, starting to heat us up. This is the exposed side of the river so after a little while we all are sweating. This in turn drains our energy  making it a pretty slow slog. I will confess, the eye candy is lacking. Everything is so dry and brown, that I come to the conclusion I would rather hike this in the Spring than the Fall. But the saving grace is the banter of those walking at the rear is the fun which you have while hiking.

More hills looking west

Hills on south side of river

Towards the top, we hear the sound of blades whirling towards the west of us. We eventually see the helicopter circling around, but cannot tell what he is doing. After about ten minutes he fly's over us and goes up the San Joaquin a ways. What he is doing, I do not know. My guess is he was trying to find pot farms. Sherri says there was two of them and was wondering if they were heli-vacing someone out.

Why was this copter circling us?

We finally make it to the top of the trail where everyone is waiting for us. We settle in for a little rest, about 20 minutes, before we all move out. I start out hiking with Rebecca, Lien and her sister and a couple of others-am sorry, drawing a blank on who they are. But eventually this group sort of spreads out and I walk with Lee J for the rest of the trail. It is a good easy pace, which I what I need. We talk, she asks how my Mom is doing, and I ask about her trip up to Victoria. Just a good conversation.

Lee and Cherith following the trail in the rocks

For some reason this trail always seems longer coming back than going forward. Maybe this time it is the heat, or just being out of shape, I don't know, but I am lacking energy. But we make it down to the bridge. There we wait for the rest of the gang to show up. After awhile, some of us start on ahead for the final 3/4 of a mile. This seems to stretch on forever-much longer than when we came down it this morning. Lee is struggling and I keep falling behind her. But we all make it to the top and enjoy ourselves while we wait for the rest to come up. We find out that it was 90 degrees today, in the exposed sun.

Our trail towards the end

Afterwards, many of us go to Velasco's in Prather for a good Mexican meal. Tom takes us back to the Kohl's lot and we are happy to be back. A good trip, but probably a bit warm for me-I think most agree with that assessment.

Lonely flower on a rock

Trail Lesson:
 Hiking is a cool weather sport.

Sun on the San Joaquin

Kerchoff Powerhouse

January 28, 2015 - San Joaquin River Gorge Loop

Title: January 28, 2015 - San Joaquin River Gorge Loop

Trail head: Ya Gub Weh Tuh Trailhead

Hike Info:

Type:  Hiking

Trail: San Joaquin River (Pa'San Ridge Loop)

Destination: Loop

Distance: 7.65 miles

Start Time:  8:30

End Time:  12:51

Travel Time: 4:20 (1.77 mph)

Moving Time: 3:35 (2.13 mph)

Elevation Rise: 1,845'

Maximum Elevation: 1,882'

Description:
It is a pleasure to hike with my children. Today Rachel is coming with us. But she needs to be back to Fresno mid-afternoon so she can go to work. We meet with John and company at 7am at Kohl's, our usual winter meetup time. Then it is off to Prather and the BLM parking area around the San Joaquin River Gorge.

This is the second time I have hiked this trail. The first time was a year ago and it was a discovery for Sherri and I. This time around, I am wondering, will be as good as last time? What different things will be seeing? Part of the fun of being on a meetup hike meeting friends of ours like Betty whom we have not seen for awhile, or the two Jerry's,  Kate, Richard, Jing, and several others. Then there are new folks to hike with like Lora and Rebbecca. The later is from Exeter and I pick her brain about the murals down there for a future walk. Sounds like it is worthwhile making a trip there.

San Joaquin River bridge

Powerhouse and San Joaquin

This is a lollipop loop. The candy is a wide loop with a short stick. The first part from the parking lot is a pretty good downhill. Talking is good and we come to the bridge across the river where we regroup again. The water is low-seems like I say this on every hike these days. But there are some beautiful reflections on both side of the bridge. 

But now it is time to head up the hill. John decided we will go counter-clockwise. Either way, we get the fun of rising up on the emerald colored hills. Oaks are silhouetting their branches against the sky. We see evidence of recent rain and cow activity (explains the greenness of the grass). The trail meanders around with n it route up. I get a bit confused about which drainage we are in, but that is quickly cleared up-I tried to figure out where Delilah is and boy am I long ways off. 

 

Trail, Trees and Sky

At the top we stop for a break, allowing us all to socialize. I have a pleasant talk with Lora. Rachel needs to get to work at 3, so we make arrangements for Sherri and Art to have a ride back down. So when the group heads out, I am in the unaccustomed position of being in the faster group. Still, I do pretty decent. A bit tired, but that may be from the lingering effects of a cold. Some things about traveling faster, first my eyes do not have time to roam the country side as much. But the other thing, is instead of letting my eyes just droop to the ground, they are roving and taking in more.

Such a nice meadow

Unfortunately, not much time for lollygagging. So when we hit the bridge, Rachel and I just keep on going. The good part of going back up to the car, and I do mean up, for some reason, this part of the trail has seemed like it is faster finishing up than starting. But that is a good thing. Rachel and I get to the car a little before 1 and make it back to Fresno about 1:45, plenty of time to get cleaned up from hiking and going to her job. Sherri said that they ate at a Mexican restaurant in Prather, an enjoyable time. They got back around 4.

Looking down into the gorge

Oak

San Joaquin River

March 14, 2014 - San Joaquin River (Pa'san Ridge Loop)

Title: March 14, 2014 - San Joaquin River (Pa'San Ridge Loop)

Trail head:  Ya Gub Weh Tuh Trailhead

Hike Info:

Type:  Hiking

Trail: San Joaquin River (Pa'San Ridge Loop)

Distance:  7.60 miles

Start Time:  8:03am

End Time:   12:32pm

Travel Time: 4:28 (1.70  mph)

Moving Time: 3:19 (2.28  mph)

Elevation Rise:  1,739'

Maximum Elevation: 1,842'

Description:

The morning started on a sour note. Two of our bikes were taken from the garage. Needless to say, we are not happy about the event and are a bit in a acheronic state. But we are having some people over for breakfast who we will be hiking with. So we need to get the  breakfast of pancakes and bacon together. Three of these people we invited last Monday after the Pinchusion Peak hike. We enjoyed them and just wanted to have them over. We found out that a couple of other people from Wednesday's hike would be doing today's walk, so we invited them as well. Seven was about as much as we could handle the first thing out. Our breakfast was simple: pancakes, bacon, fruit and orange drink-Brian brought the orange drink  and Kate the maple syrup and whole oranges. A good morning meal.

We meet the other people at the Temperance Park and Ride at 7am and rode up to the Ya Gub Weh Tuh Trailhead. We get started a little after 8-sort of nice to be able to start hiking within an hour of meeting people. This hike starts on the south side of the San Joaquin River on BLM land. We drop 350' down to the San Joaquin River. While only a mile or so, we get a taste of the trail. Wild flowers have started to come out. So the hillside has a scattering of yellows, whites, blues and purple flowers. But mixed in is some poison oak with its shiny, oily leaves, just starting to turn red in a few leaves.

Meetup Hikers

After going through two cattle gates-being careful to close and chain them-we come to a bridge crossing the San Joaquin River Gorge.  By this time, Sherri is lagging behind because she is trying to deal with the stolen bikes. But once off the phone, we start walking earnest. We come to the start of the loop where our group has decided to take the clockwise version of the trail-more shade on the return trip. So we get up to the junction and make a left turn.


 


Immediately we start climbing. It is not a bad climb--like some of the breathlessly steep high Sierra passes Sherri and I have done--we can breath on this one. But it is still a good climb. I am carrying my new pack with about 28-30 pounds in it, as a training exercise. While not feeling terribly heavy, I can tell that my breathing is more labored than it would have been without the pack. But that is why I am wearing it today-training. Much better now than later.

Fields of Wild Flowers

Sherri and I catch up with Bill pretty soon-he has been taking some of his wonderfully artistic pictures. I guess you cannot speed the artist. But this makes us feel good that at least we now have company. The hills have that Spring-time green which our foothills should have. But you can tell there is not the moistness in the ground which a normal year has. Eventually my long-sleeve shirt comes off; then the pant legs, so I am walking in hiking shorts.

Reflection on the San Joaquin

We catch up with Dana and Lisa a little while later. Of course, you can claim the only reason why we caught up with them is that they needed to receive an important phone call-but we will take what ever reason. They soon resume their quicker pace and leave us behind in the dust. As we continue our climb to the top of the gorge, it is relaxing seeing the wildflowers. You get a rudimentary understanding of what Jesus was taking about when he said:  Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?  “And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin^.  Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. How soon I will forget that lesson, even in retirement.

San Joaquin River Gorge

Eventually we catch up to the group, at the top of the gorge. They have settled down to enjoy the vista along with some food. Why does the eye candy we get at the top of places make the food we eat seem so much more enjoyable? One of the things I have been lugging around this trail is a bear canister. The canister is filled with cookies we made earlier in the week. I do not think anybody complained of the lack of freshness. Maybe it is the enjoyment factor of the views.

After a nice break, we start our downward trek. Seems a lot easier or is it we take more pictures? Sherri settles in with Rose and I walk with Bill. Conversations flow a lot better when you are not gasping for breath. We soon come across an AmeriCorps (National Civilian Community Corps) trail crew. Trail crews are what makes it possible for hikers like me to walk all over the mountains. I thank them for their work. 

Cow-a-bunga

Shortly afterwards, we come across some of the makers of the patties we have been avoiding along this trail. Yep, there are bovines eyeballing us as intruders into their territories. But they leave us along, but we insist on getting their picture. Seems like they tolerate us, but wish we would go away.

Kerkoff Powerhouse

We come back in sight of the Kerkoff Powerhouse and know it is not much farther. Down we go to the bridge and start back up the trail. Seems like it is harder going back up this mile stretch to the car. Also a bit more sweat is clouding my glasses. But we come back to the parking lot. The trail is clear and we enjoy a few more minutes of camaraderie before we take off back to Fresno. All in all, a good day on a trail neither Sherri or I had been on before. Glad we came.

San Joaquin River Gorge

Place: CA-Ya Gub Weh Tuh

Ya Gub Weh Tuh (Millerton East)
(Long, Lat)

Description:
Campground and Trailhead in the San Joaquin River Gorge BLM management area, a little outside of Audberry

Trips:

• March 15, 2014 - Meetup group hiking the Pa'San Ridge Loop Trail
• January 28, 2015 - Meetup group hiking the Pa'San Ridge Loop Trail
• October 14, 2015 -  Meetup group hiking the Pa'San Ridge Loop Trail
•  January 1, 2020 - Meetup group hiking the Pa'San Ridge Loop Trail

References:

•  Waymarking site
• BLM Site
• Sierra News Online
• FresYes blog
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Pictures:

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