|
Dick's
Adventures of 2016 - Part 7 |
|
Photos
Related Links
More
Travel Reports |
|
Adventures
of 2016 Part 1
Adventures of 2016 Part 2
Adventures of 2016 Page 3
Adventures
of 2016 Part 4
Adventures
of 2016 Part 5
Adventures
of 2016 Part 6
San
Joaquin River Trail West
FINS Trail
California Flat
Shadow of the Giants
San Joaquin Gorge
Hensley Reservoir
San Joaquin River Trail East
|
|
San
Joaquin River Trail West
I had four days free at the start of November,
with no bad weather expected, so I knew it was time for a hike. I
got in touch with my daughter Teri, and she was available on
November 2. She came over about 10:15 and we drove out to the
South Finegold Picnic area near Sky Harbor, on Millerton
Lake.
This
is the start of the section of the San
Joaquin River Trail that goes
from there to the San
Joaquin River Gorge (AKA Squaw Leap), a distance of
about 12 miles. I walk both ends of the trail, but will not be doing
the entire route until they invent a time machine. However, Teri
plans to do it in a two-day hike some time in the spring, with me picking her up at the upper end.
We
had excellent hiking weather, with very few clouds, only a slight
breeze, and the temperature about 60 when we started out. It warmed
up considerably during the four hours that we were gone, but never so warm as to be
uncomfortable.
This
end of the trail starts off with a long stretch that is mostly
uphill. There are short level spots, and one downhill section into a
deep drainage, but the overall impression is that you are going up
all the time. As the trail rises up, distant foothills and high Sierra
mountains come into view. We saw snow on the highest
peaks in two locations, and had a good view of Shuteye
Peak, an 8,000 foot dome with a fire lookout east of Bass Lake.
Eventually
you come to a saddle, where the trail continues on to a long section
of up and down, parallel to the river. At the saddle, a path leads
up to the top of a small knoll to the east, where you can see that the
lake makes the start of a a big "S curve" through a
narrow channel.
Another
path goes west up to a higher, steeper knoll, and beyond that is the
infamous Pincushion
Peak, which I hiked earlier
this year with my daughters and Wes Thiessen.
This
saddle was my stopping place the
first few hikes, except that I did go up to the west
knoll a time or two. This year I set a goal for hikes that are
"out and back" of going a little farther each time, so in
February I continued on past the saddle for a moderate distance.
This
time Teri
and I went up the low knoll to the east and had a fairly long
rest and a snack, then set off to go farther than ever before. The
temperature had warmed up, we got a later start than we like, and
when we reached my previous farthest point, it felt like I had gone
as far as I wanted. In order to accomplish our goal, we walked about
50 feet past this point, then came back, had another rest and snack,
and started back.
It's
most enjoyable to hike in this area in the winter and spring, when
it's green and there are lots of flowers. However, we did see four
different wildflowers on this trip, and several recent rainstorms
have given the
grass and broadleaf plants a good start.
Wildlife
was mostly the six-legged variety. We saw several types of butterflies,
but most of them were brown with orange spots. We also saw a lot
of the small black
beetles we call stink
bugs, which apparently are properly called pinacate beetles.
There are web sites devoted to a species called stink bugs which are
quite different from the ones we saw, but there are 120 species of
pinacates in the western United States. I've seen them in the
foothills all my life, and they were out in force on this date,
hurrying along the trail on important beetle business known only to
them.
There
were quite a few birds, most enjoyably a woodpecker
working on a dead bull pine, ignoring us even though we were only a
few feet from the base of his tree. A few lizards
also ran across the trails and into the rocky banks along the way.
Near the very end of our hike we saw a
tarantula, a bit late for the fall mating march, but making his
way with undaunted determination.
One
thing we didn't see much of was other people. There was a couple and
two women finishing their hike as we started out, and we saw one
other hiker on the trail itself. Starting early was probably a good
choice, since it was 59 degrees when we left home, but a rather warm
72 as we arrived back at the car.
Since
I started hiking at this location I've gone back at least twice
every year, so prepare yourselves for still more reports, hopefully
when the spring flowers have made a good start.
--Dick Estel, November 2016
San Joaquin Trail
Photos
|
|
FINS
Trail (Friant Interactive Nature Site)
This
was a short hike, so I'll try to make it a short report. Recently I
heard about a new trail that just opened along the San Joaquin
River. It starts by the San
Joaquin Fish Hatchery in Friant, a small town on the river that
is the border between Fresno and Madera Counties, and goes to nearby
Lost
Lake Park, a county park that has been in existence for decades.
November
6 was the day of a marathon in Fresno and Clovis, and the road to my
usual hiking trailhead was closed for the event, so I thought I
would drive out to the new trail and avoid the runners. This was not
entirely successful, since it turned out the route ran along the side
of Willow Avenue, the most direct route from my house to Friant Road.
The runners were on a part of the Clovis trail that parallels
Willow, and some of the cross streets were closed, but Willow was
open, with very long waits at a couple of traffic lights.
I made
it through the congestion, turned east on Friant Road, and arrived
at the trailhead a few minutes later. The trail is part of the Friant
Interactive Nature Site, which includes the hatchery. But
the most interesting part of the area is the Small Fry
Trail, just
off the main trail. It shows the development of trout from egg to
big lunker, and has lots of fun stuff for kids. There are several animal and
fish models, a beaver dam, a slide, other play
areas, two bridges (no water now), a
raft, a canoe, and a bed of pea
gravel, simulating a place where small trout hide, with shovels for
people who like to dig in the dirt.
I walked through the
trail, which had no other visitors, but skipped the gravel dig. The
main trail continues on through typical riparian terrain, with many
big trees, lots of shrubs and several cattail
ponds. As always there were a few wildflowers
in bloom, and the recent rains have given the green
grass a good start. There is a bridge that goes over a branch of the river
with a good flow of water. A short distance from this the paved
trail abruptly ends at the edge of Lost Lake Park, which is closed
for campground reconstruction.
This trail is the newest
segment of the planned San
Joaquin River Trail, which when fully
completed will extend from near Highway 99 to the Devil's Postpile
National Monument on the eastern side of the Sierra.
My round trip walk was a
little over 1.5 miles. Once Lost Lake is open, a hike could be
extended through that area, adding another mile or two, something I
will do one of these days.
--Dick Estel, November 2016
FINS
Trail Photos
|
|
California
Flat Camp & Ramblers Second Nelder Hike
In
February of 2015 I camped at Hensley Reservoir, and the
Ramblers came out for hiking one day. I have been wanting to do
another camping/Rambler hike combo trip, and hoped to do it when we
went to Nelder Grove October
25.
This
did not work out because of the weather, but I had several days free
in the middle of November. My daughter Teri was available for
camping the 14th through the 17th, and the Ramblers were ready to
hike on the 15th, so I kept an eye on the weather forecast, planning
to camp at California Flat, about two miles from the grove, then
meet the Ramblers at the campground for hiking.
This
location is where Road 6S47Y
crosses California Creek between Forest Highway 10 and the road that
comes in from Sugar Pine. The junction with the Sugar Pine road is only about a quarter of a
mile from the road into Nelder Grove Campground. I had camped
with my motor home at this spot just over two years earlier, but
without an extra vehicle, I did my hiking close to camp. This time I
would drive the motor home and Teri would bring her car, so we could
drive to Nelder, as well as other places on the other days of our
outing.
This
site is not an official campground, just a place where people have
camped many times over the past few decades. There is a short
"driveway" down from the main dirt road to a somewhat
level spot, with room to turn around, and a
fire ring. Down a short track from this spot is the level area along
the creek that caused me to name the place California Flat, where there are a few more fire rings. This section is
not accessible to a motor home the size of mine, but can be
navigated by truck or SUV with no difficulty.
I got
started around 9 a.m., completing the 55 mile drive in a little
under two hours, with a gas stop in Coarsegold. Along FH 10 there
are some burned over areas, the result of the Sky
Fire in the summer of 2015. This was a relatively small fire,
only 500 acres, but it blackened virtually every tree in some
areas.
When I
got to the camp site, I got the motor home
partially set up, but waited about 15 minutes for Teri to arrive, so
she could guide me in driving the RV on to leveling blocks. With
that accomplished, tables and chairs set out, and some
leftover firewood brought up from the campsite down by the creek, we
were ready for our first hike. When I camped here last year I had
hiked up an old road along the creek to two meadows. I also went to
the first meadow with the
Ramblers in October of last year.
Getting
to California Meadow, the first one on the route, is pretty straight
forward. A big log blocks vehicle access to the old road, but it's
an easy hike. Just past the log is the "land of confused
thistles," where warm weather late in the season has
caused some of these plants to start new growth and even put forth blossoms.
Trees have fallen across the road in places, and hikers have
developed detours. The last third of the way is pretty much a
trail that completely bypasses the old road.
It is necessary to cross California
Creek to get to the meadow, but there are a couple of places where
this can be done, stepping on rocks and using hiking poles for
balance. There
are lots of old boards and pieces of scrap lumber in the
meadow from fences and possibly other structures from long
ago, and last year most of them were covered with ladybugs,
clustering together for the winter. We saw a few places like that
this time, but it was a warm day, and there were also many of these
insects flying around. The most interesting aspect of this meadow is
a stump where someone has carved a memorial to a woman who died in
the 1980s, as well as other
names. Of course, this carving had not been done when I first visited this
spot in the 1970s.
After
observing the stumps and the ladybugs, we re-crossed the creek and started up
the trail
to the second meadow, known as Nichols Meadow. I had some trouble
getting on the right trail in 2015, but eventually arrived at my
destination. This time we had even less success, never actually reaching
the meadow. The trail we were on seemed to veer off to the west more
than I had remembered, and before long we were struggling
cross-country, following brief sections of game trails and old roads
that looked promising then disappeared after a few feet.
I
finally concluded that we had taken the wrong route, and were
probably past the meadow, so we made our way down to the creek,
following it downstream and eventually crossing it till I spotted an open area
through the trees. We were delighted to have finally reached our
destination, only to realize that we had come back into California
Meadow from a slightly different direction. We made the best of it,
exploring parts of the meadow we missed earlier, and getting some
good photos of leaves that were changing
color.
The
extra work of hiking this route, including stepping over logs and
balancing on piles of dead branches as we made our way, left both of
us feeling much more stiff and sore than we are used to from
"normal" hiking. However, I vowed to someday find the
right trail and again visit Nichols Meadow.
Since
our hike had been relatively short despite its difficulty in spots,
we decided to take another shorter walk before supper. On the other side
of the creek from our camp an old dirt road goes into the flat area,
through a meadow, then starts down hill into the forest. I'll call
this The Meadow Road, since it will come up again in this report. Just past
the meadow is a "crossroads," where a lesser quality road
goes in both directions. We turned right, and soon arrived at a nice
campsite next to the creek. At this spot the level area ends, and
the creek drops down over some rocks in a series of cascades. From
here we went back out through the meadow and back to our camp,
adding another mile to our daily total.
Not long after we
returned from this hike we were ready to start fixing dinner. We
also did something I rarely do when camping with the motor home,
built a campfire. Teri had her propane camp stove and prefers to
cook outside, so while she started fixing pork chops, I brought out
a 2008 newspaper I've been keeping for a few years, piled on the
kindling we had picked up, and lit the fire. Unfortunately the
kindling and the wood we had gathered from a nearby site were
slightly damp from the rain that fell in late October, and it took a
long time to actually have a fire that would warm us up.
Nevertheless, we ate outside, and by piling wood chunks next to the
fire, we got them dry enough to finally give us a proper campfire.
As often happens at camp,
bedtime came earlier than usual, and after reading inside the RV for
awhile, we got to bed about 8:30. This time is fairly normal for
Teri, but about an hour early for me.
The next day was to be
our hike with the Ramblers, so we made sure to eat a good breakfast
to provide energy for the nearly 100% uphill hike that was in store.
Teri had invited a couple of her friends to join us, and they were
going to meet us at the Nelder campground. There was some confusion
over whether Wes and company were meeting us there or at our camp,
so we went to the grove and they went to our camp, but eventually we
got everyone together and ready to hike part of the longest, hardest
trail in the area.
To fully explain this
trail I need to go back in time a bit. When I first started coming
to Nelder Grove in 1969, there was a road that went uphill from the
campground. It crossed Nelder Creek and continued up and around the side
of the mountain, where it leveled off for about a mile. Rounding a bend, I
saw a small basin with six or eight sequoia stumps of various sizes,
blackened from a fire. They were surrounded with low brush and young
trees. Just
above the road to the right there was a dead
sequoia, broken off
about 100 feet above the ground and completely devoid of bark.
Another similar snag rose up below the road, and another dead
redwood, with no foliage but still with a few top branches, stood
guard at the lower side of the stump basin. There were a couple of
good size giant redwoods, and a number of young sequoias. Up a dirt
track from the road, there was a top to bottom view of the most
rugged and impressive living sequoia I had ever seen, known as the
Old Granddad.
This road has been closed
to vehicles for decades, and I walked the three miles one way to the top in
2008, only to face massive disappointment. The firs, pines and
cedars had grown up so thick and tall that I was walking right by the
upper snag before I realized I had reached the area. The stumps were
almost impossible to see, and only the top of the Old Granddad was
visible. There does not appear to be any plan to thin the excessive
growth and restore the view, so for now, this hike is not worth the
effort.
The area has been named
the Graveyard of the Giants, and this name also applies to the trail
that has replaced the road. After the first mile, the road crosses
Nelder Creek, where there are several nice sequoias close to the trail, and this was our destination.
Our group included regular
Ramblers Wes Thiessen, Carolyn Amicone, and Dick Estel; Don
McClellan, a sort of "Rambler in training," Teri, who is a
"Rambler when she can be," and two of Teri's friends Sandy
and Yvette. Julie Hornback was unable to be with us for this outing. Teri and I had hiked with Sandy several times,
but it was my first time meeting Yvette.
The trail goes uphill
most of the way, with a couple of short level spots. It was warm
enough that everyone was shedding a layer by the time we got to the
top, and we looked for shade for our rest stops. After the creek
crosses the trail, it drops down through a fairly steep
canyon, and
big sequoias are visible along the slopes. Where the creek levels
off again is the Shadow of the Giants Trail which the Ramblers have
hiked and which I've written about a few times. As you approach the
creek, you are looking down the canyon, and ahead, right by
the road, is the Leaner
Tree. This big redwood is about 10 degrees
off the vertical, and since I've never seen another sequoia like it,
I'm pretty sure it used to be straight. Probably a year of heavy
rain softened the ground around it enough that it started to lean,
but the roots held, the ground dried out, and it appears to be
anchored firmly in place (for now).
Everyone rested, hydrated
and wandered about a little at our turnaround spot. Teri and her
friends continued up the trail a short distance to another big
tree,
while Don, Wes and I followed a trail a short distance up the creek
toward Nelder
Basin. Due to time considerations, we did not go as
far as we could have, but I suspect that we could not have gone much
further. However, I hope to make another trip up there and prove or
disprove that theory. A final look at Nelder Basin would be a
special experience.
We started back down,
mostly an easy walk. There is one stretch near the top that is very
rocky, and we had to be careful in order to safely navigate this
part. Once past this section we just enjoyed the fall
leaves, big
evergreens, and the companionship. From the trailhead we drove to
our camp, where I had pizza waiting to be heated in the microwave.
Wes provided a green salad, making for a very nice and well-deserved
lunch after our 2.31 mile hike.
After lunch, our guests
departed, and Teri and I soon decided to take one more short hike,
so we went to the Meadow Trail again. This time we turned left at
the crossroads. As we expected, this route took us to Road 6S47Y,
only a few feet from where it joins the paved road. Walking back to
camp from there gave us a total of a little over one additional mile
for the day. Both days by the dirt road near the meadow we noticed
some weird
mushrooms, with tall, skinny stems. The second day they had bent
over in the middle so that the tops were touching the ground, and
the area around them was stained with some sort of black substance.
We concluded that these were unlikely to be edible.
That evening we had a
much better fire. I used the Hot Wood I had bought at the
supermarket, and had a nice warm fire very quickly. We dried out
some more of the local chunks beside the fire, and everything we put
on it caught fire and worked out fine.
When we were ready to go
inside, we let the fire die down, then started the generator and the
heater, and watched part of a Ken Burns documentary on DVD, Lewis & Clark - The Journey of the Corps of Discovery.
I had had this DVD for a number of years, but never got around to
watching it, and knew that Teri would enjoy it. It is four hours
long, so it could be watched in segments over the three days we were
there.
Before our trip the
weather forecast had consistently predicted highs in the 60s, and
lows in the 40s - for Monday and Tuesday. For Wednesday, it was
expected to be 20 degrees cooler, with a chance of rain and snow. As
usual, we were undaunted. Another weather source said the snow level
would be 7,000 feet, 2,000 feet above our location, so we weren't
really worried about the white stuff. If it rained, we could sit
under the awning, with hot tea for Teri and a bloody Mary for me.
Tuesday night we put away the extra chairs and table I had brought
for our large lunch gathering and moved everything except a TV tray
with the thermometer under the
motor home awning.
The low Wednesday morning
was around 40 with no rain or snow, but we decided to have our tea
and bloody Mary inside the motor home, with the heater running, and
watching some more of the Lewis and Clark special. After allowing
the temperature to warm up a little, we had breakfast, and set out
to drive to some nearby locations where we could walk around.
The roads in this area
fork, wind around, and come together again, passing by several
official forest service campgrounds. We ended up going to Greys
Mountain Campground, which stretches a half mile or so along Willow
Creek. I knew that friends of mine used to camp there, and spoke of
a nice swimming hole downstream from the camp. Of course, we had no
desire to enter the water, since the high temperature for the day
reached only 45 degrees, but we walked down to the creek, and found
a path through a meadow along the stream. Where the bank became
steeper, the trail went
up slightly, coming back down to the creek where there was a
series of cascades, which we later learned are called Soquel
Waterfall. The water drops about four feet in two channels, runs
down some rocks, and falls another six feet into what appeared to be
an ideal swimming
hole.
In addition to the falls,
this area presented an unusual jumble
of rocks up on the creek bank, some venerable old cedar
trees, and dramatic
clouds over the meadow. After enjoying these views, we walked
back to the road, crossed over, and went through the upper section
of the campground, noting that there are 24 sites, spread out so that
you could camp here without being close to any other campers. We
also discovered on the web site that there is a fairly steep price for
this privilege, given that that services include only one restroom,
and no water or garbage service. Of course, with no host on duty at
this season, we could have camped here for free in November.
In the creek near the
various campsites people have placed small rock
dams across the creek to create a series of wading pools, or
maybe just to satisfy the human urge to change nature.
From where we were
parked, the road continues on and connects with the Baesore
Road that comes in from Bass Lake. Another fork leads to Texas
Flat Campground. From the map, this appeared to be a dead end road
with no outlet past the campground, about a mile away. (Later I
learned that this is a horse camp.) We went back
on the road we came in on, and spent a few minutes driving through
Soquel Campground, where the sites are all close to each other, then
turned on a road that led to Soquel Meadow, Fresno Dome, and farther into the mountains.
Although Soquel Meadow is
private, fenced land, it is very
photogenic, with a picturesque old
barn complete with a board fence and a tumble-down cattle
loading chute. As you arrive at the meadow you get a nice view of Fresno
Dome, rising to 8,000 feet above its surroundings. There is a
trail to the top, and I hope to make that hike at least one more
time someday.
After taking a series of
photos at this location, we turned back, and made our final stop at
what my younger daughter's in-laws have always called "The
Meadow." If it has a name, I can't find it on the map. We
drove in on the rough dirt road a few hundred feet, parked and
walked into the meadow. By this time the sun was getting low, the
wind was increasing, and the high temperature of 44 was well in the
past, so we did not stay long. Throughout the day I wore four
layers, and never felt too warm.
We had already decided
that we would not bother with a fire this final night, but would
stay inside with the heater going, dine on chili that Teri had made,
and finish watching the Lewis & Clark special.
About 5:30 we were
sitting at the table when we heard a pounding on the roof. "The
rain has finally arrived," we said. It slacked off, then
pounded some more, then stopped. I decided to step out and check the
temperature. When I opened the door, we saw that the ground, the
fire ring, Teri's car, the motor home, and the TV tray containing
the thermometer were all covered
with hail. It was still coming down lightly, so I got my camera
and took a few flash photos.
During the night I
checked the temperature at 3:15 a.m. - it was 25. However, it cooled
off before we got up, to 23 degrees. Needless to say, the hail had
not melted. Teri was sleeping in the deck above the cab and there
was frost on the inside of the upper window in front.
We had our breakfast,
washed dishes and got most things ready to go, then set out for a
final hike. Again we took the Meadow
Trail, passing the crossroads where we had explored both left
and right branches, and continued down the hill to a little past the
farthest point I walked to in 2014. We came to a very faint road to
the left, and thought it might come out on the paved road, so we
turned that way. The road soon became a trail, not an official
maintained trail by any means, but a clear path that led along the
side of the hill, through trees
and bushes, and eventually up to the road as expected. We were
about a mile from our camp, so we got in a two mile hike on our last
day.
For the first part of
this hike we were wearing all the layers we had, including down
jackets, although I took mine off when we got to the paved road.
When we got back to camp
we finished up the last minute details for departure, said our
goodbyes, and departed for warmer territory. It was 12:30, and most
of the previous night's hail was still in place.
Final Thoughts:
For
those who aspire to love Nelder Grove as I do, I have updated my Nelder
web page. It includes a short essay I wrote in 1969, along with
several updates over the years.
A
portion of this report, with slight variations, can be found on the Ramblers
page.
Long
time readers may have noticed a subtle (or maybe not so subtle)
change in my camping activities. I used to get the RV set up, then
fix a bourbon and soda. I would spend much of my time sitting and
reading, interspersed with short walks and hikes near my campsite.
Now after initial set-up, my first activity is usually a fairly long
hike, with a backpack, lots of water, and a snack. I had a $20 pair of
boots from Payless that were just showing signs of wear after ten
years, so I recently bought a new pair, much better quality, much more money
to the store and the boot maker. At the time I realized that I had
done more hiking in the last two years than in the previous ten or
fifteen.
I think the explanation
is simple. I'm older, but wiser. I have more aches and pains each
year, but keeping the body moving is the best thing I can do to keep
it moving even longer. And I have to admit that I look forward to
the more challenging treks much more than I did to sitting in a
chair reading, something I can do at home without the work of
loading up the RV and driving 50 miles or more.
--Dick Estel, November 2016
California
Flat Photos |
|
Shadow
of the Giants Trail
I've written
about this trail twice
in recent years, so I'll just note that it is about a mile from the
Nelder Grove Campground, and is a loop that runs up one side of
Nelder Creek and down the other, with a number of giant sequoias
along the way. In fact, during this hike I realized that this trail
offers the largest number of big trees that are close to the trail
and easily
seen of any trail in Nelder Grove. At one point you can see
three at the same time within a 150 foot stretch. The Chimney Tree
Trail has several large trees, but most of them are partially
obscured by the smaller trees and are away from the trail.
My
daughter Teri was cat-sitting at her sister's house above Oakhurst,
and since the duties mostly involve keeping the food and water bowl
filled, she took advantage of being in the mountains to do some
hiking. She went with her mother to the Wawona
Meadow Loop on November 21, and the next day we planned to hike
in Nelder Grove on the Shadow
of the Giants Trail.
Jennifer's
house is about two miles off Highway 41, so I picked Teri up and
drove the 15 or so miles from Jennifer's to the trailhead. There was
one car there, but by the time we started up the trail, there were
four. There was also a sign warning of a control burn, with a phone
number to call for information. We did not smell or see any smoke,
so we assumed it was some distance off the trail.
During
our total 1.5 mile hike, we met or saw at least eight other parties
- more people than Teri had seen on the Wawona Meadow Loop the day
before, despite this location being over ten miles off the highway,
partly on dirt roads. After a little thought, we came up with the
probable reason: The Mariposa
Grove in Yosemite is closed for road and trail work, so rangers
are probably telling people who want to see redwoods that there is a
nice grove only five miles south of Yosemite. Of course, that's as
the crow flies or John
Muir walks, so it's quite a bit longer by road, but people who
see it for the first time are invariably delighted.
We
were seeing it for something like the 30th time, but we were also
delighted. There are still a few fall leaves on the deciduous trees,
and of course, the big
sequoias are always spectacular. There are also quite a few big
stumps and sections of redwoods on the ground from logging days in
the late 1800s.
During
the last half mile or so we started smelling smoke, so we knew we
were approaching the control burn area. Sometimes it was fairly
strong, and at other times the breeze carried it away from us. As we
neared the trailhead, we saw that at least a half dozen of the burn
piles we had noticed earlier had been set on fire and were burning
nicely. It was cold enough that we were wearing three layers,
and we took advantage of the impromptu "camp fires" to
stop and warm up for a minute.
We
also chatted briefly with one of the firefighters
there setting the fires and watching to see that they did not
spread. There was little worry about that, since there had been
another recent rainfall in the area. The U.S. Forest Service had a
fire truck and a pickup stationed there, with a hose running out
from the truck, so we were comfortable that everything really was
under control.
Teri
had brought sandwiches for our lunch, but before eating we walked
down the road from the trailhead to look at a large redwood on the
other side of the main road, the Sierra
Beauty. Below this nice tree we saw a sloping granite outcrop in
the sun, and decided that would be a good place to be once we were
no longer keeping warm by hiking. We drove down and parked in the
small space by the road, found a perfect log to sit on, and enjoyed
our lunch.
While
we were sitting there, we noticed that there were thousands of
ladybugs clustered on fallen
leaves and an old dead
log nearby. On some leaves they were piled up a half inch deep
or more. Many of them were active, no doubt due to the sunny weather
in their spot.
We
also found several bedrock
mortars, also referred to as Indian grinding holes, in our
granite slab. There were only about three of them, and they were
quite shallow, indicating this was probably not a place of
residence, and got relatively little use.
Eventually
we had to say goodbye to this magical spot, but you can be sure
there will be more reports on this trail and other parts of Nelder
Grove in the future.
--Dick Estel, November 2016
Shadow
of the Giants Photos |
|
San
Joaquin Gorge
This
is probably my 50-something visit to this area. Aren't you glad I
didn't start writing about them till 2002?
After
a summer of freedom, my daughter Teri was preparing to start a new job December 5,
and was trying to get as much hiking in as possible before that
date. Never mind the fact that her job will probably involve walking
an average of five miles daily. Those miles will be where her
employer chooses. The hikes over the summer and right up to the
starting date are her own choosing.
We
decided to go to the San
Joaquin Gorge (AKA Squaw Leap), one of our
favorite late fall/winter/early spring hiking areas. The elevations range from
700 to 1,200 feet, which on December 1 put us just above the fog
that was covering the San Joaquin Valley. There are a number of
trails there, and we chose what I call "The Buzzard Road,"
which is a combination of three official trails and an old roadway on
the north (Madera County) side of the San Joaquin River.
From
the main parking lot it's one mile down to the footbridge over the
San Joaquin River. Just
past the
bridge, there are two trail choices, the Pa'San Ridge
Trail and the Wuh-Ki'o (River) Trail. About a quarter mile up the
latter trail, an old dirt road leads off to the right, going
generally north at first. Eventually it goes west up a steep hill,
then levels off, and walking through this spot a number of years ago
I came upon a dozen or so buzzards in the road. I haven't seen any
there since, but they are frequent flyers over the foothills, so I
named that old route Buzzard Road. The Ridge trail goes about five
miles in a loop to join the River trail high above the gorge, while
the River Trail climbs steadily up the rolling hills of the area's
western section before heading west to Lake Millerton.
Teri
came to my house and we got on the road in my Honda about 8:45. As
soon a we started gaining a little elevation, around the junction of
Millerton Road with Auberry Road, we drove up out of the fog into
sunshine with a few high clouds. We got on the trail just before 10
a.m., dressed for cool but sunny weather, with an extra shirt in our
backpacks "just in case."
The
first part of our hike was one we'd both made many times, from the
main parking lot down to the river on the Bridge Trail. A foot bridge was built
here
around 1980, and we've often gone just past the bridge, then
returned. This time we rested here for awhile, having warmed up
enough to take off a layer and hike in t-shirts. We continued to the fork and up the River Trail,
to where the old road comes in at the top of the first hill. It's
actually not accurate to say the road "comes in" there,
since you can't see any evidence of the road until you go off the
trail about 100 feet, but I know where to turn, and we quickly
spotted the faint pathway that in 1982 was churned up by trucks and
bulldozers brought in to fight a major grass
fire.
Our
route went gradually uphill, then leveled out on a sort of rounded
plateau. Trees had fallen across the old road, and of course there
is no maintenance, so in this area the road disappeared. Normally
cows help keep trails like this visible, but in this area they can
easily wander
anywhere, so no clear path has developed. Our route
was going up gently toward the steep ridge on the north side of the
BLM land, and I knew we would see the old road before reaching the hill,
and soon we were back on track. The rest of the way the route was at
least visible, and in some areas very obvious due to road
embankments along the side.
When I
visit places I haven't been to for a few years, I usually find that
I do not remember exactly what they were like, and that was the case
here. The steep section up to "buzzard flat" actually was
three steep sections, each one leveling off, then starting up again.
We finally reached the highest point, at a location where I camped with my
grandson Johnny (Teri's son) on my last backpacking trip in
2001. This is a big, grassy
area, mostly level, with a little
creek that was not running this day. We looked around here, then
continued up the road to the top of a rise, where we spotted a
perfect lunch spot - in the sun, with good rocks to sit on. It also
offered views of interesting rock
formations, trees and plants.
It was
still sunny and relatively warm when we started eating lunch, but as
we sat there, the fog began drifting in above us. At one point it
looked so dark to the east that we thought it might be rain clouds.
We had both brought our ponchos, and both left them in the car.
However, we soon saw that we were looking at drifting
fog and did not need to worry about rain. However, the
temperature dropped, a breeze came up, and we both put on
another layer as we departed.
We continued on the old road, and very quickly came to the
wide, very obvious and well worn
trail. This was a section of the
Ridge Trail where it starts down hill, and not far from where we
joined it, we saw the River Trail leading off to the west.
Another thing that I did not remember about this trail was how far
it is from where we joined it down to the bridge. As soon as we
started down a steep section I expected it to level off near where
we established a camp in 1981, but the trail went on and on, most of
it fairly steep, with places where it leveled off or went up hill
briefly through a drainage.
However,
eventually we got to the section I was looking for, where two creeks
cross the trail close together. Just up the ridge between the creeks
Teri's husband, Tim, and a friend camped
for a week when they were 18. From here the trail goes up a
short steep section, then makes its final downhill run to the
bridge.
Although
I knew this hike was going to be longer than anything I've done
recently, I was surprised to find that I felt very good going back
up the last mile from the bridge. When we reached the car, we had
gone just under five miles. The last time I did that was
approximately this same hike with Johnny, his wife Brittany, and
their German Shepherd Sidney, in February 2012. I guess it's time to
challenge myself a bit more.
We
also had a fair amount of elevation gain and loss. The trail from
parking lot to bridge descends from 1,000 feet to 700. The highest
point on the upper part of the hike was 1,200 feet. So we went down
300 feet, up and down 500 feet, and back up another 300 feet. There
were no other people on the Buzzard Road part of our hike, but on
the official trails we saw thirteen other people and three dogs.
Heading
back down the road to home, we stopped in Prather and enjoyed an
excellent Mexican dinner at Velasco's, a favorite stop on previous
hikes with the Ramblers and others.
--Dick Estel, December 2016
San
Joaquin Gorge Photos |
|
Hensley
Reservoir
This
camping trip included a Ramblers Hike, so I have put the report on
the Ramblers
page.
Hensley
Reservoir Photos |
|
San
Joaquin River Trail East
Earlier I wrote
about the San Joaquin River Trail West, so if you're
confused about the name or location of this trail, don't feel bad; I
have to stop and think about which end of the trail I'm writing
about. Eventually it's supposed to be part of a much
longer trail, but for now I'm just
concerned with the 12-mile stretch from Finegold Picnic Area near
Sky Harbor (west) to the San
Joaquin River Gorge Special Recreation Management Area (east),
which we often refer to by its previous name of Squaw Leap. Since
12-mile hikes are not in my repertoire, I hike the two ends of the
trail, going between one and two miles in, then turning
back.
My
daughter Teri and I planned this hike for Friday, December 23, until
the weather forecast called for rain all day, all over Fresno
County. We rescheduled for Monday the 26th, but when we woke up to
sunshine on Saturday the 24th, we decided to follow the Ramblers'
Rule, "carpe diem," which roughly translates as, if you're
free, and it's a nice day, go hiking!
By the
time we left my house around 9, fog and clouds were drifting
in, and it looked cloudy over the mountains. However, we arrived at
the trailhead a little after 10 a.m. to find it sunny but cold, with
some fog down in the river canyon. Our direction was up and away
from the gorge itself, and it looked like we would have mostly blue
skies above us.
Although
the temperature was in the 40s, by the time we had gone a half mile
I was ready to take off my flannel shirt, and I was comfortable most
of the rest of the hike with a t-shirt and sweatshirt. The
place I stopped to "cool off" was what I call the
"triple feature" stop on the trail. It has an old,
weathered log just right for sitting, a blue oak with a massive
burl, and a level section of granite
bedrock with several
Indian
grinding holes.
The
trail starts at around 1,000 feet elevation, and goes up and down
through drainages, first crossing a gentle slope below the table top
mountain known as Squaw Leap. After a mile or so, it clings to the
fairly steep side of the upper canyon, but the trail is designed for
comfortable walking, with no really difficult places. At one point
there is sort of a rocky
cliff above the trail, and the land drops off very steeply on
the other side.
In
keeping with my plan to go a little farther than the last hike on
each trail I hike, we continued past the two-trunk blue oak that was my
stopping place when I hiked here last spring, so that I got to see
some new vistas and new areas along the trail. We reached a place
that had a bunch of small granite
rocks, mostly rounded off due to
decomposition, and made this our turnaround point, resting place,
and snack stop.
Since
we had fairly heavy rain the day before, we expected to find lots of
wet, muddy spots on the trail, but there were very few of those.
It's still early in the season, so the rain is probably still
soaking in, and none of the little streams were running. There were
several spots where there seems to be a spring feeding a little
trickle of water on to the trial, and one spot about ten feet long
pretty much covered in puddles, where we had to go off to the side
of the trial. On the way in the resting log at our first stop was
too wet to sit on, but the top of it had dried off by the time we
returned, so we had a final rest there.
It was quite sunny where
we turned back, but our trip back out was much cooler than we
expected, because the upstream breeze came up fairly strong, and the
fog drifted over us from time to time.
Right
from the start of our hike and throughout the day we saw more bike
riders than I have ever before encountered on this trail, probably
because the cool weather made for greater comfort on the long,
uphill stretches they had to power through. As far as wildlife, we
were limited to one sighting of a hawk, who gave his trademark
screech to protest our incursion into his territory, and flew off to
a distant power pole, where we saw him again ten minutes later.
When
we returned to the car, we had logged a respectable 3.42 miles, and
agreed that it was a fantastic way to spend the day before
Christmas.
--Dick Estel, December 2016
San
Joaquin River Trail Photos |
|
Photos
(Click to enlarge; pictures open in new window) |
|
San Joaquin
River Trail West
FINS Trail
California Flat
Shadow of the Giants Trail
San Joaquin Gorge
San Joaquin River
Trail East
|
|
San Joaquin River Trail West |
|
|
|
|
Bull
pine branch curling back on itself
|
The
distant rock mountain is
Shuteye Peak, 8,000 feet elevation |
Snow
on the distant Sierra peaks |
|
|
|
|
Ripples
on Lake Millerton, seen
from the knoll above the saddle |
Teri
and Dick on top of the
knoll, east of the saddle |
A
spot of bright green among the brown grass |
|
|
|
|
Orange
lichen on granite |
One
of several wildflower species |
Woodpecker
busy storing acorns for the future |
|
|
|
|
Pinacate
beetle, AKA stink bug |
These
butterflies were seen all along the trail |
One
of several lizards that
were active when it warmed up |
|
|
|
|
This
tarantula is out a bit
late for the mating season
|
All
insects welcome |
Lots
of cones on this bull pine |
|
|
|
|
A
fallen blue oak branch |
The
promise of a green winter and spring
|
Where
Finegold Creek runs into Lake Millerton |
|
FINS
Trail |
|
|
|
|
Entry
to the parking lot |
The
trail drops down a short
distance to flood plain level |
California
fuchsia |
|
|
|
|
A fun
place for kids |
You
can dig in the gravel next to these big fish |
A
black bear stands guard |
|
|
|
|
Was
Huck Finn here? |
Get
"caught" below this fishing bobber |
A
tunnel and a cattail climbing toy |
|
|
|
|
Bridge over a small
branch of the river |
Berry
bushes line the bank |
There
are still wildflowers |
|
|
|
|
Fall
color along the trail |
Desert
willow |
One of
several cattail ponds |
|
|
|
|
|
Gourds
in the green grass |
|
|
California
Flat Campout |
|
|
|
|
Area burned over by the Sky Fire |
Flowers bloom next to the burn zone |
Moss by the trail to California Meadow |
|
|
|
|
Carved stump in the meadow |
Ladybugs preparing for winter |
Berry leaves turn gold, tinged with
purple |
|
|
|
|
Dick and Teri in California Meadow |
The trail is lined with many
young
cedar and fir trees |
Confused thistle, blooming in November |
|
|
|
|
Top of a sugar pine catches
the late
afternoon sun |
"Some kind of mushroom..." |
A few dogwood leaves remain in Nelder
Grove |
|
|
|
|
Dead fir on the Graveyard of the Giants
Trail |
The Leaner Tree |
Top of another big sequoia |
|
|
|
|
Our hiking destination; we started at
5,000 feet |
Looking down the canyon
of Nelder Creek
and beyond |
The last of the black oak leaves |
|
|
|
|
The Graveyard of the Giants Trail |
Even in fall, moss remains bright green |
Dick and Don resting |
|
|
|
Moss grows all the way up the trunk of this tree |
Don, Yvette, Dick, Carolyn, Teri,
Sandy, Wes |
|
|
|
|
|
The starting point of our
"big
hike" on Wednesday |
A perfect fall scene: Evergreens,
white
clouds, and blue sky |
Willow Creek by Greys Mountain
Campground |
|
|
Panoramic view of Soquel
Falls on Willow Creek |
|
|
|
|
The lower fall and swimming hole |
One of many rock dams
where
the creek
runs by camp sites |
Golden leaves of a black oak |
|
|
|
|
Unique rock formation above creek |
Teri on the trail by the creek |
Through a small meadow
near
Greys
Mountain campground |
|
|
|
|
This log across the trail comes
with
instructions on how to get past it |
Venerable cedar in the meadow |
Fresno Dome with approaching storm |
|
|
|
|
Soquel Meadow |
Old barn at the meadow |
View over the fence and past
the barn
into the meadow |
|
|
|
|
Satellite view of Soquel|
Meadow
with old barn in lower right |
Teri's car at The Meadow |
A short, powerful hail storm
left this
scene in our camp |
|
|
|
|
Always make sure your campfire is out
cold |
Meadow by Road 6S47Y near our camp |
Hail on a pile of cedar bark |
|
|
|
|
|
Decorated for Christmas |
|
|
Shadow
of the Giants Trail |
|
|
|
|
A shadowy section of
the
Shadow of the Giants Trail |
One of the giants |
Fascinating fungus |
|
|
|
|
Typical top of a
giant sequoia |
This tree had its
day long ago |
Teri on the bridge
over Nelder Creek |
|
|
|
|
Two giants close
together on
the west side of the creek |
Father-daughter day
on the trail |
A good place to stop
and warm up |
|
|
|
|
One of several USFS
fire
fighters watching the fires |
Forest service fire
truck |
A big pile of
ladybugs |
|
|
|
|
Even more ladybugs |
The trunk of the
Sierra Beauty |
Bedrock mortars just
below the Sierra Beauty |
|
San Joaquin Gorge |
|
|
|
|
The "rock paper scissors"
rule of the trail |
Grape vines turning color in the fall |
Old dead limbs and new
green
grass make
a nice picture |
|
|
|
|
Teri on the Bridge Trail |
Succulent in the moss on a
rocky bank
near the bridge |
New growth of green and red |
|
|
|
|
A big limb from a blue oak |
Where it fell from |
Cows kept a wary eye on us as
we passed
their grazing spot |
|
|
|
|
Perfectly designed mushrooms |
Bedrock mortars along the
Buzzard Road
|
A green grassy hilltop where I
made my
last backpack camp |
|
|
|
|
Teri at our lunch spot |
The fog started drifting in
as
we at
lunch near this spot |
Bright
red "oak
apples" in a blue oak
|
|
|
|
|
A rugged and colorful granite
outcropping |
It has a hole through it |
The woodpeckers have laid in a
good
supply of acorns for the winter |
|
|
|
|
A steep, rocky section
of the River Trail
|
The trail just below the
junction with
Buzzard Road |
New grass shows evidence of
being
flattened by heavy rain |
|
|
|
|
It's a good year for acorns |
Rust red dock seeds |
Colorful lichen on granite |
|
San Joaquin River Trail
East |
|
|
|
|
Teri by the Big Burl |
Bedrock mortar near
the burl tree |
Sun catches the moss
on this gnarly blue oak |
|
|
|
|
Pine tree on cliff
above the trail |
Power lines remind
us that this
area has two PG&E power houses |
Sculpted decomposing
granite |
|
|
|
|
Mountain and clouds
to the west |
Teri and Dick on the
trail |
Dried wild cucumber
seed pods |
|
|
|
|
Mushrooms on a
rotting log |
Dramatic dead
manzanita |
Is there a face
here? |
|
|
Panoramic
view of Kennedy Table, on the north side of the San Joaquin River |
|
|
|
|
Squaw Leap table top
from way down the trail |
Clouds lit by the
afternoon sun |
With enough rain,
water will flow in this green grassy drainage |
|
Related Links |
|
Millerton Lake |
San
Joaquin River Trail |
San
Joaquin River Gorge Special Recreation Management Area |
Pincate
Beetles |
The
other kind of stink bug |
FINS
Trail |
San
Joaquin Fish Hatchery |
Lost
Lake Park |
Nelder
Grove |
Sugar
Pines |
Nelder
Grove Campground |
Grays
Mountain Campground |
Soquel
Campground |
Fresno
Dome |
Fresno
Dome Trail |
Soquel
Meadow Map |
Soquel
Falls Video |
More
Nelder Grove Photos |
Shadow
of the Giants Trail |
Mariposa
Grove Restoration |
Friends
of Nelder Grove |
More
About Nelder Grove |
Brenda's
Nelder Grove Book |
San
Joaquin Gorge Slide
Show |
Other
San Joaquin Gorge Hikes |
More
San Joaquin Gorge Photos |
Background
& History of
San Joaquin Gorge Area |
Bedrock
Mortars |
Oak
Apples |
Velasco's
Restaurant |
|
Burls |
|
|
|
|