So we parked the trailer with a Boondockers Welcome couple who didn't mind watching it for a couple nights while we ventured into the wilderness. Drove the truck up the long, winding south entrance road into Sequoia NP, parked at Crescent Meadow, and we were off! Finally, something that wasn't cancelled this summer!
Excited to be walking through an area of big trees to start the adventure:
Thank you Susan Thew!
The end of the pavement and start of the dirt trail:
Mom asked if I would hug a tree for her, so I found one to commune with, thank you big tree:
It's quite impossible to get a photograph that fully describes just how massive these trees are:
Heading down the High Sierra Trail - our permit was for this particular trailhead, so we had to start here. On the phone with the ranger the previous week, I needed to pick a camping spot to aim for, so I asked about Pear Lake (mostly because I'd mistakenly thought the HST trailhead was in a different place). He told me that it was possible but would require quite a roundabout route to get there. We were up for it. So, here we were:
Just a taste of the marvelous scenery to come:
The first wide-open view, looking back toward Mono Rock:
It just keeps getting better!
Clothespin tree (hi John!):
Some of the prettiest pink flowers I've ever seen blanket a forest floor:
John was excited to finally get to do a bit of trail work again:
Filling water while gawking at Mehrten Creek streaming through and over the rocks:
Apparently it's Silly Face Selfie time:
More scenery to keep us entertained while we climbed up a bunch of switchbacks toward Alta Trail:
Panther Gap, where we got to go downhill for a short way in a bit of a reprieve:
Another goofy look:
I should probably stop taking selfies now...
We hiked up the Hump Trail (that was a haul!) and our reward was a view of Heather Lake, quite lovely:
As we passed Emerald Lake and became immersed in the rocky terrain, I got more and more gobsmacked by the beauty of it all. Even the little toilet building at Pear Lake is kind of pretty:
Our home for the next two nights, so lovely.
Someone else's home too, so we didn't leave any food unattended even for a minute. Hello marmot!
I could get used to this!
We went for a day hike the following day (hanging John's pack to keep the marmots out), heading further up the valley to see if we could reach the Tableland and the divide above it:
Everywhere you look...
Enjoying our walk amid granite and clear water:
Such a pretty lake! But with so many mosquitoes! They swarmed and tried to smother us so we took off at a run. Where is the wind? We kept swatting and eventually caught a break where we could stop to breathe and dig out the head nets. Yikes. For the most part we didn't have too many buggy issues, but every once in a while...
Checking out the Kings-Kaweah Divide, where we could see all kinds of tempting destinations in the distance. Maybe someday we'll have a better idea what we were looking at.
The Divide, sloping gently above the Tableland:
We wandered around, finding another lake or pond over every little rise, enjoying the breeze and cool temperatures and ease of cross-country travel.
Pika scat! We spotted a pika scampering away here and there, but never heard a peep out of a one of them. Quiet pikas. We did a couple "pika watches" where you sit for 15 minutes and monitor a rock pile, and it was very relaxing but no pikas peeked out their heads.
King of the slab:
Another lake, more amazing scenery... I suppose this could get old after a few weeks?
I'm pretty sure John is gesturing about the scenery and not the snow (unless the gesturing means, "why do I keep following Marcy uphill in the mountains?"):
Granite ramp:
Moose Lake! We finally found it! This had sort of become our quest that afternoon when it didn't just appear in front of us. It required a lot more searching than we expected, for something so large. But eventually we located it. From a distance:
For some reason I kept thinking about pancakes...
Lake-hopping on the way back to the tent site:
Such pretty and interesting cascades everywhere:
Checking out the Watchtower in the distance, something we had missed by choosing the Hump trail on the way up:
So we fixed that on the way down the next morning, finding a much more interesting trail around the side of the mountain:
With a view of Tokopah Falls way below:
Like the giant trees, the Watchtower isn't easy to photograph, from a distance or up close. Here's a weak attempt, but I think you should just go check it out in person. It's awesome.
John and I looked up and laughed at this at the same time:
John could maybe sleep here???
But he definitely could do trail work here. The trail from Panther Gap down toward Giant Forest kept him super occupied:
Back to the big beautiful sequoias! So amazing. Large and lovely.
And with such angelic rootstocks.
Hmm, something's missing...
Another tree hug for good measure, thank you tree (and Mom for suggesting it):
One more attempt to get some perspective:
Well that was a most excellent 3 days on the trail!
No comments:
Post a Comment