This is part 2 of the “Why We Hike” Series
The extra time it took to drive to Sequoia NP was going to be worth it, I just knew it. At the gate to Sequoia National Park the guy who sold us the season pass warned us that there was snow above 6,000′. I looked up at the clear blue sky and asked “what, like a couple of inches from last night?” He asserts that around 14″ was on the ground this morning at Generals Grove and that everyone going up is required to have all weather tires or chains. Hanging out of his little booth, he looks over our vehicle and declares “of course, your tires will be fine”. Kelly pulls away and we pull over at the first turn-off. I get out of her Mini Cooper and check out the tires because last I checked they were high performance summer treads. Yep, I confirm that indeed that we are pretty much screwed in deep snow.
Never to let common sense get in the way of a good time, we motor onward into the park. By the time we hit snow, it was obvious that we would be okay. It’s just about 4″ of slushy stuff at its worst. Of more concern was the fact that the road to Crescent Meadows was closed for the season for repairs. This added some distance to our planned hike to Bearpaw Meadows on the High Sierra Trail (HST) the following day. The night was spent at Wuksachi Village and included a nice dinner at the local restaurant. It was our anniversary after all!
We woke up early the next morning to about 4″ of fresh snow. Yeah, what were the odds for it snowing on us again after the San Jacinto trip? Apparently pretty damn good. We loaded up and eased our way through the fresh snow and icy road to the museum parking lot, and talked to a ranger inside about the trail conditions and the best path to Crescent Meadows. She gave us a dubious look, asking us silly questions like “are you planning on through hiking the entire 72 mile High Sierra Trail?” We finally realized that we’d be better just heading out after we were warned that there was little to no signage on the trails passing through the Giant Forest.
I pulled out the GPS, set a few way points, and off we went! At first our only concern was the nasty layer of ice covering all the walkways. The trekking poles helped a lot but in all seriousness, we could have used crampons just walking next to the gift shop back at the parking lot. Anyway, soon the walkway gave way to trail and we were able to follow the tracks of those that preceded us we stumbled across a guy who took a photo of us next to some fallen giants.
The people and their tracks quickly disappeared as we ventured uphill and deeper into the forest. Finding the trails became an art it was not long before footprints were lost ans it seemed as if we were venturing this early morning into a forest of giant Sequoias that seemly have never been visited by anyone else.
By the time we got to Crescent Meadows and the HST trailhead there were animal tracks everywhere. Small rodents, rabbits, bobcat and even a few bear. I eased Kelly’s worry of an animal encounter by telling her that the animals will hear us and move on well before we would happen upon them. After about a mile past the trailhead we cross over a ridge to Eagle View and were treated to an amazing view.
So here we were, hiking up one of the premier trails of the Sierras with no one else remotely near us, or so we thought. It wasn’t too much longer until we noticed a day hiker coming up on us fast from behind. We he caught up, he told us that he had been following our tracks and compliments our navigation skills through the giant forest. I sheepishly point to my GSP “cheater” and we break into a discussion of what it must have been like 150 years ago to navigate by just map and compass alone as he too was struck by the effect the snow had. He was just trying to catch up to us and see who would be on the HST this late in the year with snow on the ground and was going to turn back. But before he did, we talked him into taking a photo of Kelly and I together with the beautiful mountain backdrop.
Great, after the wonderful experience of freezing in San Jacinto we were more or less labeled “crazy” hikers by this guy. Way to boost our confidence. Anyhow, off we went happily hiking along but checking the skies every few minutes for anything ominous. As we approached Panther Creek we got a view over to Alta Peak and saw a huge buildup of clouds. To our paranoid eyes the cloud line seems to be rolling in from the north, low and laden with misery. By the time we actually got to Panther Creek we are convinced that these rolling grey clouds ahead of us were going to recreate the sleepless frosty night of our previous trip. Feeling like wimps, we begin our retreat back to the museum parking lot. On the way back we decided to ignore the signs telling us to keep off the Crescent Meadow road; work crews lined the highway making he scenery somewhat less than picturesque. Just half a mile from where the road ended at the museum we come around a corner and a bear was standing in the middle of the road. We stop and Kelly fumbled for the camera. Satisfied that we stopped, the bear moved on quickly and finished crossing the road. To our delight a cub bounced out of the woods and followed her across. Kelly barely (no pun intended) got a picture of the cub following his mother before they both disappeared into the forest.
Loading up the gear back into the car felt a bit like defeat so we reassured ourselves that it was looking pretty bad and we probably made the right decision. In 2 weeks we planned on going back to hike in from the Wolverton trail head. At the time we didn’t know that the area below Alta Peak was covered in thick, rolling fog. Most likely the same stuff that we had run away from. Well, dammit.