out and about: Sequoia National Park

A wintery wonderland!

I spent this past weekend camping and hiking in the Sequoia National Forrest. Al and I met Greg at a Beach Volleyball thing last week and ended up going camping with him and his friend Josh for the entire weekend. It was a long weekend but an incredibly fun one as well. Below you'll find some photos I took along with photos from Greg and Josh. The nicer ones are most likely not mine haha.

Friday

Al and I left work on Friday and headed straight for Greg's work to meet Josh and Greg. Unfortunately we sat in the worst traffic of all time and made it there an hour and a half late--it was great roomie bonding time. We loaded up Al's Honda Element and hit the road for Potwisha, a campground at about 2,080 ft of elevation. By the time we made it to the park, it was 10pm. We pulled up to the gate entrance and read a sign that said "Potwisha: 4 miles, FULL." The sign proceeded to list other campsites all followed by "CLOSED". Most of the sites don't open until late April. Then we saw one campsite: "Grant Grove: 45 miles, VACANCY." We decided to drive to Potwisha just to confirm that it was in fact full (it was a first-come first-serve deal) and, well, it was. We didn't have snow chains/cables at the time so we couldn't drive up to Grant Grove so we turned around and looked for any place that might be open.

We found our way into a small hotel called the Gateway where the man at the front, Glen, seemed to have been a few drinks deep already for the evening. Glen offered us a room with two full beds--normally $160--for only $89. As soon as we entered the room we didn't feel like it was such an incredible deal, per se, but it was better than camping outside and hoping bears don't break into our car for food.

We hung out in our room for the night and had some beef jerky, protein bars, and beer for dinner. We had burgers in mind but... no camp fire to cook them on, hah. So protein it was :) Al and Greg were determined to have the full camping experience regardless so they slept in their sleeping bags, haha.

Saturday

Saturday morning we woke up and packed up to go searching for an open spot at Potwisha. Al and I fortunately found one (while Greg and Josh checked out the visitor center for information) and I hopped out and took the tent. Al went to grab the guys while I set up the tent. It was a five man tent so it was pretty large and frankly, I hadn't set up a tent in a long time so I didn't really know what I was doing but I laid everything out to see what I could do. I stopped half way through to rethink what I was doing when a woman from the site next to us kindly helped me--it was really a two man job. She had a boxer with her named Beasley who instantly became my best friend. As we finished setting it up the guys pulled in. I think they were a little surprised to see the tent set up, haha.

Al and I then left to go get snow cables and gas so that we could head up into the mountain for some hiking. Greg and Josh stayed to make a fire and cook burgers for lunch. By the time we made it back they were about half way to making a fire. I jokingly told Greg later, "I set up a tent while you guys are gone--Al and I are gone twice as long and you couldn't make a fire?!" =P

Anyways.. I know this is a bit detailed but I like to remember everything. After some tasty burgers we left Potwisha and headed for the mountains. We finally reached a sign telling us we had to put the cables on so Al graciously laid in the mud to put them on. We rolled up the icy road and parked by the Congress Trail.

The Congress Trail was only three miles long but it felt like a lot farther--not because we were tired so much but just because it took us so long to hike. We started out on hard pack snow but eventually switched to essentially paving our own way through about a foot of snow. The trail featured a lot of old, old Sequoias such as the Sentinel, the House, etc. although it was tough to even see the tops of the trees because the fog was so thick. It gave the hike a really interesting feeling, like we were all alone in the wilderness. Pretty neat.

After the Congress Trail we checked out the Museum and then decided to roll up to Moro Rock. The trail to Moro Rock was another 1.5 mile walk through packed snow. We made it to Moro Rock and climbed part way up when we realized we wouldn't be getting much of a view with the fog. The guys wanted to go to the very top and it didn't seem far off so I said you go ahead, I'll wait here. They climbed and climbed and icy staircase after icy staircase kept thinking they were at the top only to find another icy staircase. Eventually they made it to the top and couldn't see much but I think they enjoyed it. Meanwhile, I rested and waited.

We hiked back and headed for the foothills again to cook up some dinner back at Potwisha. After some delicious brats we rolled to bed in our sleeping bags. Apparently in the middle of the night I must have been dreaming about bears or something and woke up still half dreaming and not really fully cognizant of reality. I poked Greg and whisper-shouted his name, I think. "Greg! Do you hear that?" "Hear what?" "SH! Listen." A pause. "Katie I don't hear anything..." "Greg, I'm so disoriented! Where is the exit???" "It's at your feet where it has always been." "Why is my sleeping bag turned sideways while everyone else's is straight??!" "I don't know what you're talking about, they're all straight--go back to sleep!" I hardly remember that conversation, Greg had to tell me about most of it, but I do remember it happening. I think it might have ended there and then Greg rolled over and ignored me until I went back to sleep. He was a good sport about it, haha.

Sunday

Sunday morning we woke up and packed up camp. We went back up to the museum and fortunately didn't come across any icy or snow conditions on the way so no cables needed! Since the weather had warmed up a bit and it seemed so much clearer out, we decided to hike the Moro Rock trail again and it was certainly worth it. The view was absolutely fantastic. The stairs were slightly less icy although still difficult to traverse. The trail felt much shorter this time around as well since we'd hiked it before. We spent some time cooling off at the top and then headed back down to the museum.

Having mostly exhausted the hiking trails that were available, we headed back down to Potwisha where a trail would take us four miles into the foothills to a waterfall over marble rocks. After a quick lunch we were off to the marble falls. We didn't realize, however, that the trail would climb 2,400 feet. We hiked four miles up a very narrow path. One second we would be in the shade with loads of shrubbery at our sides and mulch beneath our feet, the next second we would be in the sun climbing over more rocks with desert plants covering the hill next to us. Parts of it reminded me of the East Coast. We finally reached the falls where Al and Greg decided to take a dip in the ~45 F water. It felt just like the ice baths at RPI. I washed off my legs, arms, and face and shed a layer of clothing that I had from the snowy hike. The hike back down was infinitely better since it was mostly down hill.

After downing bottles of water we drove back towards Los Angeles. We decided to stop for dinner along the way. Greg loves Cracker Barrel so he Googled it and found "something similar" called Hodels. We went in to this all you can eat buffet and found something that was absolutely nothing like Cracker Barrel. The food was awful--the only thing that was good was the pineapple. We had a good laugh about it and filled our bellies with french toast, waffles, pineapple, and mac 'n' cheese. The beef brisket tasted like the beef jerky we'd been eating all weekend but warm. We hit the road again and finally made it back home around 10pm. What a weekend! Hopefully my next camping trip is equally awesome.

Photos: Potwisha/Driving

Where we spent most of our time it seemed: driving... hah

Our Potwisha campsite #24. The low at night was around 45 F and in the day it was around 60 F.

Al putting cables on the car--it was my first time seeing snow cables.

Dinner Saturday night: brats, beans, chili... yum.

Photos: Congress Trail / Giant Seqouias

On the first day we hiked the Congress Trail to start which was about 3 miles in the snow. In some parts of it we had to pave the way a bit since there weren't many foot prints and in others it was fairly packed snow.

The guys in a tunnel/fallen Sequoia tree.

Three big ol' Sequoias. The fog prevented us from seeing the tops of these trees which often reached up to the sky about 300 feet.

Al looking up into the fog towards the top of a giant Sequoia

Look at the normal trees... and then look at the Sequoias.

Greg took a vertical panorama.

Fog as thick as the trees!

Tree huggers

I like to support my friends.

Al wanted to cool off so he put his face in the snow. Then everyone else did, hah. It looks like the faces are popping out but actually they are imprints. I'm in the middle right and Greg is on the right. I think Al might be all the way left and then Josh?

Josh at the end of the trail checking out a cross section of a giant Sequoia.

Left: Josh taking a photo of the General Sherman from afar. Right: Me and Al in front of General Sherman, the largest living organism in the world. It seemed like the fog cleared just long enough snap a decent photo.

Giant Sequoia

Photos: Moro Rock, Friday (foggy)

The museum for the forrest was in the center of everything so you can do the Congress trail and the Moro Rock trail right from the museum. Greg checkin out some info.

The walk to Moro Rock was 1.5 miles from the museum along a very snowy road. Josh and Greg took a snowball break.

These are the stairs the guys climbed up while I waited at the bottom. They said it felt like they were going to Mordor.

Slick roads on the way back to Potwisha

As soon as we came down from the mountain the fog seemed to disappear and suddenly (not pictured) we saw the sun setting. It almost felt unfamiliar at that point.

We hiked up to Moro Rock twice. On the first day we couldn't see anything at this stop part way up the climb so I stayed while the guys decided to climb to the very top of it.

This was the view on the second day.

Photos: Moro Rock, Saturday (clear)

More Wintery Wonderland on our way to Moro Rock (1.5 mile road).

The hike up Moro Rock itself was pretty steep and snowy/icy. The stairs weren't entirely clear but we made it up okay. This picture is more on the clear side.

Climbing to Moro Rock

Greg's panorama from Moro Rock

One more Moro Rock panorama from Josh

The view from Moro Rock

Al, my roomie, on top of Moro Rock (elevation: 6,725 ft).

On top of Moro Rock

We drove up those switch backs to get to the Giant Forrest area from Potwisha and it took... forever...

Me and Al climbing back down from Moro Rock

The stairs on the way down from Moro Rock almost look like Penrose Stairs :)

Photos: Marble Falls Hike

The hike up to Marble Falls was about 4 miles (8 miles round trip) and covered 2,400 feet of climbing. Needless to say, we were exhausted by the time we got to the falls since the hike to the falls was almost all up hill. The hike back was quite relaxing though. The trail was rarely wide enough for two people most of the time. Some parts, though had a lot of growth which reminded me a bit of the East Coast :)