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Mary and I took the 3-day memorial weekend and drove up to Sequoia and Kings Canyon (SEKI) National Park for the first time. Most of the trails are at fairly high elevation, and snow coverage is still high. We arrived thinking we would hike to Bearpaw Meadow, but by the time we got to the ranger station, it was already getting late, they said it was a pretty treacherous stream crossing to get there, and it is a pretty long way to camp. Only one person had gotten a permit that day to do it. So we decided to change plans and instead head for Twin Lakes, stopping at Cahoon Meadow which was only ~3 miles in, and continuing on to spend Sunday night at Twin Lakes.

After the first mile or so, we hit the snow. It was a surprisingly sudden switch. The bottom of the trail is 95% clear, just the occasional patch of snow under a tree or something. Then all of a sudden, there is a line of snow, and from then on 95% of the ground is covered. Sometimes DEEP. I was very glad to have a GPS with a map of the trail, because following the trail was nearly impossible without it. Sometimes there were foot steps to follow, but they often split apart and disappeared, and I think most of them had about as good an idea of where they were going as we did. For every mile of trail we covered, I think we must have walked at least 1.5 miles hunting around for the right direction. Several times we found ourselves climbing up steep hills covered in snow drifts, when I’m fairly sure the trail would have taken a less difficult route.

View Lodgepole to Cahoon Gap in a larger map

We made it to camp well before sunset, and even found a dry spot to set up our tent. The “meadow” had not quite become a meadow yet. Large parts of it were still snow covered, and the parts that weren’t were flooded with water. There were new grass shoots beginning to pop up out of the water though, so it will no doubt be a meadow again before long.

The next day we set off for Twin Lake. Three hours later, we made it to Cahoon Gap, barely over a mile a way. We still had over two miles and another big climb to get up to the lakes. I’m pretty sure we would have made it by dark; but just barely, and we would have had a long day back out on Monday, hopefully in time to return the bear canister we rented from the ranger station. Plus, We still wanted to see some of the main parts of the park as well. There are some big trees around there! So, it wasn’t all that difficult of a decision to turn around when we reached the gap and spend another night at the meadow. We were content to just wander around a snowy forest which we had almost entirely to ourselves. There was one other couple from LA at Cahoon Meadow the first night, and the second night a solo hiker who we never made contact with setup camp across the way.

Gps track and waypoints available here.

On Monday we got out around noon, grabbed some lunch at Lodgepole, and then headed over to see General Sherman, the biggest tree in the world. However, the trail to general sherman was closed due to ice (though we had already spent the last two days slip’n and sliding around the mountains, I think we could have survived), and there were about 3 million people waiting to get onto shuttles to take you from the parking lot to the closer trailhead. So we bailed on that, and instead went to the giant forest area and went for a stroll, which turned out to be an amazingly fortunate decision.

We had actually stopped, were sitting on a bench eating a summer sausage and enjoying the sights, when a little boy walking by with his family came up to us very shyly and said, “Excuse me…there’s a black bear.” pointing off across the meadow. Sure enough, there was a bear! We took off down the trail to go to the other side of the meadow to watch and photograph! While we were watching the bear forage around, Mary says she “thinks there’s something big in the tree”. Amazingly, I look up, and sure enough, there are not one, but TWO bear cubs peering down at us from the tree right above us! It was pretty sweet! We finished off the day by heading out of the park to the north, stopping off at Grant Grove to walk through a whole new set of giant trees. They are pretty incredible.

Full screen slideshow.

As planned after the first trip a couple weeks prior, I went back down to Leo Carrillo beach on the night of the last full moon. I was able to convince Mary to come as well, so we took off after work and got there just before sunset. The sun went down, the moon came up, and we climbed out onto a rocky outcropping. It was clear from the start that we should be concerned about the incoming waves. Mary certainly told me as much. But…the rock was dry. At first, I was all worried, and would be ready to run or cover the camera every time a wave came in. But they kept coming, and nothing ever made it up onto the rock for at least 20 minutes. I got comfortable; unconcerned. Then the big one came, doused both of us, doused the camera on the tripod, and practically filled the camera bag containing lenses and other assorted gear with salt water. We dried the gear off as best we could right there on the rock, in the dark. Then we went back to the car to continue with paper towels. Then we finally got home and I cleaned everything as best I could with Kim wipes, cotton swaps, and IPA. It’s been over a week now, and so far no signs of problems. It’s not as much of an adventure if you come home dry, I suppose.

It was not a complete failure, though most shots did not come out as great as I’d hoped.

Moonrise:

Mary, shortly before the ocean sent us scurrying away:

I’ve been on a bit of a Swedish mystery kick recently. Just finished “The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest”, after waiting months for its (English) release since finishing the second book. I got completely sucked into all three of these books. They’re very good! There’s also a movie just released in the US of the first.

While I was waiting for the final in the Stieg Larsson series, I figured I would try some other Swedish fiction – since I’m in kind of a “Scandinavia (and Greenland!) is cool phase – and read a couple of the Inspector Kurt Wallander series by Henning Mankell. I had previously read Depths by the same author quite by coincidence, but I didn’t find it at all interesting and never finished it. However, The Wallander books seemed highly recommended on the interwebs, so I thought I’d give them a chance. I’ve read the first two, and they’re OK; certainly interesting enough to finish (and maybe even buy the next in the series). But not great. They don’t keep me up nights, by any means.