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Hetch Hetchy, Sherman Pass and back


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#1 craig333

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Posted 26 July 2020 - 10:27 PM

This was an interesting trip because multiple times things I had envisioned, my mental picture, formed from many sources of information, turned out to be way off. 

 

Hetch Hetchy is lower in elevation than I expected. I guess just because I think of Yosemite mostly in terms of the High Country. Smaller too. I thought the pictures just didn't do it justice but it is smaller than I expected. 

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Kind of a hazy day. I'm not sure if it was smoke drifting in or not.

The dam itself is a marvel of engineering but at the same time you can't help but feel sad for what might have been.

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I wasn't the only one with a FWC visiting. 

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I camped fairly close by and soon had all the others who didn't know the hours or get a spot in the full campgrounds fill in around me. 

 

I got a nice early start heading down the road for the Sherman Pass. I deliberately took a shortcut (it wasn't and I didn't expect it to be) to 99 following the J131 (something like that) which coincidentally happened to be John Muir route. Pretty steep and windy road and makes you think just how difficult it was to reach Yosemite back in Muir's day. Eventually interesected Hwy 49 and by the time I got off that I had my fill with steep windy roads. Much worse than 49 in my neck of the woods. Of course I had steeper and windier still to come.

 

Hard to believe how huge Fresno has become. Visalia too. Signage for the Giant Sequoias is pretty much non existent. I wound up buying pricey diesel just in case it was the last place. It wasn't. There was plenty of cheaper fuel on the way. Oh well. Made a few wrong turns and toured the Orange Groves before finally finding Hwy 190. 

 

190 started out as four lanes before it started climbing the canyon where it could charitably be called a two lane road. I thought it was interesting the entire climb from the start of the canyon on up to nearly the top of the hill at about 7000' was private property and covered with houses.

 

I finally reach the trail of the giants and it looks like a Forest Service convention going on. Dozens of vehicles all parked in a field. I had to stop and wait for two large groups taking the trail. Too crowded for this kid, we'll have to see the Giant Sequoias some other time. 

 

Started the Sherman Pass road and I didn't have to go far before I was going "where are the trees"?. I probably should have but I didn't realize just how much of the Southern Sierras is High Desert. Nor did I realize just how much of that area is an OHV playground. Stopped briefly a the R Ranch which I understand used to be pretty nice. The armed guards at the entrance and the go away signs made me think of a different type of camp. Lots of people enjoying the Kern River. By the time I hit the Pass we were back in the tree cover and it seemed more like what I was expecting.

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Not perfectly clear but clear enough to see Mount Whitney.

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Of course we stopped a lot to stretch our legs and do other things :)

We weren't the only ones up there. 

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Found a decent place to camp a few miles below the summit. Coyotes serenaded us late at night. A quick breakfast and we were back on the road again.

 

Kennedy Meadows was the next surprise on my list. I've heard it mentioned many times and maybe its selective hearing but I didn't know it was a huge hunk of private land, indeed a "community". I just pictured a meadow on FS land. Now I know why its so popular. 

 

I had planned to stay another night or two, maybe the Alabama Hills or Dunderberg when I was tooling along 395 near Olancha and I got a call from my Dad. Computer is down, dishwasher is broken and so forth. Okay, I'll hoof it on home, not like we hadn't put enough hours in the seat already. Lots of traffic, mostly vacationers. I wanted to stop at Schat's Bakery but after seeing the line I passed on that one. I wanted to fuel up at the Indian Casino but RVs stretched down the street waiting line. Instead I got expensive fuel in Lee Vining. Too bad I didn't know about Mono Lake. I'll get a burger in Bridgeport. Nope. Both burger joints were slammed beyond what you'd see on a holiday weekend. It took forty minutes to get a burger at Walker Burger and its the first time I didn't get a good meal there. Shake was good at least. 

 

Ran into some rain around Silver Lake. Not enough to wash off the dog drool :)

 

By the time I see my dad everything is under control. Oh well, thats life. I think I need to go out and check my brake pads after this trip!

 


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#2 Casa Escarlata Robles Too

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Posted 26 July 2020 - 11:02 PM

Wow Craig sorry what you had in your mind didn't match up to what was "reality".

By Kennedy Meadows did you have in mind the one on 108 under Sonora pass?.

It seems that everyone posting a TR has run into the same issues people,people people.

 

Did you walk the trail along the lake at Hetch Hetchy? Where did you camp there?

Thanks.

Frank


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#3 craig333

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Posted 26 July 2020 - 11:57 PM

Its okay it didn't match up. I know the state a bit better now. You know I've probably been at least, unsure which meadow people were referring to. I'll have to be more careful in the future. I couldn't walk the lake because I had the dog and the NPS  doesn't like dogs. Camp was maybe five miles from the entrance along a FS road. I could look it up. 


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#4 ski3pin

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Posted 27 July 2020 - 02:13 AM

Yeah, I'm refusing to even get close to southern California. I believe the sprawl would break my heart. What's happening up in this end is already hard to take. I was hoping against hope that the numbers of people out in those parts would not be as I feared. But, each trip has good parts as we travel. You did get to see and learn more territory. Rushing home to help Dad, oh my goodness that brought back memories. Good to know there's still good sons out there. Thanks for the photos and story! All in all, was Riley happy to get away? :)


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#5 craig333

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Posted 27 July 2020 - 03:36 AM

Riley is always happy to get away. I hated making him ride in the truck that long but then I don't much care for it myself. I had some long stretches where its difficult to find a safe spot to stop and take a break. I'd hate to see what some of those areas look like during a holiday!


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#6 teledork

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Posted 31 July 2020 - 11:43 PM

Oh yikes! Now I understand why you understood so well what I was talking about. 

 

Walker Burger has a new owner. This is their first season, it is always difficult to find staff (I knew the previous owners too - I've known the new owner since she was a kid) and the end of July is notorious for insane crowds over here. One year there were RVs and trucks and whatever parked in the turn lane right in front of the Burger and the shoulders were a wall of of vehicles almost from the County Store to the Bar-B-Q. July is the month when I can whistle through three repeats of the Jeopardy theme while waiting to turn onto 395.

 

For future reference - the gas prices at the June Lake Junction on 395 (a Shell station I think) are lower than Lee Vining or Bridgeport. I've also used the Mobile at the 120 junction when I was desperate and it was at least a little better than the other options. 

 

The photo with Whitney from Sherman Pass was cool. The southern Sierra is a different place. I spent a good deal of time in the Golden Trout Wilderness - which would be in that photo - the Foxtail Pines, the terrain, I call it The Land Of The Giant Meadows - it has a special place in my heart. 

 

This is such a weird time we are in. Don't give up.

 

p.s. - I loved the "could charitably be called a two lane road". We have a lot of those around here. 


Edited by teledork, 01 August 2020 - 12:07 AM.

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