Trees and Skis

Posted on 03 Mar 2014 by WH

The team has divided forces for the day. This morning, two vans headed to the mountains to ski. Last night, two vans had headed to the Sequoia National Park. The views as they had begun to ascend the mountains to Sequoia were nothing short of stunning in the early evening sun. It was dark before they reached their lodgings: the Wuksachi Lodge cabin-style hotel, a mere 7,200ft above sea level.

Daylight the following morning revealed more treasures to be visited &rigorously photographed. The General Sherman monarch sequoia, we discovered, is the largest tree on earth by mass and volume and also stands a mere 275ft tall.

Will, Claire and Jamie walked the Big Trees Trail while Matt hiked through snow up to Sunset Rock via Eli's Paradise, overtaking snowshoers en route to reach virgin snow. It's lovely and quiet there in winter. Meanwhile the Veterans' Van, after seeing Sherman (in Kenny's case at least - he was the one to brave the limited snow and ice) and a few vistas, skirted King's Canyon National Park so as to get on the road to the next destination. The younger van, thwarted by conditions in their attempt to go cross country skiing, enjoyed a delicious but great value lunch at Grant Grove before admiring in awe the large groves of sequoias, the huge General Grant tree itself (named after a Scots American President), and then walking up through the trunk of the Fallen Monarch, in which US Cavalry horses had been stabled over a century ago.

Next up was King's Canyon proper. There were some fine views from the early part of the Scenic Byway, which they knew would be closed before Yucca Point because it's not snowploughed. But they followed a tip from the Lodge, that the road to Hume Lake (marked on the map as open in summer only) would afford great views of the canyon. Not only was there no snow on the road, but the views were spec...tac...ular! After passing Hume Lake, they continued on the loop back to the main road, and a little snow started to appear on the tarmac. Then a bit more. Then There was only just enough tarmac visible for the tyres to fit onto, with another mile or so to go before the main road (as opposed to a winding 15 mile backtrack in the dark). Then it was ALL snow. Jamie tried to keep the van's momentum going as the van bucked and writhed on the slippery surface, but eventually it ground to a halt. Initial efforts to get it going came to naught, with the van now skewed across the road and pointing at a precipice with the day's light almost gone. "Hang on lads, I've got an idea" said Michael Caine. Jamie and Claire tried to dig out while Matt and Will walked up the road to see how it looked up ahead. It was inconclusive but they would try. Taking responsibility for the quartet's fate, Matt climbed into the driver's seat, switched the auto box up into second and avoided the accelerator as far as possible as they slithered up the road, most of which was fully snow covered and some of it slushy.

After an anxious few minutes of slow but steady progress, the van emerged onto tarmac and rejoined the main road, to high fives all round. Thank goodness they had made it, and thank goodness they hadn't approached Hume Lake from the opposite direction, or they would surely have given up and missed the glories of King's Canyon.

Our heroes were just in time to see the last red glow of sunset over the valley deep below as they began their descent. So excited was Claire that, on bounding back into the van, she cracked her head open on the door frame, resulting in a return to Grant Grove for some antiseptic cream or, failing that, alcohol to rub onto her bloody cranium. She had only wanted to be just like the others, who had already banged their heids on the sharp range sign.

Meanwhile the skiers had spent the afternoon at Badger Pass in Yosemite National Park. They were meant to have been at China Peak, a proper ski area a mere two hours' drive from Coalinga, for a full day on the slopes before heading up to Yosemite, but someone had come up with the idea of saving an hour's driving time by missing the whole morning's skiing and going straight to the somewhat limited Badger Pass for a day and a half. Still, everyone had fun and that's what matters on tour. Badger was good for the beginners but, since it wouldn't stretch the others for more than a few hours, might also allow for a little investigation of the National Park's sights during the same day. Sadly not before a few of the guys decided that tricks were the route to entertainment, a notion that came back to bite young Niall on the bum!

The day ended with Cedar Lodge's barman closing up unnecessarily early before 9pm, leaving half our merry band to catch up with tall tales over a couple of six packs in reception before bunking down for the night.