Our hike? A loop in the Hetch Hetchy Wilderness.
I have something like over 200 photos and videos to sort through (this might take a bit), but I offer below a hint of what we saw on hike.
Including snow. Lots and lots of snow, about 9 miles worth of hiking. And sleeping on it (which turned out to be much less daunting than I thought).
Enjoy the preview, and as always thank you for your patience with responses.
Pretty and pretty hilly hiking. How's your knees and shins?
ReplyDeleteI suppose if the critters didn't need daily care, I could go for extended hikes in the local mountains.
But I do treasure the little escapes :-)
Michael, knees and shins are surprisingly good. A little tightness in my calves but that is fading as the day goes on.
DeleteI am lucky that The Ravishing Mrs. TB is willing to feed everyone while I go and do these things.
Any escape is a good escape.
You all certainly choose spectacular places to hike. Makes me miss my hiking days.
ReplyDeleteThank you Leigh, although it is mostly The Outdoorsman. I just go along for the ride.
DeleteThe sheer grandeur of it all is almost overwhelming at times.
Gorgeous scenery. You are making the most of your time.
ReplyDeleteThank you! The Outdoorsman runs a tight ship and we are pretty on target and moving with our hikes - plus, around day three I am pretty ready to be back at home!
DeleteThat's some nice High Sky ya done seen TB, no wonder what with more than a mile gained going up.
ReplyDeleteNylon12, it was beautiful. I did think of you as I was hiking along through the snow. Mostly how this was interesting as a one-off but I would hate living in it.
DeleteBeautiful. The few times I got to hang out in a high country meadow are memorable. I really do like those teasers, TB.
ReplyDeleteThe snow in May reminds me of a PM trip up near Santa Fe, NM. Snow was so deep in June, I couldn't make it up to the tower site. I had to hike it. Backing through the snow drifts I'd just blown through wasn't much fun. No room to turn around on that stretch of the FS road.
STxAR, I am glad the teasers are good. I worry about just posting them and then going away to sort things for a while, but they are just too good not to share.
DeleteI would estimate the snow at 4-6 feet, based on what I saw around tree bases where it had melted away. On the whole we sank only down to our ankles at most generally, but occasionally a bit more and once or twice we post-holed up to our thighs.
Honestly, we kept the option for returning open on Day 2, but after having to cross at least a 300 feet/100 meter meadow which was calf deep in snow melt and two streams up to our knees in snow melt before we hit the snow, the thought of going back seemed more and more difficult.
A place that I've heard about many times but have yet to see.
ReplyDeleteEd, highly recommended. Even if you are not there for a long hike, a hike to Rancheria Falls and back (well worth your time) would easily be a day hike - it is about 7 miles and 4 hours one way, but that includes us carrying 25 lbs on our back.
DeleteJohn Muir said that the Hetch Hetchy Valley was as or more scenic than Yosemite. Looking at the narrowness of the canyon and assuming its depth, I could visualize what it might have looked like.
I'm pretty sure much of what I read about Hetch Hetchy was penned by Muir.
DeleteEd, from the little bit I have researched, he definitely wrote on it and was a strong proponent of them not damming the valley.
DeleteThe commenters have nailed it, and our experience some years ago was that the early July trip to Yosemite meant too much snow to continue some of our planned hikes.
ReplyDeleteThe bottom photo is very much like the Delaware Water Gap.
Our snowshoes are now three years old, and we haven't had enough snow to use them.
The Anonymous comment above is mine.
DeleteIt took two more tries to get my name up there.
I'm shrugging my shoulders and attributing it to my errant button pushing.
John, I think this year especially was challenging as they have had so snow this year (good for them, bad for hikers). After the hike, The Outdoorsman and I debated the wisdom of doing what we did (still would probably have done it). We also discussed snow shoes as they had been recommended by a park rangers. Weight from what we say from samples on REI were 2-3 lbs and 26-36" long. That is a fair amount of length and weight for something needed for about a third of the hike.
DeleteBlogger has been challenging on a number of fronts lately.
The wonder and beauty of God's creation. Thank you for sharing it, TB.
ReplyDeleteYou all be safe and God bless.
It was really incredible Linda.
DeleteBeautiful! Having had some 80 degree days here already, I'm looking forward to snow here in another 7 or so months. :) Hetch Hetchy is a long way from Colorado, but your pictures remind me of on of our visits there, and for some reason I'm suddenly reminded of stopping on Independence Pass at the Continental Divide. In our shorts and sweatshirts we posed on a rock with snow surrounding us before heading back down the other side. We were traveling from Aspen to Colorado Springs. Enjoy your hiking, TB. I would love a road trip right about now! :)
ReplyDeleteThanks Becki! Funny how as one season impinges, we look forward to the other ones.
DeleteWe were at 7,000 feet or so at the peak of our hike, so not so far from parts of Colorado.