Sequoia Park: Crescent Meadow Day Hike

Sequoia Park: Crescent Meadow Day Hike

Dale Matson

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Buck Rock Lookout Tower From The General's Highway Vista

Crescent Meadow is about two hours from Fresno. You take highway 180 into the park and turn South on the General’s Highway. When you get to the Giant Forest Museum, you park your vehicle and take a shuttle to Crescent Meadow. On the week days, you are allowed to drive to the meadow but space is limited! My son Ben and I arrived at 8am and there will still some parking spaces. The trailhead elevation is about 7,000’.

There was considerable fire destruction along the route from the 2021 KNP lightning caused fire and suppression fires are still being set as I write this. There is also chainsaw work going on. There are pink ribbons that mark the end of some trails. The 65 mile High Sierra trail to Mt. Whitney also begins here.

A short distance from here is also Moro Rock with great views for those who are sturdy enough to make the climb which is exposed in places. https://midsierramusing.blogspot.com/2017/05/sequoia-national-park-giant-forest-and.html

Ben and I hiked about five miles and in places retraced our steps in order to photograph bears. We were both carrying heavy camera equipment in hopes we would spot some bears among the Giant Sequoias. So, we had telephoto lenses for the bears and ultrawide lenses for the Sequoias. I used the Sony A1 with the 200-600mm lens and the 16-35mm f4 lens for the trees.

Seeing the bears was quite a treat and there were lots of pairs of eyes looking for them. We asked everyone we passed if they had seen a bear. Their reports helped in our search.

Tharp’s cabin log fashioned in the 1870s, is quite a cozy place where he lived. He kept livestock in the meadow and I’m sure he had to contend with Grizzly bears in addition to black bears and mountain lions.

I had never seen a Pileated Woodpecker before and understand that it was the model for the cartoon character Woody Woodpecker. 

Ben By Sequoia

Marmot

 

The Millerton Lake Bald Eagle Has Fledged

The Millerton Lake Bald Eagle Has Fledged

Dale Matson

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First the good news. The bald eagle finally fledged this past week from the new nest on the Madera side of Millerton Lake. The bad news is that this nest originally had two chicks! There were 2 chicks until May 2nd. By May 8th, there was only one chick. There was quite a pile of feathers in the nest. It is possible but unlikely that one chick ate the other. It is also possible that in an unguarded moment, an Osprey that has been flying over the nest on several occasions may have attacked and eaten the chick. If any of you reading this have an idea, please comment.

I have gone up to the nest about once a week. The parents are well known to Millerton Eagle watchers and have been seen for years by the historic courthouse in a big tree. They nested for years by and near the Peck House. They kind of “owned” the dam end of the lake. Since they moved so close to the traditional Golden Eagle territory, they have disrupted their breeding season.

This is the last eagle to fledge from the four nests that I have been watching. Dean, my son Ben and I went up today and Dean said to me, “I don’t think the bird is in the nest any longer.” I said, “Why is that?” He said, “Because it looks like the bird is sitting in that tree.”

And it was sitting in a nearby tree. The eagle was doing quite a bit of wing flapping three weeks ago but we didn’t see any flapping the last two weeks? Go figure.

I took the photographs and video with the new Sony A1 camera and the Sony 200-600mm lens with a 1.4X extender. Most of my shots were cropped in camera also. The morning sun reflecting off the water made it difficult for sharp shots but the adult obliged us by landing quite near our view spot.

Twin Lakes Hike 2022

Twin Lakes Hike 2022

Dale Matson

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The particulars for this hike can be found on a 2013 posting that includes George Lake also. https://midsierramusing.blogspot.com/2013/08/potter-pass.html

This year was another dry hike with only Midge Creek still containing water along the way to Twin Lakes. I want to give a shout out to two trail runners I met along the way. Mike was from Clovis and Corey (see photo) was from Fresno. I still remember those days for me! https://midsierramusing.blogspot.com/2016/06/shadow-of-giants-trail-run-2016.html

Of particular note in these photographs, Shuteye Peak can be seen in the foreground of the photograph from Potter Pass with the fire lookout on top. Also, Mammoth Mountain can be seen from further on the trail with the ski lift building on top and another lift to the left. 

This year I took photographs with my Sony A1 camera and two lenses. I used the 16-35mm F4 and the 85mm 1.8. The 85mm could be cropped in camera to about 125mm for the longer shots and the ultrawide could be used for the lakes.

This is the first year I carried bear spray which is allowed in the Sierra National Forest but not in SeKi or Yosemite. I have never seen any bears on this trail…. but you never know. The next time I do the trail, I hope to add George Lake as I build for the summer season. 

Carry bug repellent and plenty of water if you don’t have a means to filter/purify water.