Road Trip - April 2017, Part 8
I came away from Death Valley fascinated and wanting to spend more time there. But other commitments had me returning to the western side of the Sierras. The drive from Ridgecrest back to Three Rivers was long, but in the evening I had time for a quick drive up the Mineral King road. The road was closed due to snow past the 11 mile marker, but I still got up to one of the branches of the Kaweah and explored the exposed rock from the spring runoff.
Back to soft mosses and grass.
Some hummingbirds were hunting insects in the trees above the river. Poor quality pictures, but gimme a break, they're hummingbirds! Plus, I like the silhouettes :)
Next day I made the drive to Sequoia again. This time I hiked from the parking lot to Moro Rock, then all around the network of trails below it. The clouds began early:
Misty at Moro Rock.
I then descended to the other side, then caught a great un-selfconcious moment with some tourists back at the top:
Posing for posterity.
Behind Moro Rock the day stayed sunny for a while, but then the fog rolled in and it became rather spooky:
Indeed, Mr Muir, indeed.
Glad I brought a fleece.
Glad I brought a rain jacket.
It got to the point I couldn't see very far at all. After having scrambled around on trails lost in the snow, and getting un-lost a couple of times, I was relieved to be on a well-marked trail by then. A contour map is no help if you can't see the contours.
I might have briefly entered Middle Earth.
Another fantastic hiking day, a complete contrast to Death Valley. Unfortunately it was time to start pointing the car back north and homewards. But first I had to pay a visit to the Oregon Coast.
