The twin joys of my working life are the opportunity to tack on weekend trips to national parks whilst in the US, and the ability to accumulate vast amounts of ridiculously cheap outdoor gear through hotel delivery while on the same trips. My most recent spell hit these two notes magnificently, with a sackful of climbing and skiing gear waiting for me at the SF Westin, and the ability to spend a weekend in the Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks via a 4 hour, rather tedious drive from the Bay Area.
After a tiring but largely uneventful week split between Washington DC, New York, Chicago and unpleasant airports, it was an absolute relief to jump in a rental car on Saturday morning and hit the freeway. I'm always amazed at the sheer volume of traffic on US roads regardless of the time of day, and this was no exception. Wall to wall cars on a five lane road. California is in the midst of a drought, and the hot, dry, dusty drive East was relentless. The ascent up to the parks from Fresno did however bring some comfort, with cooler temperatures and pleasantly green trees replacing the baked, hazy fields.
I spent the Saturday afternoon seeing some of the more obvious sites: the big trees, Moro Rock and a range of lookouts. I've previously spent time in Yellowstone, Rocky Mountain NP, Yosemite and the Tetons, and the Sierras are no less spectacular. I hoovered down a pepperoni pizza and local ale at the Grant camp area, before taking a sunset night walk around the magnificent trees in Grant Grove. It was a different experience walking among the giant trees in the absence of the heavy crowds present during the day. The night was spent curled up in the back of my rental Hyundai, padded by an air mat I brought over from Australia and kept warm by a great quilt I had delivered to my hotel by Enlightened Equipment. Ironically it was the best nights sleep I got on the trip.
I was up early on Sunday morning for the drive down to Wolverton. I'd done some reading that suggested this was a good area to hit on limited time, and was planning to head out to the lakes and/or Alta Peak On the drive out I managed to startle a bear sitting on the side of the road, my first close encounter with one of these beautiful animals. I was too excited to snap off any photos, but was energised by the encounter.
From the trail head I decided to head out to the lakes, and from there try and scramble up to Alta Peak. It was a relatively pleasant run out (albeit largely uphill), with beautiful views over rocky peaks and canyons, contrasting with a small chain of alpine lakes towards the end. I rewarded myself with a cold swim in Pear Lake, then decided to set off toward Alta Peak. Although the route up looks a little scrambly, its essentially an unmarked but fun walk up. The altitude made things interesting, but it was relatively easy route finding to the top.
From Alta Peak it was a pleasant downhill run back to Wolverton, with regular stops to chat to others out on the trail and to snap off photos. The views out to the main ranges of the Sierra were inspirational for future trips, and there were some beautiful gnarled fox-tail pines along the route. I felt completely relaxed on the drive back to SF, a wonderful contrast to the drive out.
