[pct-l] Sequoias and the PCT

[Alex Harvey]

This is an excellent suggestion. I visited the Big Trees State Park last
June. If memory recalls there is a grove that is 7 road miles or so back
into the park and then a couple mile hike from the trailhead. If you can
make the side trip, it is worth it to visit these groves since they are in a
more natural/remote setting than others.

Wandering Boy

On 2/16/07, Nathan Miller <erccmacfitheal at yahoo.com> wrote:
>
> Another place once can go to see Squoiadendron
> giganteum in its native habitat is Big Trees
> State Park.  Although there will be far fewer
> people here, you will need to hitchhike to and
> from the park on Hwy 4.  Time-wise, the easiest
> way to get there might be to hitchhike from the
> trailhead at Ebbetts Pass, although traffic is
> much lighter east of Lake Alpine, from which it
> would be much easier to find a ride.  To get
> there, leave the PCT at Gardner Meadow in the
> Carson-Iceberg Wilderness on a side trail that
> takes you a mile or so to Highland Lakes.  Hike
> along a dirt road to the other end of the perched
> valley to the opposite trailhead.  There's a
> small semi-primative campground near the west end
> of the valley at which you might be able to
> procure a ride.  If you are unsuccessful, follow
> the trail down Highland Creek and then around the
> northwestern shore of Spicer Meadow Reservoir.
> After about a mile, the trail veers away from the
> lake and then after another mile cuts more or
> less north and then after another miles comes to
> a T.  Go right toward Rock Lake and Lake Alpine
> along a trail that hovers around 7200 ft.  I
> figure this to be probably about 18 miles.  Lake
> Alpine is a recreation hotspot throughout the
> summer, so you shouldn't have much trouble
> hichhiking down to the park, the entrance to
> which is right on the hwy.
> There's a day-use fee for the park which is
> charged per vehicle, although I don't know what
> the policy is for people entering on foot.  A
> couple of times I biked in the back way from
> Arnold (small down just down the hill from Big
> Trees) via a Forest Service road and avoided the
> whole thing (although at least one of those times
> I was passing through the park on my way to
> Dorrington, the small town just up the hill from
> Big Trees).  If you need to camp, you can either
> try to jocky for a site, or you can do it the
> cheap way and bivy outside the park in the
> surrounding Stanislaus National Forest.  Be aware
> that in the summer, fire danger will be extreme
> and the ponderosa pine duff that blankets the
> forest floor is highly combustible to the point
> that the Fire Marshall requires all residences to
> have a 30-ft. firebreak around all structures
> after the first of June and the raking and
> burning of pine needles is pretty much an annual
> event in April and early May every year.  Ergo,
> you may want to plan on cold-camping or at least
> hiking to a nearby picnic area to do your
> cooking.
>
> -Nathan Miller
> Newberg, OR
>
>
>
>
>
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