Distance: 1 mile round trip on trail
Summit Elevation: 6725'
Elevation Gain: 350'
Elevation Gain (in Empire State Buildings): 0.2
Round trip time: 40 minutes
Recommended water: 16 oz.
Parking/Fees: $35 National Parks Fee
Difficulty: Easy
Leisa and I returned to Sequoia National Park to finish the things we missed on our abbreviated trip earlier in the month. (note: stats are just for Moro Rock. We also hiked more than a mile around Crescent Meadow, and more than a mile to Sunset Rock. I combined all of these short trips into one report.)
Moro Rock is a massive and prominent rock that is visible outside the park. It's a popular attraction and during summer, can only be reached by shuttle bus. The season just ended so we were able to drive to it, though we had to park in an overflow area. A half mile hike got us to the base, then we took 300' of stairs to the top. Without the stairs, it would be a formidible rock climb. There were nice unobstructed views on top and several information plaques.
Next we drove to Crescent Meadow and planned a loop by Tharp's Log and the Chimney Tree. A small crowd was gathered a hundred feet down the trail watching a mama and baby bear scavange for food. The mama was easy to spot digging on the ground, but it took us a minute to spot the baby 100' up a tree. Whatever the baby was doing up there, it was done, and started to descend tail first. We watched it all the way down, losing track of the mama, but guessed it had moved away from the gawkers since that is the way the baby ran. When we got to Creascent Meadow, it was hard to enjoy since dozens of gnats had joined our hike. I put on my bug net and Leisa followed suit later. Tharp's Log was a makeshift cabin built into the root end of a fallen Sequoia. It had a table, window, and rock chimney. Per Wikipedia, the log is named after Hale D. Tharp, who was described as the first Non-Native American to enter the Giant Forest. John Muir described it as a "noble den". Our last stop on the loop was Chimney Tree, a Sequoia whose inside was burned out, leaving a hollow husk and long shards of bark that could fall at any time.
Our last hike of the day was to Sunset Rock, a 1.4 mile round trip from the Giant Tree Museum. It ended on a granite slab with an NPS benchmark overlooking the valley toward Three Rivers. It was a nice way to end the day, but we headed back just before sunset. Instead of camping this time, we stayed at the Wuksachi Lodge, highly recommended if you want a comfortable room inside the park.
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