Pre-hike. Cedar Grove. Monday, 22 June, 2015

Full car, full backpacks

After having lived for nearly 31 years in the U.S., I have never been to a national park. No, driving through Yosemite (without stopping) does not count. Nor had I ever been backcountry backpacking, not even for an overnight.

Last week I did both, hiking some 41+ miles, going from 5k to 12k in elevation around the Rae Lakes Loop in Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Park, accompanied by Danny and Jared. We had spent weeks in preparation. Since their Lost Coast trek, I had also gotten into obsessive perusal and research, poring over trip reports, maps, backpacking gear, backpacking foods, photos of the sierras, lightweight camera gear, etc. Danny had already done much of the research into ultralight gear, and so I also became familiar with Zpacks, Gossamer Gear, cuben fiber, and began weighing and tracking (some of) my stuff. We went on several training hikes to test out gear and food and endurance.

The day before our trip, we were ready. We had gotten together all our meals, dehydrating most of our dinners and some of our breakfasts. A Safeway stop over the weekend yielded some sugary and salty snacks: Doritos, Snickers, Reese’s PB cups, packaged string cheese, and Ritz Cracker cheese “sandwiches.” Privately I began to wonder if backpacking was just an excuse to eat loads of junk food with impunity. For those curious, here are some shots of our food and a chart showing our various meals. We actually brought one more dinner (Crab and Corn Chowder) and breakfast each that we ended up not needing since we finished early. Also not listed – Danny’s cheesy grits, which he consumed for breakfast on our last day.

Meals and Snacks!

All my stuff!

Weighing out our packs – mine came out to be ~27 lbs without water, so I would be carrying ~30-31 lbs. Not great, but it was where I was hoping to be, no more.

The drive from San Francisco is about 6 hours, much of it through flat central California, and relatively uninspiring. However, the moment we entered the park, we began to see the grandeur and majesty of the Sierras – looming cliffs of granite, enormous, majestic, seemingly simultaneously age-old, ageless and eternal.

Road’s End Permit Station Helpful Hints, 22 June 2015

After a quick stop at the Visitor’s center at Grant Grove to procure some stickers, we arrived at Road’s End at 2:30pm, plenty of time to pick up our permits for the next day before the station closed at 3:45pm. We spoke to the Rangers there, asking about water sources and weather. We heard nothing that worried us too much. The weather forecast looked to be fairly mild, mid-70s at 5000 feet, which was good for us since that meant temps would only be cooler at the higher elevations.

Then we went to check out Roaring River Falls a short distance from Road’s End and an even shorter walk from the small parking lot to check out the main attraction. Afterwards, a brief jaunt to procure a drive-up campsite at Sentinel, the one closest to Cedar Grove Village. CGV is essentially the last and nearest vestige of civilization for us about to embark on the loop, and is basically a cluster of a few buildings that consists of a: lodge, general store, cafe, and importantly for backcountry hikers,  showers, and laundry.

Our minimalist site

Sentinel is a car-camping site, and, given that I haven’t been camping in a long while, it amazed me a little at the amount of stuff people brought in contrast to our lighter, minimalist approach – stand-up tents and lavish tablecloths, a full sofa (!), enormous candlesticks and hammocks and camp chairs and awnings, mini tabletop stoves…. Glamping, indeed. In contrast, our solitary little tents seemed a little forlorn in the midst of all the accoutrements/ pagentry. Basically, you drive in, choose a campsite, and then amble back to the entrance where you slip your payment into a box.

Last meal before hike at Cedar Grove Cafe

After we set up our tents we headed into CGV for food at their cafe. For some reason, the ribs appealed to me, and that was what I ordered. But my expectations were too high, and I had not yet been on the trail enough to experience the food-and-appetite-enhancing effects of hiker hunger. Cedar Grove Cafe wins the award for being able to make the tastiest meat on the planet — pork — actually unappealing and undelicious. Danny and Jared mentioned that their chili dog and turkey burger were fine; I thought the only good-tasting things were the coleslaw, and, surprisingly, the roasted potatoes that accompanied my ribs.

Peaceful for the moment

Back at camp, Danny turned in early for the night, while Jared and I sat around at the camp-provided picnic table for a bit. Everything was pretty tranquil until about 7:30pm, when a very large group of people composed of some adults, even more children and 2 barking, yapping dogs rolled into camp with an RV and SUV and proceeded to spill out onto the grounds, making as much noise as could be mustered and there were kids with axes chopping away at trees for kindling bark. Towards 10:30pm, when I had finally retreated into the tent, I heard someone yelling, “WHAT WOULD YOU LIKE ON YOUR HOT DOG???” and a chorus of responses, dog barks and other miscellaneous yelping and yowling thereafter. Sometime after that, and no thanks to the earplugs that still let in sound, I think I managed to fall asleep.

Rae Lakes Loop Posts

• Rae Lakes Loop Day One
• Day Two
• Day Three
• Day Four
• Flickr Album