The hot Southern Sierras

Iflagged down the pickup truck on the Forest Service Road. Is the Nelson Trail up this way? Yes, the gray-haired woman answered. Just continue up this road, and there’s a turnoff for the trail.

I asked if she had a cabin here. She said they have had one in their family for four generations. The cabins were beautiful, usually raised up on posts with wrap around porches, and peaked roofs. The cabins were set back from the road and surrounded by pine, red cedar and oak. Sometimes a giant sequoia was in the mix.

Our rental cabin was in a different part of the Sequoia National Forest about 10 miles as the blue jay flies. Across from us, hidden amongst the trees, was a smaller cabin built from found materials by the owner’s father. The son recalls digging the trench for the foundation. Now the son is renovating it for full-time living. He’s selling his home in Northridge, getting out of the city. I would have welcomed hearing more about family stories of building cabins and living in the forest during all four seasons.

Of course, Native Americans preceded the 19th century settlers who built cabins. We saw evidence of the early hunter-gatherers in the acorn grinding morteros on top of solid granite Dome Rock.

The allure of the forest is strong. If I was younger and wasn’t worried about driving a winding road in snow and ice, I might consider moving up there. During our stay, the weather was dry, sunny and a lot hotter than anticipated. But come the fall, snowstorms are on tap at any time. State route 190 is the single curving highway to Camp Nelson at 4,600 feet. It climbs the Sierras from Porterville and Springville. The changes are sensory. We could hear the buzz of a million insects, the temperature cooled, and with lowered windows we could smell the aromatic cedar. We drove into the darkening night, and my dear wife, a safe driver, had a close call with a deer who wanted to cross the road just as we were passing.

Deer, we discovered, were everywhere, and you could set your watch to the time the deer came out to graze on a large, grassy field down the road from our cabin. We often walked down there in the evening when things started cooling down. The deer wanted to eat and we were just objects to keep an eye on.

One of my most enjoyable experiences during the week-long stay was standing at a spot near our cabin where the deer fed regularly. Initially, I thought the deer I saw was a lawn statue. You see lots of these, along with bear statues, in the area. But one was real and incredibly curious. I just stood still and the doe kept coming closer. She was so nosy. Her nose twitched like crazy trying to pick up my scent, but she couldn’t. I moved slowly inching my phone out of my pocket to take a picture.

We were led to believe that the evenings would be cool. This was not the case, and we both wondered what to do with all the jackets, sweaters and long pants we packed for naught. Better to be prepared, I suppose. During our last two full days the temp hit 96. The only thing to do was to drive up to 7,200 feet to walk and eat at a pretty good outdoor restaurant.

We did walk the Trail of the 100 Giants, and those sequoias are incredible. Lots of people would come up from the valley floor to visit the trees and cool off on a Sunday. The gift shop there was glad to see us coming. Overall, it was an escape that was Wi-Fi free and uncrowded. If you visit in the cold season, plan to arrive during daylight. The Caltrans sign notes, “Road not plowed at night.”