Best of the big parks ready for action
The gateways to your vacation paradise are opening this week.
In several of America’s most beautiful national parks — Yosemite, Lassen, SequoiaKings Canyon and Yellowstone — many campgrounds, cabins and trails will open within the next week or two.
In the high country, springlike conditions are just arriving. At 10,000 feet on the John Muir Trail, for instance, routes are clearing as late-spring snows melt. In many areas, sprouting vegetation has triggered a wildlife feeding frenzy.
It means that some of the most beautiful spots on the planet, as well as the campgrounds and cabins to support your visits, are now a go.
Here are the latest conditions for vacation planning: Lassen: The reconstructed and improved trail to 10,463foot Lassen Peak is open with about 30 percent snow coverage. It’s clearing fast, but snow and ice still cover portions of the trail, so hikers should wear Yaktrax and bring ski poles. I plan to hike it soon for a Thursday report. The trail to Bumpass Hell, the most popular hike in the park, is also open. Butte Lake Campground opened Monday, Lost Creek on Friday. The remote road from the town of Chester to Juniper Lake is open, and the campground will open June 26. On the Lassen Park Highway, Summit Lake campgrounds will open on the 26th. In all, eight campgrounds will be open for Fourth of July, as well as another 20 on National Forest Service land just outside the park.
Info: Lassen Volcanic National Park, (530) 595-4480, www.nps.gov/lavo. Yosemite: With snow melting, hikers get access to unbelievable miles of wilderness trails. The snowline is at 10,000 feet, with some deep patches remaining in shaded canyons and forested slopes from 9,500 feet and up. In Hetch Hetchy, the trail has been cleared (after a rock fall) to Wapama Falls and beyond to Rancheria Falls and its campsites. For camping outside Yosemite Valley, Bridalveil Creek Campground off Glacier Point Road and White Wolf off Tioga Road opened Friday. Tamarack Flat (reopens June 23), Yosemite Creek, Porcupine Flat and Tuolumne Meadows will have sites available first-come, firstserved (50 percent at Porcupine and Tuolumne). In Yosemite Valley, the waterfalls are running strong, the crowds have arrived and all campsites are reserved. Bears are active wherever there is food — that is, near campgrounds and housekeeping.
Info: Yosemite National Park, (209) 372-0200, www.nps.gov/yose. Sequoia-Kings Canyon: The park will be 100 percent open by the Fourth of July. For now, 11 of 14 campgrounds are open. Dorst Creek Campground near the Giant Forest opens Wednesday; Crystal Springs near Grant Grove and Moraine in Cedar Grove open July 1. Another 10 camps are available just outside the park in Sequoia National Forest and Giant Sequoia National Monument. The great Watchtower route was cleared this past week. Bears are often right along the Generals Highway and near the parking lot at Wuksachi Lodge.
Info: Sequoia-Kings Canyon National Park, (559) 565-3341, www.nps.gov/seki. Yellowstone National Park: The arrival of springlike conditions and sprouting vegetation has given rise to the migration of large herds of elk into the park’s high-country plateau, as well as a high level of bison sightings near Yellowstone Lake, Old Faithful and along the Madison and Firehole rivers. The Roosevelt Lodge and cabins opened last weekend. Lake Lodge and cabins, and Lewis Lake Campground opened Wednesday, Indian Creek on Friday, and Pebble Creek and Slough Creek open Monday. Grant Village Campground opens next Sunday; in all, 12 camp- grounds with 1,700 sites are available, five by reservation at www.YellowstoneNationalParkLodges.com.
Info: Yellowstone National Park, (303) 344-7381, www.nps.gov/yell. Sierra crest: The ice cut at 13,153-foot Forester Pass (the old metal sign on top actually says 13,200), the highest spot on Pacific Crest Trail, is slippery and hazardous, worst when frozen in the morning. Micro-spikes are advised. There is also significant icedover snow on the north flank as well. Most of the John Muir Trail is not passable yet for horses and mules. In Kings Canyon, a new, established route to climb 14,026-foot Mount Langley has been marked with cairns, and other freelance side routes have been removed.
Can’t make up this stuff
“Jessica Hector here from the Mount Shasta Post Office. I just finished reading your article ‘Wild.’ Serving the PCT thru-hikers at the post office for many years, I have come to respect and thoroughly enjoy seeing and talking with all of them when they come to pick up their packages (food drops) ... One day, a young couple was in line and I asked if they were hikers. He answered, ‘Yeah, we like to hike.’ I asked if they were on the PCT and got a blank stare. Not wanting to make a big deal I explained it. The young woman said, ‘Wow, really? They hike from Mexico to Canada? Wouldn’t it be easier to hike from Canada to Mexico because it would be all downhill?’ ”
Bear tales
Darwin award: “A ranger at Yosemite encountered a man trying to get a bear into his car, so he could take a photo of it in the driver's seat.”
About those bear cubs: “Seems to me I recall a story you wrote years ago about somebody bringing two bear cubs home and letting them go at Mount Diablo.”
TS datebook
I’ll be giving the talk “Electrifying Wildlife Encounters,” featuring some outrageous yarns and photos, June 23 at the Corte Madera REI, June 24 at the Berkeley REI and June 25 at the Barnes & Noble in El Cerrito; all start at 7 p.m. The hike on the Peninsula for Chronicle members June 25 is sold out.
Your letters
I put aside a special time to read every letter and really enjoy each one. Because I’m on the road a lot, then put story packages together when the trip is done, I can’t always respond. These appearances are the best time to connect and ask me anything.
— Jessica Hestor
— James Pendergast
— “Bear” Harrison