Recreation in Cedar Grove

The Cedar Gove area of Kings Canyon National Park is in my opinion one of the most scenic portions of the Sierra Nevada front-country (forest accessible by motor vehicles).  It is nestled in a canyon about an hour's drive from the park entrance, and is only open to visitors during the summer months.  Cedar Grove Village consists of four campgrounds and a lodge along the Kings River, and the windy, 6-mile drive to Road's End (the end of Highway 180) has many points of interest interspersed along it:

                                                                      Knapp's Cabin

                                                                         Canyon View

                                                                   Zumwalt Meadows

                                                          Zumwalt Meadows Trail

                                                                 Roaring River Falls

                                                                         Muir Rock

These points of interest require no hiking, but there are plenty of day hikes ranging from the Hotel Creek Trail which leads to an overlook of Cedar Grove:

The Don Cecil Trail, another semi-strenuous hike leading up to "lookout point":

The River Trail along the Kings River:

And the very popular Paradise Valley Trail leading to Mist Falls:

I have enjoyed all of these places many times during my seasons working in the area, and I annually spend time there every summer still, it just never gets boring.  To learn more about recreational opportunities available in the Cedar Grove area, visit this site here.

The Thrill of Night Hiking

Night hiking in the mountains is one of the coolest activities you can experience.  I have done it on a few occasions, from short distance trails near campgrounds to a couple hours trekking on the John Muir Trail at high altitude, and the sensual perceptions registered are seemingly more heightened, which produce an extra-euphoric feeling as surrounding environments are far more mysteriously majestic.

One trip that stands out in particular was a late night drive up to Road's End in Kings Canyon National Park for a weekend backpacking trip with a friend of mine that had been a former co-worker in that same area.  He got off work late on a Friday night, and we arrived at the trailhead at about 10:30 p.m. and quickly began our journey to a backcountry campground known as Upper Paradise Valley about 15 miles further into the Sierras.

The first few miles of the trail doubles as a day trail up to a popular waterfall called Mist Falls, but the trail continues on past it to three backcountry campgrounds (including the aforementioned Upper Paradise Valley campground) and eventually to the John Muir Trail.  It was thrilling walking parallel to and meandering along with the Kings River, and once the trail began to ascend, walking along the loud rushing rapids in the dark was quite an adrenaline-filled experience.

There were particularly beautiful sections of the hike that I remember especially well.  One being when openings in the thick tree canopy above allowed light to flicker like glitter on the foamy water and smooth, shiny rocks.  Another was when we ascended a rocky ledge where a moon-illuminated vista was visible to the south.  It looked surreal the way the barren granite walls and mounds of talus were gleaming seemingly candescently.  A little further up from there, a large portion of the southern Sierras was visible, and the luminescent peaks and ridges shadowing layers of jagged crags and spires created an eerie, gothic looking landscape.  

Here are some tips for night hiking, and here are some ideas to entertain if you want to go out and enjoy the experience yourself!

Trail Angels

Trail angels are wonderful people who aid thru-hikers on their treks by bringing them food and water sometimes miles into the wilderness so they don't have to exit to get replenished.  What makes them extra special is that they usually do it out of the kindness of their hearts, and usually they are backpackers themselves or retired backpackers.  What's cool is that since they are only backpacking for one day usually, they tend to bring thru-hikers long-yearned for junk food and soda, and sometimes beer.  I saw a documentary where a trail angel humped a pretty good sized plastic ice chest up to a junction on the John Muir Trail one season (he might have done it multiple seasons, he nor the documentary film makers specified) and then brought up beer to fill it with.  He kept them cold by keeping the ice chest filled with snow, and chatted up the hikers who stopped for a beer (or two, or...).

I've had experiences with trail angels and I agree with a couple of the people interviewed in this Pacific Crest Trail trail angel documentary trailer that they reflect what humanity is suppose to be (paraphrasing them), which is people helping people.  An experience that stands out because of a forum post I saw recently is my 2011 John Muir Trail jaunt through Independence when I attempted to continue on after a couple days of healing.  When I took a shuttle to Independence from Lone Pine, I intended to hitchhike up to Onion Valley where the Kersarge Pass trailhead leads to the JMT.  I ran into a trail angel named Uber Bitch that told me I could wait at her and her husband's motel while she waited for more hikers destined for Onion Valley.  A little later we all took a ride up to the Onion Valley campground, which was about a 15-20 minute drive up into the Eastern Sierras, and had a barbeque and campfire and plenty of cold ales throughout the night before beginning on the trail again the next morning.

I was reminded of this because this JMT forum post informed readers that a motel in Independence was recently purchased to specifically be converted into a hiker destination.  I assume it will be made to resemble the hostel in Lone Pine that caters to thru-hikers and Mt. Whitney hikers.  As stated in the PCT documentary trailer, transportation is provided to and from trailheads and houses are offered for rest time and showering, but trail angels buying a motel for hikers is truly awesome and takes the philosophy of "people helping people" to a new level.