January 4, 2013 Skiing to Big Meadows

Title: January 4, 2013 Skiing to Big Meadows

Trail head: Big Meadows Winter Parking Lot

Hike Info:

Trail: Big Meadows Road

Destination: Big Meadows Warming Station

Actual Destination: Big Meadows Summer Tailhead

Distance: 7.4 miles

Travel Time: 3:17 (2.25mph)

Moving Time: 2:51 (2.60mph)

Elevation Rise: 639'

Maximum Elevation: 7,817'

Falls: 2 by Gary

Calories Burned: 2,883

Average Heart Rate: 143

High Heart Rate: 162

Description:
Sherri is sick, or at least getting over a sickness. So Steven and I took off cross-country skiing to one of our old stand-by places: Big Meadows, close to Grant Grove. It is a fine, beautiful day, unlike when we took my brother and Andrea up there a couple of years ago.

Being the first ski of the season, we, or should I say, I am, a bit wobbly. Anyway, we enjoy ourselves as we go along the ski tracks. A bit up, a bit down, with two real downs for me, but no face plants. We get to the Big Meadow warming hut. Today it is not needed, but it is a good place to sit down for a few minutes, and that is what we do. We have a Clif bar and then continue on.



We decide to continue on up the road for another mile to the Weaver Lake trailhead. Getting a bit hungry, we turn around and back we come. Nothing very spectacular. But just a plain old good day of skiing.

2012-01-25 Big Meadow

Snow! A minor miracle. This weekend it finally snowed after two months of dryness in Fresno. So the Fresno folks headed to the mountains to play. Big Meadow close to Kings Canyon NP was our destination.

We left after lunch and got there about 2:00pm. Bright, beautiful, sunshiney day. In the upper 50's. Steven and I went off up the road cross-country skiing. Sherri put on her snowshoes.

Snow was good. One person had already been on the road with his skis and we just followed his tracks. Met him when he was on his way out. The sky was clear, visibility was great. You could see Shell Mountain clear, and Alta Pk loomed in the background. Even Little Baldy was outstanding.

We skied until 3:25 when we turned back. The road in has a gradual uphill. It is a good first ski of the season. Even with that,I was huffing and puffing because of the elevation. Something to work on for the few days we have before David has a crack at me.