Weather Control of Choice: Visiting the Mariposa Grove of Giant Sequoia through Rain, Hail, and Snow

Date: March 19, 2022

Place: Mariposa Grove of Giant Sequoia, Yosemite National Park, California

Coordinates: 37.506950, -119.630043

Length: 10 miles

Level: moderate to strenuous 

Last a coupe of weeks ago we had a visitor from overseas. We didn't need to direct him toward Yosemite National Park - he already had it on his itinerary. His original plan was to go there on his own but since transportation turned out to be an issue and since it has been a while for us since we've been there ourselves (an even longer time for Pappa Quail), we decided to go all together. We stayed for three nights in Mariposa and toured a different part of the open areas of the park each day. On our first day we did sightseeing and hikes in the Yosemite Valley, and on the second say we entered the park from the south entrance and went to see the Mariposa Grove of Giant Sequoia. 

It is a few years now that Mariposa Grove isn't accessible to private vehicles and visitors need to park at the welcome plaza and take a free shuttle bus from there. The shuttle bus is active only in season and our recent visit there was out of season so we resorted to walking the two miles distance between the welcome plaza and the base of the Mariposa Grove. 

Our hike as captured by my GPS

Right by the parking lot, the elder chika found a cool bird - a white-headed woodpecker, busy looking for bugs. The woodpeckers are year-round birds there and this time of year they are getting ready to nest. We saw many woodpecker nesting holes on this hike, but no activity in or near them yet. 

White-headed Woodpecker, female

The 2-miles connector trail passes through forested areas and some open areas as well. It was sad to see so many trees that looked sick or were dead. The invasive boring beetle, combined with the recent droughts had wreaked havoc in the California forests. It isn't news anymore, and it is heart breaking to see the sick forests. In my mind I still expect to see it pristine when I go to the Sierra Nevada.

We were walking on the south-facing slope and there wasn't much snow cover on the trail. On the other side, the north-facing slope there was still considerable snow cover on the ground. On the open areas we could also see the looming clouds - the forecast for the day was rain.

I was surprised at how many people were walking this trail. It was actually a challenge to get trail photos that didn't include humans. I thought that the cold and the forecast of rain would deter people but I guess that just like us, they chose this day to be in the forest rather than to go to where grand views matter.

The only wildflowers that I could see were the manzanita blooms. Sill I was the slowest person in our little group. On recovery from an injury, I was taking it slow and easy. Thus it happened that when the elder chika and Pappa Quail noticed the Douglas squirrel on the offside, I was the closest one to it and my photo came out the best.

Douglas Squirrel

They didn't linger on that squirrel for long though. A few steps further up the trail they saw a chipmunk and gave it due attention.

Long Eared Chipmunk

When we arrived at the base of the Mariposa Grove we found that there are massive renovations going on. There was no actual work happening when we were there, but large areas were fenced off and there were piles of building materials everywhere. A new visitor center and a new display are being built there. It should look really nice when done.  

There were wood benches near the closed off area and we sat down to have some snacks. A large raven was strutting around, like a ranger checking out the park visitors. The elder chika photographed the raven. 

Raven

Our day was very winter like but spring was already in the air, certainly for the squirrels who were chasing each other fervently.

Douglas Squirrels

Our main goal for the day was to see the Grizzly Giant - the biggest sequoia tree in Yosemite National Park. Me and my family have been there numerous times but our young visitor has never seen the giant trees and we couldn't let him go back home without seeing them. 

The direct trail to the Grizzly Giant was blocked off for renovations so we started up the longer arm of the giants loop. Soon enough we came upon the first giant sequoia, which was a very impressive tree but a small one relative to the Grizzly Giant.

Giant Sequoia, Sequoiadendron giganteum

There were other signs of spring all over the place. Lots of new germination in the exposed ground where the snow receded, for example.

I was delighted to see yet another flower besides the manzanita, and a ground flower too - a wild strawberry! There was only one flower, but still.

The construction bypass is the trail we used to hike when coming back down from the upper grove. Now we were aiming directly to the Grizzly Giant. While sequoia trees are the most striking beings in their forest, they are not the most common conifers there. There were plenty of ponderosa pines, firs, and cedars too. It was encouraging to see nurseries - patches of young trees growing to fill in the spaces left by the dead trees.

The saying is that trees die upright. For many it is true, and it is a sad sight to see a stand of upright and very dead trees. When a tree falls down however, the hole in the ground left by its uprooting becomes a receptacle for water and a nursery for algae and insect larvae.

Turning around the curve we came within view of the Grizzly Giant. It was impossible to miss even from a distance - so huge it looked relative to the nearby trees, which were not small by any standard either.

I sent off everyone to approach the Grizzly Giant while I stayed at the far view point so I could photograph them as tiny human specks beneath the giant sequoia. While I was taking the photos It started to rain. The rain very quickly changed to hail, and soon the trail was covered with tiny ice balls.

Hail

In the past I had laid down on the ground beneath the tree in order to capture it base to canopy. I wasn't about to do it today so I moved as close as I could while fitting the image of the Grizzly Giant in a single frame.

The Grizzly Giant

It seemed to me that by the time it took me to get closer to the giant tree the number of people below it had dwindled considerably. I assumed the hail prompted them to start on their way back. We on the other hand, started uphill toward the Upper Grove. On our way there the hail changed to snow and everything turned very quiet all of a sudden.

For our visitor from overseas it was the first time seeing falling snow and he was utterly delighted by that experience. Light fresh snow started accumulating on the vegetation and on us. Less so on the trail - the exposed trail was warmer and the falling snow melted on contact with the trail ground. The large snow patches we crossed were of leftover old snow.

The snow's transformation of the scenery was magical. It felt like we had stepped through the wardrobe right into Narnia. I was looking for Mr. Tumnus to come hopping down the trail too.

We were all alone on the trail now. There were a few more people in the higher area of the Mariposa Grove, we did see them later on, but for a long while it looked as if we had the mountain all to ourselves.

We hiked most of the way up on the wide dirt road where the tram usually goes in summer. When we reached the Clothepin Tree, a giant sequoia with a naturally burnt tunnel at its base, we took the turn directly to the Mariposa Grove Cabin.

Clothepin Tree

We knew there would be precipitation that day and we came prepared. As soon as it started to rain we wrapped ourselves in plastic ponchos. We kept these on for the rest of the hike. I thought that the ponchos gave is a fitting look of forest elves. 

One of the hard sights along that trail was the area of fire devastation which left so many trees damaged or dead.

Manzanita bushes in their spring bloom where quickly covered with snow. It's a good thing that their flowers are bell-shaped, facing down.

Manzanita sp.

We reached the Upper Grove and made our way around to the cabin. I was hoping that the cabin would be accessible because we all wanted a food break. The cabin was closed shut but the snow had ceased, so we found a snow free area on the stairs leading to the cabin and we sat down to rest and eat. I noticed the fire hydrants that were placed in the Upper Grove. I don't remember seeing them in my last visit. I may have simply missed them, or maybe they're a new addition in effort to combat the forest fires that are so common in California these days.

I took a photo of the cabin from a distance, showingit dwarved by the giant sequoia trees around it. There was a lot more snow around the Upper Grove, most of it old, leftover snow.

Mariposa Grove Cabin

There are numerous trail loops around the Upper Grove, many of them we've hiked in previous visits, including the trail up to Wawona Point, the top of that mountain. It was pointless to hike up to the top on this very cloudy day, and we did have a limited time to get down because off the additional trail we needed to walk to get back to the welcome plaza. We therefore didn't go on the Guardians loop to visit any of the other landmark sequoia trees but started directly downhill. The snow resumed and for most of the way down I kept my camera protected under my plastic poncho.

Giant Sequoia, Sequoiadendron giganteum

We came across a few people on the way down. Most of them were also on their way back. At the bottom the snow changed to rain, then stopped altogether. The light snow that fell previously was already melting. On the way out on the connector trail, we did came across a sudden wave of incoming visitors. We were very surprised at that because although the rain had subsided, it was getting late and much colder. I couldn't imagine how the new visitor would make it in as far as the Grizzly Giant and back in daylight. I especially worried about families who hiked in with little kids with them, most appearing too lightly dressed for the wintery conditions. I didn't say anything of course, it was their business and I assume that once it got too cold and dark they would turn around whether they had reached the giant trees or not.

As we passed the open area again I took another look at the hill south of us. the cloud looked like it settled right on top of that hill and wisps of cloud or fog connected the ground with the very gray sky.

We neared the exit of the trail where the mostly conifer forest changed to a mix of conifers and broad leaf trees. The cloud cover darkened the day much earlier than sunset time and still there were people heading out to the Mariposa Grove. I hoped they'd make it in in time to see the giant trees and out while they could still see their way.

 

Another Douglas squirrel was ushering us out of its forest. The forest was its home, we were merely transient visitors.

Douglas Squirrel

The rain resumed when we were driving out of the park. It was a very good day in Yosemite, and we hiked the perfect trail for that day's weather and got to see  the sequoia grove while wearing its festive white. 

On the following day it was as if the snow was but a dream -it was cloudless and warm, and we had planned to visit a part of the park where  it would be really difficult to get to without a private vehicle - the Hetch Hetchy Valley.

The Place to Finish the Big Island's Adventure: Captain Cook Monument at Kealakekua Bay

 

 

 

Date: January 24, 2020

Place: Kealakekua Bay State Park, Captain Cook, Hawai'i, Hawaii

Coordinates: 19.492317, -155.917945

Length: 4 miles in and out

Level: strenuous

 

Town of Captain Cook

Park's name is: Kealakekua Bay State Historic Park. The monument is at Ka'awaloa Cove

On February 14, 1779 the amazing career of the explorer Captain James Cook came to its end when he was killed in a fight with Hawaiian warriors at Kealakekua Bay. Today there's a town there, above the ocean, named Captain Cook. The bay and the surrounding area is a state park and by the water there is a monument for Captain Cook. I wanted to visit this place already on my first trip to Hawaii 18 years ago, but it didn't happen then. I hoped to go there on this current trip with my friends but we've filled our days at the Big Island already.  We hiked Kaloko-Honokōhau State Historic Park on our first day, at Hawaii Volcanos National Park on our second day, and an exploration day on the northeast side of the island on our third day. Our forth day was our last and we needed to be at the Kona airport by 1:00 pm to catch the flight to Maui. Since Captain Cook isn't far from Kona my friends suggested that we'd go there rather than pass our morning shopping or strolling on the beach. I jumped on the idea with glee and after checking out our lodge we drove south to the town of Captain Cook. 

Our hike as captured by my GPS

 There is no standard parking lot near the trailhead. The trail begins just off the Napoopoo Rd. between people's home properties, in an overgrown vegetation area, and is easy to miss. There is a wide pullout on the other side of the road where cars can park and that's it. No signs, no facilities, not anything that says that this is a trail leading to a state park. There is very little traffic there, and a flock of feral chickens roam the road and its shoulders. 

The trail is narrow but apparently someone did try at some point to drive there, otherwise I don't know how this vehicle reached there where it was abandoned and gutted. It was an the first intriguing thing we saw when we started down that trail. 

On the first half a mile or so the trail descends at a very mild slope, between green walls of very tall vegetation, effectively concealing the town's houses on either side of the trail. There were some birds chirping about, but all we saw in terms of wildlife was a large, blue snail. 

It didn't take us long to get out of the thicket though. Soon enough we found ourselves walking in a more open area of A'ā basalt, old enough to support many plants that are adapted to the exposed, hot conditions of the rock with very little soil to hold on to. One such plant was the Kalanchoe, the one that propagates itself by creating little mini-me's at the edges of its leaves. These tiny plantlets then detach and drop to the ground where they set root and continue to grow into an adult plant that is an identical genetic copy of its parent. This way of vegetative propagation must be very successful because there were carpets of that kalanchoe all around.

Apparently this method of procreation doesn't eliminate the need for sex so these plants bloom as well, and they were all blooming all over the place at the time of our hike. 

Kalanchoe

there weren't many trees along that part of the trail and the trees we did see were mostly acacia-looking trees of a species I didn't recognize yet. These trees cast a very thin and ineffective shade. On our way down however, we didn't mind the lack of shade. 

Then the trail dropped downhill in a steep grade. Below is lay the beautiful coast and the deep blue ocean lapping at the dark basalt ground (header photo of this blogpost). Directly below us was a small grove of palms and I assumed there was a fresh water source there. A spring, maybe. 

Most of the way down the slope was largely bare rocks. There was non need for any 

say on trail' signs. The A'ā rocks looked very hostile and uninviting. 

While still high above sea level we had a fantastic view of the southwestern coastline of the Big Island, and we could see the western slope of Kilauea descending mildly into the ocean. 

Southwest Coastline

A small group of butterflies erupted into the air nearby. They seemed to be chasing one another. I tried to capture them in the air and out of many blurry shots, one came out sot of near focused. It was a pretty sight to look at. 

Butterflies

The trail got even steeper and we descended quickly, dropping down towards the green-belted blue. I couldn't tell our destination from where we were but I was already eager to get into the ocean. 

Getting down was quick. Then we turned south and walked a short distance on a level trail that was shaded by trees of several species, and some decorative bushes that I,m not sure were planted there on purpose.

Madagascar Periwinkle, Catharanthus roseus

There were evidence of people use of this place all over. There were many discarded beach items turned trash that gave the impression of an abandoned hippy joint. The thing that made it look most like a cheap hangout place was a stray cat that roamed around, looking of something to eat in the human leftover junk. 

As we neared the Captain Cook monument we started seeing people as well. There were a number of people in swimsuits and other beach attire sitting on the rocks around the monument. The real impressive sight was the bay itself: a couple of tour boats anchored near the shore and numerous human forms were floating face down with plastic pipes protruding from the sides of their heads. 

We of course, had full intention of joining the snorkelers. Before doing that however, I wanted to look at the Captain Cook monument, the primary reason for us going there. 

Captain Cook was a true explorer. Although he was a military man, he never took part in any conquest wars. Moreover, in all of his encounters with the native populations of the Pacific he kept the interactions respectful and straight forward, and enforced proper behavior on his crew. It is thought that the fight in which he lost his life started because of a cultural misunderstanding rather than a deliberate act of aggression on either side. Despite all that's known about Cook, the contemporary Hawaiians are irked by the Cook's memorial, because they see him as the one who opened the door to the stream of white settlers that eventually led to the loss of Hawaiian independence and the diminishing of their culture. 

The Cook Memorial

We changed to swimsuits, strapped the goggles and snorkel on our heads and stepped in the water. I had my underwater camera with me and immediately I begun putting it to good use. 

My first use of this camera at the north beach of Kaloko-Honokohau State Historic Park produced only laughable results. There is was wavy, and there wasn't much to see underwater. Now it was altogether different and I got much better results. 

For a start, there was a lot to see. It wasn't a hugely rich reef but there was a good number of colorful fish swimming about. The fish didn't mind the people much. Occasionally one would come near to stare at the big floating human but mostly they just went about their business, completely disregarding us. 

Pinktail Triggerfish

It has been a long while since the last time I had used a snorkel. 18 years, to be exact. So it took me some time to become comfortable with this activity. Comfortable enough to dive deeper in search of interesting life at the bottom.   

It was an effort to get all the way down to the sea floor but the effort was well worth it. There were fish there that didn't swim far above the rocks and corals. There were also sea urchins of at least two kinds. It was very cool to see. 

I could have stayed there the entire day if I had the time. I stayed in the water long after my friends had had enough and went to sit on the rocks. When I finally got out of the water and checked the time I started panicking - we had to get going right away if we wanted to catch our flight to Maui. We changed quickly and starting up the trail, backtracking the same way we came down with.

Kalanchoe on basalt rocks

Driven by urgency we quickly ascended the first, steeper part of the trail. But it was a very hot day and the trail was exposed so we soon got winded and had to slow down and pause frequently to drink water. These pauses gave me some time to look at the surroundings again, and appreciate the views and the interesting shapes of the lava flow, long solidified.

It was mid day and the sun was blazing right on top of us. That's what happens when you're hiking closer to the equator than your usual placed. The thin trees cast very little shade. Me and one of my friends were slowing down. My other friend, who was in much better shape, got frustrated with our slow speed and decided to go ahead back to the car. Half jokingly I warned her not to stop on the way lest she'd fall asleep and we'd beat her to the car.

My friend chuckles and got going, and soon disappeared around the curve. Me and my other friend continued uphill at a much slower pace. I put off any worry of missing the flight out of my mind - it was pointless to think of it now. We first needed to get back safely. 

The slow pace allowed me to take a closer look at those trees that I couldn't identify at first sight. It was then that I realized that the pods hanging from the branches looked very familiar to me - these were tamarind pods! We were walking through a grove of tamarind trees, and Indian species that was introduced to Hawaii and established itself in the wild there.

Tamarind, Tamarindus indica

Island weather can change fast, especially in the winter. At we walked on, clouds started gathering on the east and they were creeping westward towards us. It was hot still, but the trail became less steep now and the vegetation thickened again with bigger trees shading more segments of our trail. 

We were walking quicker now. I didn't want to stop any more. I just wanted to get to the car and rush to the airport, but a large tree with strange looking fruit grabbed my attention and I diverted to it momentarily to get a quick look at these fruit. There was a low stone fence behind the tree and I caught a glimpse of something white lying on the fence, mostly hidden by the large trunk of the tree. I stepped closer to see what that was and then started to laugh uncontrollably.

Autograph Tree, Clusia rosea

Aesop, the ancient Greek story teller has a fable about a rabbit and a tortoise that raced each other. The rabbit had a quick start but near the end he decided to take a break and wait for the slow tortoise so he could brag and taunt him. While waiting however, the rabbit fell asleep, and the slow, but steady-going tortoise eventually passed the rabbit and won the race. 

The white 'thing' on the stone fence behind the tree was a hat and underneath it lied our fast friend, fast asleep. I guess if we really had the time I might have let her sleep it off while waiting at the car. We didn't have the time to savor our tortoise victory however, so we woke her up and the three of us went on, not before I chided her for hiding so well - it was impossible to see her from the trail. Had I not decided to take a closer look at the tree we would have missed her altogether.

A fine resting place under the Autograph Tree

I looked at my watch again. We actually did a good time on our way up and I was more relaxed and less worried that we might miss the flied. We went on at a better pace now, but I did allow myself brief poses to check out some flowers that I missed on the way down.

Pigeonberry, Rivina humilis 

The wind picked up and a big cloud covered the sky. Strangely enough, the heat remained. We were getting close to the end of the trail now, and could see the town's palm trees swaying in the wind.

The top part of the trail is a thin line between thick walls of vegetation. High grasses mostly, but many others, including some familiar looking vines. It was nice not to have to worry about poison oak, the Californian hiker's bane.

The familiar looking vine turned out to be bitter melon, another Asian crop plant that was introduced to Hawaii and established itself in the wild (and the only vegetable so far that I couldn't develop a taste for).

Bitter Melon, Momordica charantia

The chicken flock in the parking area had grown and I counted more than ten of them, mostly hens and chicks. I took a few photographs but we didn't have the time to linger there any longer. We got into the car and drove off to the Kona airport. We made it there in time to catch our flight.

I think that If I was doing this trip with Pappa Quail and the chikas we probably wouldn't have gone to Captain Cook's monument under the time constraints we've had. It was a very time-tight hike with very little buffer time. I am very glad that we did it though. It was a place I really wanted to see and a perfect end to our time in the Big Island. It was also a reminder that four days is really too little time to see this island's wonders. I want to visit it again.