Our latest installment of short trips is what follows. For those of you that have been reading along
as we put our rig through its paces, welcome back. For those of you just joining us, pull up a
chair and travel with us as we go down some roads less traveled and some that
everyone knows…..
We had a long weekend at the end of October. For those that do not live in Nevada – we
celebrate our States Birthday. What
makes it all the more interesting is that Nevada Day is in reality on October
31st. That’s right,
Halloween… kind of fitting. We entered
the Union on October 31, 1864 and are proud of it. There are many tales to tell …. Some true and
some not so true…. about the why and when. But those are stories for another day.
We start out our excursion as always from the Reno, Nevada
area. We head south on US 395 and taking
Hwy 88 to Hwy 89 and then the route over the mountains on SR4. Calaveras Big Trees State Park is our
destination and is located off SR4. A
word of caution and warning as this route is not designed for large rigs. As a matter of fact, rigs larger than 25 feet
in length are strongly discouraged. It
also closes in winter because of the great amount of snowfall. For those who have toads – you can park your
rig at a park in Carson City and take the toad over the mountain to Big
Trees. Additionally you can take an alternate route
if you chose – this a spectacular Park and should be seen if you are traveling
in the area. Great thing about this route, if you have the time you can stop
near Genoa and visit a nice State Park as well.
More on that location another time.
Our trip over the mountain to see the Big Trees was
uneventful – but not for the faint of heart.
This routes peaks at 8730 feet at Ebbetts Pass. Lots of hairpin turns and in many places the
road is about a car and a half wide.
There isn’t even a center line on the road! But there are numerous hiking trails along
the highway - and a few pullouts for picture taking as well. A bit of a history lesson here…. Ebbetts
Pass was originally recommended to surveyor GH Goddard as a route of great
promise for the Transcontinental Railway by Major John Ebbetts. The Transcontinental Route eventually was
chosen and Ebbetts Pass was not selected.
The pass was used by Stages and
serviced Silver City. Along the route
there are many small unimproved campgrounds – that can be used for a minimal
cost. One of my favorites was the quite
small setting at Mosquito Lakes. Prices
for use are posted on the Restrooms and are paid through the honor system. They do have regular site drive bys to
confirm fees are paid.
Our travel time was a little more than 4 hours…. and a
beautiful one at that. We arrived at Big
Trees shortly after noon and did a drive through the camping area looking for a
spot that was convenient to the trails we wanted to hike and to other park
amenities. We decided on the loop
closest to the Park entrance as it had meadow access and trails access nearby. They have a very nice Visitors Center with a small
store on the premises that sells various logo items. They also have a small museum type exhibit
that was very informative. While the
fees are a bit high considering there are no hook-ups, the surrounding trees
and wildlife make it worth the extra expense.
After checking in, we decided to have our lunch and then hike the
trails. The first trail was an interpretive one with
lots of great info and interesting facts.
This is just a short one – but made for a nice warm up for the longer
hike we would take next. For those who
have never been to this park, I want to tell you that it is very well
maintained and the trails were even and easy to walk. This park is about 6,000 acres and actually
has two groves of these spectacular big trees.
There is North Grove (where we stayed) and the South Grove. While the South Grove has bigger and grander
specimens, this portion of the park was closed to camping this time of
year. We will return another time to see
these great trees. A guide can be purchased at the Visitors
Center or at the Trailhead for a nominal fee - just fifty cents at this
writing. There is some uncertainty as to
the actual first white settler to discover these magnificent trees… but whoever is given credit, we are all
thankful that they have been preserved for future generations. This site is recognized as the longest
continuous operated tourist attraction in California.
Many of the trees are greater than 250 feet in height with
diameters exceeding 25 feet in circumference.
The Big Trees trailhead through the North Grove starts near the
Discovery Tree. The Discovery Tree was
taken down in 1853 to create a dance floor in the woods. It took over three weeks to saw through the
massive trunk. John Muir wrote of it in
later writings lamenting that such a thing was done to such a beautiful tree. There were parties held at the tree with
illustrations of up to thirty two revelers dancing upon the stump. There was even a pavilion built over the
stump in 1856 to keep out inclement weather.
Other additions show that there was also a bowling alley and saloon
erected at the tree site.
As we continued or walk through Big Tress, we came upon the
Father of the Forest which has a path through it and is said to have fallen
centuries ago. There is also the
Pioneer Cabin Tree which was originally created to compete with the trees of
Yosemite National Park. Unfortunately
the tree is slowly dying as the result.
It can no longer support its growth and has become less resistant to
fire. There is a stop along the trail
that allows for an up close view and sensory experience.
After our walk we returned to the Adventurer and had a
campfire and a delicious dinner. My
theory on that is that if you eat it and nobody dies, it had to be good, right?
The campground loop filled up quite a bit while we were on
our hike but they provide enough space between sites that this was not an
issue.
So in conclusion, this was a great place to get away for a
long weekend, relaxing amongst the majestic trees and enjoying nature.
With weather turning colder here in Northern Nevada we will
have to park the Adventurer for a bit, but we’ll be back on the road soon.
Next trip for us is a Western Caribbean Cruise onboard the
Carnival Dream. For those who have
enjoyed this writing, look for my review of that trip at cruisecritic dot com
under the handle Sparkscruiser.
Until we travel together again, stay safe. And explore what this great land has to
offer.
Laurie and
JP
The Cruisin
Campers
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