June 8 -- Holy $@#&!

This is totally why we are here.







We hiked the Hotel Creek Trail out of Cedar Grove this morning, and this was our view from the top. A-ma-zing. We hiked around six miles total, from the valley floor up to about 7200 feet in elevation, and back, for a gain of 1200 feet. It was a half-mile from our campsite to the trailhead, two miles pretty much straight up over many, many switchbacks, and then another half-mile to the trail's unbelievable overlook. The trail was very sandy -- much different than the more rocky, hard-packed trails we are used to in the East -- but I rather liked it.

I think we needed this first hike in many ways. Both Jarrett and I have had a lot of worry hovering over us lately. We admitted to each other this morning this very fact, and that it was probably the major cause (aside from it just being our first night in the Westy) neither of us got any sleep last night. (Elsa, on the other hand, slept perfectly soundly.) I think the drive into the canyon yesterday stressed us both out some, with it's crazy hair-pinned turns and steep ascents and descents, even though Jarrett did an excellent job maneuvering the vehicle. And then Jarrett was worrying about whether the van will make it back OUT of the canyon okay, whether we will have enough gas, etc. I was worrying whether a bear was going to find its way into our site, whether the van was just going to start rolling down the hill while we slept (it moves a decent amount when our weight shifts), etc. Pretty much anything we could worry about, we were. We were even worrying that we would worry throughout our entire vacation. I was praying that the worry would just lift so we could get some rest and relax, and I think after doing this hike, most of it has done just that. It was a fairly strenuous hike, and we did it. And even though we were feeling the effects of the elevation gain, our legs were not burning. And it was just freakin' fantastic.

Our original plan was to do the hike, eat lunch, and then drive back up to Grant Grove for the next two nights (still in Kings Canyon National Park) and then head to Lodgepole (in Sequoia National Park) on Thursday, where we actually have reservations through Sunday morning when we head on to Yosemite. However, after running into a young couple on the trail who is currently staying in a tent in Lodgepole, and who said they have been freezing there every night for the past few nights, and who said both Grant Grove and Lodgepole still have snow and, thus, have trails that are covered enough with snow that they are hard to follow or are just simply closed, we have decided to stay where we are for one extra night. Then we will move on to Grant Grove for one night so we can do the one short hike we wanted to do there, and then on to Lodgepole as planned. As I posted earlier on the blog, we were aware of potential winter conditions here, but where we are here in Cedar Grove is quite sunny and warm, and there is no snow to speak of. It got chilly last night, but not really cold. There are a couple of other hikes we can do here, so we decided to go ahead and stay and ensure one more comfortable night. Even though some of the trails we wanted to do in Lodgepole might be closed, the snow is melting quickly, we already have reservations there, and there are definitely some trails we will be able to do.