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Informationen zum Autor Mike White learned to hike in the Cascade Mountains and honed his outdoor skills while obtaining a B.A. from Seattle Pacific University. After college, Mike and his wife, Robin, relocated to the high desert of Reno, Nevada, where he was drawn to the majesty of the Sierra Nevada. In the early 1990s, Mike began writing about the outdoors, expanding the third edition of The Trinity Alps. His first solo publication for Wilderness Press was Nevada Wilderness Areas and Great Basin National Park. Fifteen more titles followed, including the Snowshoe Trails series, national park books for Sequoia, Kings Canyon, and Lassen Volcanic, Backpacking Nevada, and Afoot & Afield Reno-Tahoe. Two of his books have won national awards, Top Trails Lake Tahoe and 50 Classic Hikes in Nevada (University of Nevada Press). Mike has also contributed to Sierra South, Sierra North, and Backpacking California. In addition to his book projects, Mike has written articles for Sunset, Backpacker, and the Reno Gazette Journal. He is also a contributor to the Pneuma Project blog. A former community college instructor, Mike is a featured speaker for outdoor groups. Klappentext This Comprehensive guide features trips for all levels, from a half-mile loop by pictographs and bedrock mortars to an 82-mile trek along the wild and remote MiddleFork Kings River, on both the east and west sides of the parks. Leseprobe TRIP 4 East Fork Grove DISTANCE: 5 miles, out-and-back ELEVATION: 6,600'/6,240', +525'/-820'/±2,690' SEASON: Late May to November USE: Light MAP: Silver City ATWELL MILL In the 1870s, the Atwell Mill provided the town of Buelah (now Mineral King) with lumber for buildings and mines, also supplying a million board feet for a flume between Oak Grove and a hydroelectric plant in Hammond. The high cost of transporting lumber to the San Joaquin Valley eventually doomed the mill, but not before many stately giant sequoias near the mill succumbed to the logger’s axe. Ironically, the brittle sequoia wood proved to be useful only for shakes and fence posts. INTRODUCTION: Most hikers and backpackers who endure the rigors of the drive on Mineral King Road are bound for the high country above the valley, overlooking some of the lesser-known treasures along the way. Some of these neglected riches are found along the Atwell-Hockett Trail, which leads to a picturesque river canyon and a nearly forgotten grove of giant sequoias. On this 5-mile hike, visitors will enjoy the turbulent East Fork Kaweah River, which cascades through a narrow cleft of granite and a fine selection of Big Trees sans crowds. DIRECTIONS TO TRAILHEAD: From the east end of Three Rivers, leave Highway 198 and turn onto Mineral King Road. Follow the road for 8 miles to the Atwell Mill Campground entrance and then continue another 0.2 mile to the signed trailhead parking area, which has a bear box, at the east end of the campground. DESCRIPTION: Walk down a road toward the campground, which has water and vault toilets, for about 250 yards to the beginning of the signed Atwell-Hockett Trail. Follow a path past redwood stumps to a small meadow filled with relics from the long abandoned Atwell Mill. Through a mixed forest of black oaks, white firs, sugar pines, ponderosa pines, incense cedars, and sequoias, you veer away from the old mill site and descend around a hillside, soon dropping to diminutive Deadwood Creek. The descent continues through forest another half mile to a stout steel-and-wood bridge spanning the granite cleft of East Fork Kaweah River, 1.25 miles from the parking area. The bridge offers a picture-postcard view of the cascading river plummeting over slabs and boulders down a narrow, sequoia-lined gorge. Beyond the bridge, proceed through the East Fork Grove on a mild to moderate climb away from the ...
