Wandering in the Foot Hills of the Sierra Nevadas

We had more beautiful weather during our stay at Park of the Sierra, so we made a trip to the closest mountain lake. This is Bass Lake, outside the town of Oakhurst. The visitor center told us that Bass Lake was drained to repair the dam several years ago. With the ongoing drought, it was a sad site for those years. But they were glad to report that the lake is once again full, and a turquoise beauty in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada mountains. We can see a snow-covered peak peeking over the trees in the picture below. We also see that close to half the pine trees in this area have been killed by the pine beetle that has decimated forests all over the country.

We took a hike up the hill to get that view of the lake. Denisa had to take a picture of a beautiful wildflower that she had never seen before.

The picture above seems to be a youngster, while the one below is a completely unfurled Indian Warrior Wildflower. This seems appropriate since the trail we were on was the Mono Trail. It included educational sign posts describing the life of the Mono Indian tribe that used to live in this area.

That was a nice one-mile hike, but Denisa had also read about a more adventurous trail. Just finding where it started was treacherous. We had to drive down this narrow, bumpy, muddy road with no signs, and blind hills that would be impossible to navigate if we met another vehicle. Can you tell that Denisa did not like this road? She was ready to call it quits and leave, but there was no where to turn around. Mark is fearless in these adventures, and he sees no problem with driving down roads like this.

Denisa was also ready to call it quits for another reason. She had read that this hike is dangerous, especially during times of heavy rainfall when the King River is running fast and the granite surrounding it is wet and slippery. We heard from more than one source that people die on this trail every year. We found a memorial marker at the beginning of the hike to one of those victims. But again, Mark is fearless and excited to start an exciting hike, as he stands on that slippery granite rock in front of the raging river.

As we headed on up the trail, Denisa didn't know what to think when Mark suggested she stand close to the river for this picture. Maybe he was getting tired of being around her 24/7.

We made it to Angel Falls, to see its heavenly water flowing down the side of the mountain. We could have gone further to Devil's Slide, but Denisa didn't want to press our luck on this death-defying hike. Mark thought she was crazy for being so careful. We made it succesfully back to the car alive, with only the car ride back down that narrow road between us and civilization. Denisa insisted on walking ahead to stop any lost traffic that we might meet on that narrow road. Sure enough, she stopped Mark before he met a little car with a confused middle-aged couple inside. It seems they were looking for the trail to Angel Falls but hadn't seen any signs . . . Does that sound familiar?

We made other trips around the area during our week at Park of the Sierras. We had read about something called "The Bloom Trail." There is a map that illustrates the best roads to drive to see the beautiful fruit tree blooms. We had looked forward to seeing the peach, nectarine, and plum trees decked out in their flowers. But we were a little late. The blooms are pretty well gone, and in a month this area will be known as "The Fruit Trail." But it was an interesting drive through miles and miles of orchards decked out in their spring green leaves.

We made two different trips into Fresno, about 30 miles south of our campgroud. Fresno is the fifth largest city in California, and it has all the shopping and eating opportunities of a city that size. It is also home to California State University-Fresno. Because it is the agricultural college in a very agricultural state, it's an interesting campus to visit. The entire northeast side of campus is filled with dairy cows, sheep, a creamery, and an over-priced store that sells the produce from the farm. But it was most fun to visit the orchards. Denisa is standing next to a tiny orange tree that is just loaded with full-size fruit and more of those heavenly-smelling citrus blooms.

We also visited the walking/biking trail that winds through the nearby city of Clovis. Just like we saw in South Korea, Clovis has exercise equipment along the trail. We had never seen this hamster-wheel-like apparatus before, but Denisa thought she figured out the proper way to use it for maximum caloric burn.

Then Mark tried it, and determined it was actually a relaxation device instead of a piece of exercise equipment.

On our last day in the area, we headed back to Clovis for Big Hat Day. It is touted as the biggest festival in Central California, so we're not going to miss that. First thing, Denisa won a t-shirt from the local radio station. It looks like it's going to be a good day!

We found that Clovis, California, was home to Ken Curtis. That name didn't sound familiar, but "Festus" did. We both remember the part he played as the deputy to Sheriff Matt Dillon on the television show, "Gunsmoke" from 1962-1975. Even though he was raised in Colorado, Festus chose Clovis as his home for the last eleven years of his life. He even appeared at the Clovis Rodeo in 1991, the day before he died.

We attend these festivals mainly for the music, and this one didn't disappoint. Not only is Clovis a rodeo town, but there are obviously many country fans here as well. This country music singer was very popular with the crowd. Tom Pemberton certainly earned points with us when he announced that he moved to Clovis two months ago from Ardmore, Oklahoma. He used to be one of our Oklahoma neighbors!

He sang some great two-step music, so of course we got to dance. But the asphalt dance floor was most used by the female line dancers. Denisa didn't know their dance steps, but that doesn't stop her from trying. She was the only gray-haired woman without cowboy boots in the crowd of young dancers.

They estimated that 140,000 people would come to the festival this weekend, and with the great weather it looked like they all made it. We had temperatures in the 70's and just a little wind. It was a great day to wear Denisa's new big hat for the Big Hat Festival.