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This morning we are starting with six miles to reach the parking lot at Road’s End. There is more spectacular scenery the entire time. We have good views of Avalanche Pass in the distance at one point.
Dean is always pointing out things like that. I would have had no clue that it was Avalanche Pass I was looking at.
We pass Mist Falls, and decide to have breakfast just before emerging back into the civilization of roads and cars. After breakfast, I am brushing my teeth when a smaller sized, young black bear comes running towards us, giving me a fright. It wasn’t an aggressive charge but seemed more like the bear didn’t see us and was running away from something, perhaps other hikers. The bear stops and is kind of hanging around very close by for a few moments so Dean gets out the bear spray and then just tries some yelling, arm waving etc. That works and the bear leaves.
As we continue on to the parking area, we notice some ripe raspberries here at this lower elevation, so it makes sense that bears would be around! Our plan is to use a combination of trail and dirt road to walk from Road’s End to the village of Cedar Grove and camp somewhere near there. At least, that’s what we thought we were permitted for. There is a trailhead ranger when we arrive at the parking lot who asks to see our permit and details of our itinerary. He says we can’t camp in the Cedar Grove area and need to continue on to what would have been our destination for the next day.
We’re mulling over this unwelcome information as we continue hiking towards Cedar Grove, snacking on raspberries as we go. Approaching Cedar Grove, I see a bear cub up in a tree just off the trail. I alert Dean, and my immediate thought is, where‘s the mother? We make a lot of vocal noise and the cub scoots down the tree. We never see his mother, but they seem to leave the area, so we continue on our way. When we reach the small village, everything is closed due to the Covid-19 pandemic, so we sit down at a picnic table along the King’s River at the deserted lodge. It’s easy to imagine this area would normally be busy. There are some very bold and habituated rock squirrels around pestering us for food.
We’ve done 12 miles of hiking at this stage, it’s 1 pm, and it’s very hot at this lower elevation. We had planned to hike the remaining nine or 10 miles tomorrow back to the car at Marvin Pass, and there would be an elevation gain of 4,000 feet along the way. The only way that I would do that this afternoon is if my life depended on it. However, Dean has a plan. Except for essentials, he will leave almost all of his stuff with me, run to the car, and pick me up in a few hours time. I don’t know how he can seriously want to do this, but he is all excited about it. He wolfs down some food and heads off at a jog at 1.30 pm. I am both incredulous and grateful. While he is sweating and scrambling over the pass near Lookout Peak, I have a relaxing afternoon by the river.
He arrives back before 7 pm with the car, tells me it was hard, and that he reached the car at 5.15 pm. I am very lucky! So that means we have an extra day for something unplanned now. We drive to a nearby campsite on the King's River in the National Forest for the night.
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