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Detour to Ladybug

L

lambertiana

Gold Member
Joined
Jul 7, 2000
Messages
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This morning my son and I wanted to drive up to Giant Forest. There are a couple feet of fresh snow there, and the skies are clear, which makes it an outstanding time to go there. But when I got to the Sequoia park entrance, the old battle axe nazi there would not let me continue without chains. Never mind that it hadn't snowed for two days, and even when it does snow heavily, I have always been fine with AWD (Subaru). In fact, the last few times I have been up there during a snowstorm, when I got to the chain controls where they make everyone chain up, they just looked at my car and waved me through. But the gate attendant today felt differently.

Anyway, we decided to go over to South Fork at the very southern end of Sequoia and hike up to Ladybug. South Fork is several thousand feet lower than Giant Forest (3600') and there is no gate.

There was a little snow on the ground at South Fork, with only one other vehicle at the end of the road. We soon passed that couple, laying on a blanket, lounging in a sunny spot.

The moss is really green this time of the year
Ladybug12-24-09006.jpg


Most of the trail to Ladybug is in live oak woodland, with manzanita and cercocarpus (and plenty of poison oak)
Ladybug12-24-09015.jpg


Here is the view looking up the canyon
Ladybug12-24-09056.jpg


Soon Homer's Nose came into view
Ladybug12-24-09009.jpg


Ladybug had a little more snow
Ladybug12-24-09044.jpg


A little above Ladybug
Ladybug12-24-09025.jpg
 
A little above Ladybug are the outliers of a grove of sequoias that is much further up the slope. They stand far above the other trees
Ladybug12-24-09032.jpg


And a little above that is a really nice small waterfall and pool
Ladybug12-24-09035.jpg


Another view of the stream near Ladybug
Ladybug12-24-09028.jpg


For those interested in geology, Ladybug is in some schist that is right on the contact zone with the granitic intrusion below, with the accompanying contact metamorphism. This schist shows the effects of some heat and pressure
Ladybug12-24-09043.jpg


For the obligatory knife porn, this is what I had with me
Ladybug12-24-09046.jpg


And in case you are wondering about the name, during most of the year the ground at Ladybug is crawling with, well, ladybugs. Millions and millions and millions of them. Here is a picture from another trip, showing a couple on a stick
SouthFork112008088.jpg
 
Thats some beautiful country. Views like that are the only thing I liked about living in California.
 
Did the battle axe want you to install the chains or did she merely want to see them? I have a 3/4 ton 4WD pickup with 285 x 16 Goodrich All Terrains. I've never had them require me to actually install chains. In case they ever ask to see them, I carry a couple old sets (you can often get them for $5-10 used). They don't fit my 285 tires but they give me enough traction to get through checkpoints.;)

DancesWithKnives
 
The battle axe did not want me to install the chains, she just said that the law required me to have them in my vehicle. She gave me directions to a place in Three Rivers that rents them (never mind, I have some at home, I wasn't about to rent some). She made it clear that to continue would be under threat of a citation.
 
Nice. I've never been up to Ladybug. Next time take me with you! I don't like driving on snowy mountain roads. When I was a teenager, I lost control of my Chevy Nova and fell off the road driving up the mountains. I always try to avoid snowy roads ever since.
 
baldtaco-II said:
Great breakfast spot.

I'm surprisingly attracted to that Northfield you have.
Click to expand...

I really like this spot, too. A couple years ago I took some very young scouts on a hike there, and one of them was having a very difficult time and wanted to turn around. He was a bit on the soft side, both physically and mentally, and was reduced to tears. But when we got to that spot, everything changed for him. We strung a rope across and had them hold onto it so they could get to the other side of the stream, and then they played around there for a while. Later, on the way back down to the cars, he was so happy that he had continued to that spot in spite of his difficulties, and said that he wanted to go back again. I told him that many things in life are like that, and we often have to put in a struggle to get something that is really worth it in the end.

That Northfield is a special that is available only from Cumberland Knife Works. I have a soft spot for ebony.
 
Amazing scenery. Love that waterhole and wouldn't mind sitting there for coffee. Looks like you need to give that Laconico a little hell. Thanks for posting your lovely hike!
 
Great pics, and a wonderful name of a place. Those Asian ladybugs are one of the introduced species that....overwinter in mass. We had ladybugs here that did not overwinter, but at some point someone decided that bringing the european versions would rid the world of aphids. They didn't pay attention to the fact that they like to hang out in warm spots, such as a southern facing rock face or your home...
 
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