DAY 4 : KINGS CANYON, CALIFORNIA TO FRESNO, CALIFORNIA

Matt had originally planned for the group to stay in Kings Canyon for three days. It turned out that the winter of 1995 had the second-highest snowfall ever recorded in the Sierra Mountains. All the peaks were still covered and summit hikes were impossible. Being the last week in May, Matt had determined that snow would not be a problem in the park this late in the season – but he was very wrong. The trio was camped at Grant’s Grove, a campground nearly 7,000 feet high at the western edge of King’s Canyon. They all decided to take a road trip 26 miles to Cedar Grove, a campground over 3,000 feet lower, down at the bottom of the canyon. The trio is met with breath taking scenery on the descent. Angular, fluted columns of granite descend into the dark, roaring waters of a swollen King’s River. The vast bands of coniferous trees, hugging the steep slopes, give way to solid, glittering spires of rock covered in ice and snow. Sunrays illuminate the majestic ridges of ice and windblown rock that form the continental divide.

After stopping at a waterfall, they drive all the way to Cedar Grove. A downpour comes out of nowhere and the three wait in the car until it subsides. They decided to take a 2 mile hike on a trail that circles Zumalt meadow. Jae decides to use up his film early in the hike – taking pictures of stupid deer eating grass. Later, they will all wish Jae had not taken those pictures. Matt brags how he could take on any bear and bash its brains in with a rock after poking out its eyes with a stick. Jim and Jae think this is a lot of bullshit but Matt assures them otherwise. Hiking next to a sheer granite cliff, Jim spots a gigantic, brown bear running up a mound of rocks. Matt has been singing loud Star-Trek songs and the bear is high-tailing it out of their sight. Jim yells, “bear!” Jae looks confused and Matt looks right at Jim – sees the fear in his eyes – and sprints down the trail back towards the car. So much for heroic bear wrestling stories. After the adrenaline pumped trio returns to the car, they are hit with yet another downpour. Little do they know that back in Grant’s Grove the temperature dropped to 28 degrees from 59 degrees in less than five minutes and that a tower of clouds rising 70,000 feet high into the stratosphere has descend right on top of them. On the drive up they are first hit with torrential rain, as they ascend out of the valley the rain turns to hail, and then to sleet. They were only 6 miles from Grant’s Grove when the snow came. Matt is following a small truck, using it as a plow for about a mile. Then they turn a corner in the road and see about 10 cars strewn across the road, like flies stuck in Vaseline. About 3 inches of slush and snow make the road impassible. It is snowing harder and the temperature is dropping. Options are limited, they could try to barrel up the road and spin all over the place or stay put. They decide to stay put. Matt immediately concerns himself with a survival situation. He plugs in the cellular phone but they are too far from any relay towers and no signal is available. So much for the cellular phone. They left the cooler and all their clothes in the tent. But wait! Jim’s little red bag – full of socks and underwear is in the trunk along with a twelve pack of red-dog beer. Matt realizes that layers of Jim’s underwear can be worn as a hat and the socks as gloves. The beer can be bartered for more valuable items in case of an overnight entrapment in the snow. Jim begins to panic and writes a bunch of post-cards to loved ones – telling them that he is going to die. Jae feeds off of Jim’s panic and Matt, in his nervous state, drinks a half-gallon of water, forcing him to go pee for several minutes out in the cold snow. Three hours go by and it stops snowing. A group of people congregates in the middle of the makesift parking-lot in the road. Talk about the Donner Party, a group of pioneers who were caught in the Sierra Mountains over the winter and resorted to eating one-another to survive, puts everyone on edge. Finally, a plow arrives and tafter a lot of commotion, the road is cleared. A train of cars starts up the one-lane plow wake to make the 5 mile trip to Grant’s Grove. After about a quarter mile, all the cars stop. A Winnebago has caught itself in the snow and is holding up everyone. Ten minutes later they are on the move again. They arrive at their campsite – or rather the REMAINS of their campsite. About 2 inches of hail and another couples of inches of snow and slush cover the site. The tent is soaking we, as are the sleeping bags, the stove, and some clothes. The cooler was impounded by a Ranger while were gone, along with a bottle of Dr. Pepper. It turns out that if you leave a cooler at a campsite, it will attract bears and that’s not good in a national park. They meet a young, cute ranger who informs them that they can only pick up their cooler before 5 and it is now 5: 14. But she decides to get our cooler anyway. She waives the 25 dollar fee, gives Jae a lecture on Bears and People (Matt was too steamed to attend) and returns the cooler. The tent, the bags, and everything are thrown into the car in a haphazard fashion. Everyone is cold, wet, and determined to get down out of the mountains and into the warm San Joaquin Valley. Matt hauls ass – going 70 mph down a winding road, and in one hour they are 67 miles away and 6,00 feet lower than Kings Canyon in sunny Fresno, California. The famished trio gorges themselves at the first Taco Bell they see. Matt eats two Burrito Supremes and two Soft Taco Supremes (a huge amount). Jim and Jae eat correspondingly outlandish proportions. A hotel room is rented, and everything is laid out to dry in the empty parking lot. All three are delighted to be warm, fed, and most of all – alive. After watching the latter half of the movie “Guarding Tess” all three fall asleep – Jae and Matt on the floor with their sleeping bags – and Jim in the bed. Matt bangs his head on the air conditioner several times during the night as he rolls over. What a f*&%ing day.