itinerary: Sequoia day without the sunset wait, cabin by 6:30

days/2026-09-24.md

@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@
 
 - Check out of Wawona by 10 AM, following the check-out procedures posted at the property · **leave by 8:00 AM** — Hwy 41 to Fresno, Hwy 180 to the Big Stump entrance, Generals Hwy to Giant Forest: **~4 hrs**
 - Fresno: full tank and groceries for three nights at Whole Foods (Shaw Ave, off Hwy 41; see Addresses). No grocery store in Miramonte; Clingan's on Hwy 180 at Squaw Valley is the only stop near the cabin, and it is a gas-station store. No gas near the cabin or inside the parks; backups are Hume Lake (off the byway) and Stony Creek Lodge (Generals Hwy, seasonal) — verify open. Sep 24–25 is ~250 miles
-- Giant Forest → Miramonte is ~1 hr 30 back along Generals Hwy and Hwy 180, in the dark after the Moro Rock sunset; watch for deer
+- Giant Forest → Miramonte is ~1 hr 30 back along Generals Hwy and Hwy 180; leaving ~5:15 PM keeps the arrival in daylight. Watch for deer
 - **Entrance pass:** use the 2026 America the Beautiful Non-Resident Annual Pass purchased for the trip; keep the digital/PDF pass ready, show it with MS's photo ID, and ask the ranger for a physical pass. An unstaffed entrance may require the displayed physical/PDF pass. See [the pass record](../bookings/activities/america-the-beautiful-pass-2026.md).
 
 ## Route after Fresno
@@ -30,19 +30,18 @@ The cabin is ~5 mi south of Hwy 180 on Hwy 245, near Pinehurst; ~10 min each way
 
 ## Plan
 
-> Menu: [`parks_sights.md`](../parks_sights.md). Roads all open per NPS Sep 23; Crescent Meadow Road is open to cars on weekdays after the shuttle season. Sunset 6:53 PM.
+> Menu: [`parks_sights.md`](../parks_sights.md). Roads all open per NPS Sep 23; Crescent Meadow Road is open to cars on weekdays after the shuttle season. No sunset wait: the day ends at the cabin in daylight.
 
 - **~12:15 PM** Lunch — options, in order of fit:
   - Lodgepole Grill & Market — grill counter (burgers, sandwiches, salads) plus a market; 8 AM–9 PM daily to mid-Oct. On the Generals Hwy 4 mi north of the museum, so it comes first from the Wye. +1 559-565-3301
   - Cooler at the Giant Forest Museum — no food sold there
-  - The Peaks at Wuksachi — lunch is Sat/Sun only; dinner 5–10 PM daily with reservation, clashes with Moro Rock sunset
-- **~1:00 PM** Giant Forest Museum — orientation; 15 min is enough. Beetle Rock is a 2-min walk behind it: bare granite facing west over the foothills. Look now, and it is the **sunset fallback** for anyone skipping the Moro Rock steps
-- **~1:10 PM** *Optional:* Big Trees Trail — 0.7-mile paved loop around Round Meadow from the museum lot, ~30 min; best interpretive signs in the park
-- **~2:00–3:45 PM** General Sherman Tree from the main Sherman lot on Wolverton Road (5 min drive) — ½ mi down 200 ft to the tree, Congress Trail 2-mile paved loop from the tree, ½ mi back up. **Walk the whole loop**: the far end has the President (second-largest tree in the world), Chief Sequoyah beside it, and the Senate group just beyond, all better than the Sherman fence
-- **~4:00 PM** Crescent Meadow Road to the end (15 min from Sherman). Tunnel Log on the way: 8 ft wide, 7 ft high, bypass if unsure
-- **~4:15–5:30 PM** Crescent Meadow — 1-mile flat loop past Tharp's Log, ~40 min; then sit at the meadow edge for bears at dusk, 100 yd rule, no food in hand
-- **~6:00 PM** Moro Rock — small lot at the trailhead, 8 min back along the road; ~350 steps, on top by ~6:20 for the **6:53 PM sunset** over the foothills, Great Western Divide to the east. Cold and windy up top; jackets. Lights for the steps down. Whoever stays at the bottom: Hanging Rock, a 5-min path from the lot to a boulder with the view back at Moro Rock
-- **~7:15 PM** Leave for Miramonte; cabin ~8:30 PM. Dinner on the way if wanted: Lodgepole Grill until 9 PM (~7:35, on the route north), or Grant Grove Restaurant 2 mi past the Wye, listed until 9 PM (~8:15, then 45 min to the cabin)
+  - The Peaks at Wuksachi — lunch is Sat/Sun only; dinner 5–10 PM daily with reservation
+- **~1:15–3:00 PM** General Sherman Tree from the main Sherman lot on Wolverton Road — ½ mi down 200 ft to the tree, Congress Trail 2-mile paved loop from the tree, ½ mi back up. **Walk the whole loop**: the far end has the President (second-largest tree in the world), Chief Sequoyah beside it, and the Senate group just beyond, all better than the Sherman fence
+- **~3:15 PM** Giant Forest Museum — restrooms, map, 15 min. Beetle Rock is a 2-min walk behind it: bare granite facing west over the foothills
+- *Optional:* Big Trees Trail — 0.7-mile paved loop around Round Meadow from the museum lot, ~30 min; redundant after the Congress Trail
+- **~3:45 PM** Crescent Meadow Road to the end (2 mi past the museum). Tunnel Log on the way: 8 ft wide, 7 ft high, bypass if unsure. Crescent Meadow: 5 min to the meadow edge, or the 1-mile flat loop past Tharp's Log (~40 min) if there is energy
+- **~4:30 PM** Moro Rock — small lot at the trailhead; ~350 steps, 20 min up, view 4,000 ft down the Kaweah canyon and east to the Great Western Divide. Whoever stays at the bottom: Hanging Rock, a 5-min path from the lot to a boulder with the view back at Moro Rock
+- **~5:15 PM** Leave for Miramonte; cabin ~6:30 PM in daylight — test the door code (0110 + unlock) before dark. Dinner at the cabin from the groceries, or Lodgepole Grill on the way (until 9 PM), or Grant Grove Restaurant 2 mi past the Wye (listed until 9 PM)
 
 ## Addresses