8.0 KiB
8.0 KiB
Sep 24 (Thu) — Yosemite → Sequoia
Stay: Gilmore Cabin — Miramonte · check-in from 4 PM · no cell service — door code 0110 + unlock (received Sep 23)
Logistics
- 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
- 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.
Route after Fresno
The Sequoia / Kings Canyon leg is a T: Hwy 180 from the cabin up to the Wye junction is the stem, and each day takes a different arm. Today is the right arm, Sep 25 is the left.
| Leg | Road | Distance | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fresno → Big Stump entrance | Hwy 180 east (Kings Canyon Rd) through Centerville and Squaw Valley; the Hwy 245 turnoff for the cabin is ~12 mi before the entrance. Pay or show the pass at Big Stump | 62 mi | 1 hr 30 |
| Big Stump → the Wye | Hwy 180; fork 2 mi past the entrance — left is Hwy 180 into Kings Canyon (Sep 25), right is the Generals Highway into Sequoia (today) | 2 mi | 5 min |
| Wye → Giant Forest Museum | Generals Highway south, winding, past Stony Creek and Lodgepole | 28 mi | 55 min |
Return is the same way in reverse, ~1 hr 30 from Giant Forest to the cabin.
Cabin stop on the way in — decide later
The cabin is ~5 mi south of Hwy 180 on Hwy 245, near Pinehurst; ~10 min each way, ~40 min with unloading. Arrival there would be ~11:30 AM, before the 4 PM check-in, so it only works if the host agrees to an early drop and the door code is active. The code (0110) arrived Sep 23; ask Cheyenne (+1 559-790-6432 · Cheyenne@ProspectReal.com) beforehand.
- Option A — stop. Fridge for the groceries, no food in the car at trailhead lots (bear rules: food out of sight by day, never overnight), and the door code is tested in daylight — the property has no cell service, so a failed code at 6:30 PM means driving back toward the highway for signal. Giant Forest at ~1:15 PM
- Option B — straight to Giant Forest. Buy a cooler and ice in Fresno, keep food in the boot. Giant Forest at ~12:30 PM; first time at the cabin is in the dark, so have the code, the host's number and the turn-by-turn saved offline
Plan
Menu:
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.
- ~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)
Addresses
| Place | Address | Map |
|---|---|---|
| Gilmore Cabin — Miramonte | 48753 Todd Eymann Road, Miramonte, CA 93641 · door code 0110 + unlock · Booking PIN 2531 · host +1 559-790-6432 · no cell service | search |
| Todd Eymann Rd turnoff | from Hwy 245 just north of Pinehurst; the cabin is on the ~2.5 mi residential stretch beyond — exact house not mapped, rely on the address search and the host's directions | 36.69722, -119.01364 |
| Whole Foods Market — Fresno | 650 W Shaw Ave, Fresno, CA 93704 (Fig Garden Village); groceries for three nights. Hwy 41 exit Shaw Ave, ~1 mi west; ~1 h 40 from Wawona | 36.80910, -119.80544 |
| Clingan's Junction Grocery | 35468 E Kings Canyon Rd (Hwy 180), Squaw Valley · gas station store, last stop before Big Stump; ice, milk, basics · +1 559-338-2404 | 36.75463, -119.17197 |
| Lodgepole Grill & Market | Lodgepole Village, off the Generals Hwy 4 mi north of the museum | 36.60422, -118.73139 |
| Grant Grove Restaurant & Market | Grant Grove Village, Hwy 180, 2 mi past the Wye | 36.74054, -118.96305 |
| Giant Forest Museum | Generals Highway | 36.56470, -118.77270 |
| General Sherman Tree | main lot off Wolverton Road | 36.58165, -118.75144 |
| Beetle Rock | behind the Giant Forest Museum, 2-min walk | 36.56370, -118.77681 |
| The President / the Senate | far end of the Congress Trail | 36.57343, -118.75001 |
| Hanging Rock | 5-min path from the Moro Rock lot | 36.54906, -118.77054 |
| Moro Rock | Crescent Meadow Road | 36.54409, -118.76511 |
| Tunnel Log | Crescent Meadow Road, 1 mi past Moro Rock | 36.55254, -118.76138 |
| Crescent Meadow | end of Crescent Meadow Road, lot at the loop trailhead | 36.55457, -118.74880 |