Saturday, All the Way... With a Bucket of Tiny Tacos!

Oakhurst, CA. Sat, 14 May 2022, 10:30am.

Over the past several years we've done a lot of "Friday Night Halfway" trips. ...Well, actually not so many in the past two years due to... *gestures broadly at everything*... In the past 12 months I've only used my moniker for it, Whoa, we're halfway there, twice. Once was for an actual trip, the other was to joke about Jon Bon Jovi turning 60. He's the writer and performer of the song that line comes from, "Livin' on a Prayer". Or as we'll have to sing it in a few years, "Livin' on Medicare".

Anyway, Friday Night Halfway. It's on my mind because this weekend we're taking a trip for which I considered doing a Friday Night Halfway— driving a few hours Friday night to split the driving so we could have more time for hiking Saturday and also not get home so late. But we decided instead we'd go all the way on Saturday.

Our plan for the day is to hike along Lewis Creek in the Sierra National Forest. It's south of Yosemite National Park and just north of the small town of Oakhurst, CA. There are a few waterfalls there.

As we plotted out the drive we realized we could do it all in one day. One long day. And we'd have to leave early.

We set our alarms for 6am Saturday. We were up by 6:20. We skipped showering, knowing we were going to get dirty anyway and would shower after coming home. We packed our hiking gear, grabbed breakfast that could be finished in the car, and rolled out of the garage at 6:50am. My aim was "Leave no later than 7am" so we were already on plan!

The morning air was cool, still in the 50s, as we started heading south on US-101. We had the top down in the convertible anyway to enjoy the fresh air. We cranked up the heat to compensate. It was a bit like our morning roadtrip to The Pinnacles 3 weeks ago except a) this trip we left earlier and b) we turned off US-101 at Gilroy to head east through the mountain pass on CA-152.

Soon enough we were blasting through the Central Valley, passing through the small town of Los Banos and then the even smaller town of Chowchilla. The map above shows a slightly different route than going through Chowchilla; I have a favorite drive through the Sierra Nevada foothills to/from Oakhurst that traverses country roads through more remote areas.

A hair over 3 hours after leaving home we arrived in Oakhurst. The only stops we'd made were for red lights and stop signs. It was nearly 10am. Time for brunch!

So that's where we are now. In Oakhust. Having brunch. At a Jack in the Box fast food restaurant, because that's how we roll. 😂 Seriously, fuck expensive fancy-ass hipster brunches. We'll take comfort food every time. Today's comfort food was chicken pitas, fries, and— ooh!— a bucket of 15 Tiny Tacos for $3! 😋

Update: Next up, Hiking the Lewis Creek Trail!

Hiking Lewis Creek Trail

Yesterday (Saturday) we hiked the Lewis Creek Trail in Sierra National Forest. After a drive of just over 3 hours from home and then brunch in nearby Oakhurst we hit the trailhead at 11:15am. Not a bad start for having already traveled 185 miles that morning!



The trail begins inauspiciously. It starts at the edge of a crowded parking lot on the side of busy Highway 41, with cars streaming back and forth between Fresno and Yosemite National Park. The trail's also very wide, a wide fire road with bits of old pavement in the first 100m or so. Oh, and off to the left, out of the picture frame, is a porta-potty.

Fortunately the trail changes character quickly. As the porta potty is left behind, a Sierra forest aroma asserts its dominance. It smells like fresh, mountain air and coniferous trees. Oh, and the too-wide, almost-paved trail? It's actually just a short spur down to the actual Lewis Creek Trail.

From the junction with the Lewis Creek Trail you can hike north or south along the creek. We chose to go north first. We'd visit the south branch later in the day. The north branch of the trail crosses a footbridge over Lewis Creek and becomes a much more intimate path.



Past the bridge over the creek 1/4 mile in the trail narrows to a single track about 1m wide. Though we'd see at least 20 other people on this stretch of trail during our visit it rarely felt crowded. It's a pleasant walk winding through the forest, sometimes it's near the creek, sometimes partway up the canyon sides.



It's interesting that though we've hiked along Lewis Creek in this area before, we haven't hiked this stretch of the trail. In 2018 we hiked south from the upper trailhead to Red Rock Falls. Today we're hiking north from the middle trailhead.



While the more northern leg of the trail was mellow, this middle segment is... mellow and exciting? Is that possible? The trail is a pleasant walk in the woods with the creek never too far away, but on this segment there are lots of little falls and cascades along the way. They add a dash of liveliness every few minutes.

Update: the adventure continues at Red Rock Falls!