A Winter Walk

February 9, 2016
Rockefeller Grove Trail, Yosemite National Park
Total distance walked: 1.25 miles

The day dawned cloudless and bright. Chris and I arrived at the trailhead ready for a leisurely jaunt up to Rockefeller Grove, the only sugar pine grove in Yosemite National Park. The grove was named after John D. Rockefeller who made significant financial contributions to several national parks.

We attempted this hike in February 2014, but there was no snow on the trail. This time it looked promising with old ski tracks imprinted in the snow.

With snowshoes strapped to our feet, we began walking uphill through the sun-dappled forest. There are three groves of giant sequoias in Yosemite: Mariposa, Tuolumne and Merced Groves but there is only one sugar pine grove.

The air was fresh with a scent of pine. Large cones buried in the snow were evidence that sugar pines grew nearby.

We progressed along the quiet path where the winter sun turned the snow soft. It shone through the bare branches of blackened trees, burned during the Rim Fire of 2013.

The snow tapered off revealing a dirt trail. We removed our snowshoes, propped them against a tree and proceeded walking on the hard-packed dirt path. Pinecones dotted the way until we reached snow again.

Eventually, the snow deepened. We trudged through without snowshoes sinking in knee-deep a couple of times.

At the top of the road, we looked out on the north end of Yosemite, the area ravaged by fire over two years ago.

The trail to Rockefeller Grove continued up a snowy switchback, but we hiked back down to the snowshoes, refreshed by the quick winter walk in the snow.