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Monache Meadows in Sequoia National Forest 2004

Richard Burrow and family, Greg Leonard and Sandra, and my family took a trip to Monache Meadows in Sequoia National Forest. Monache Meadows is North-East of Blackrock Ranger Station, most easily accessed by Ninemile Canyon Rd., then Kennedy Meadows Rd., off Highway 395 on the East side of the Sierras. We arrived from the South, past Lake Isabella, through Kernville, then North on Road 99. Traveling from the central valley (Ducor) East through California Hot Springs is also an option, though a more mountainous one.

The Jeep trail leading into the meadow is about an hour long. It's not too tough, because there was at least one two-wheel-drive truck in camp. The Johnston's arrived first and set up a temporary camp at the beginning of the meadow. Further in, there were splits in the trail, and we wanted to join up before finding our final campsite. Richard and Greg rolled in late, delayed because of trouble with Richard's trailer. Our camp was pleasant, but Greg and Sandra found a site next to a nice creek the next morning. The move took us another twenty minutes further into the meadow. I'd even say we were past the meadow and into the canyon.

The highlight for me was passing the time-honored tradition of dam building on to my daughter. Richard and I were the prime movers, but we also had help from Sandra, Julia and Ryan. Notice how high we got the dam! Excellent! Notice also that I removed my shirt. The water was getting pretty deep, and my shirt was starting to get wet. What the picture doesn't show is the total lack of sun screen and the super-thin high mountain air. D'oh! Sunburn!

The highlight for no one was the brake trouble we had descending into Death Valley. Well, not actually Death Valley, but close enough. The brakes overheated and got stuck on. I was descending in low gear to cool the brakes. I didn't know they were on, so instead of cooling down, they were heating up. There must have been some water in the brake fluid. The water expanded into steam, and locked the brakes on. We waited around, and they unlocked about 45 minutes later. Not knowing for sure if they were fixed, we waited around for the increasingly late tow truck. Eventually, we gave up on it and headed home without further incident. Post-trip analysis is that all the pads are burned and that a chunk from a rear brake shoe is missing. New brakes and fluid are necessary.

Topozone link to Monache Meadows.

Kooky Ofoto filenames mean that these photos are all out of order. Oh well.

Pictures from Greg:

Pictures from the Burrow's, mostly Ryan:

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