Hockett Plateau, Sequoia National Park, May 2007

Trailhead sign at South Fork trailhead, Sequoia National Park. Self-issue wilderness permits from this trailhead, no charge. Starting altitude about 3500 feet. Photo a bit fuzzy but I didn't want to use flash (thus the 1/6th second exposure...) See my website at: http://bryanlallen.googlepages.com

Lots of lupine and other flowers. The trail is on a north-facing slope and thus is shady, leafy, green, and well-watered.

Portions of the lower trail were/are a bit overgrown. Some of that greenness is poison oak, so long pants are advised...

The green leafiness of the trail, bearing steadily upwards.

Within three or four miles the trail intersects the western edge of the Garfield Grove of Giant Sequoias.

Base of a Giant Sequoia.

Cones of Sugar Pine. They're big!

Giant Sequoia cone; rather compact.

Another Giant Sequoia cone, this one freshly cut off by a rodent in the treetops hundreds of feet above.

The dogwood trees (Cornus nuttallii) were in bloom along the trail.

Snowslide Canyon, with dogwoods.

Snowslide Canyon, using a different exposure setting.

Looking north across the South Fork Kaweah River Canyon to Homer's Nose.

Another view of Homer's Nose.

Dogwood blossoms.

Cone of a Sugar Pine (Pinus lambertiana.) You do NOT want to park your car underneath one of these trees when it's shedding cones!

Redwood & dogwood. A very verdant area.

Tried and tried to get a photo of a Junco (Junco oreganus) but this was the best I could do. A common Sierra bird, always in motion.

One of several little watercourses along the trail. Stroll a ways, take a drink; stroll a ways further, another stream and another drink.

Mossy decorations along the small freshets.

More streamside gardens.

Redwoods and pines along the shaded trail.

The bases of the redwoods attest to the ongoing action of fires throughout many centuries.

A first patch of snow along the trail, at about 8000 feet altitude.

Wading the South Fork Kaweah River. A fairly benign crossing, though having a walking stick was welcome. Kinda cold water!

Once you ford the river the terrain flattens out and there are a number of trails across the plateau.

Panorama of Lower Hockett Lake, just off the trail a few dozen yards to the north. All of the Hockett Lakes are very shallow and marshy: good for frogs, bad for fish.