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Three Unique, Lesser Known Hiking Trails to Explore

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Natali Carrera

Natali Carrera is a devoted coffee addict who also loves her nine-year-old son, husband of 14 years and bargain hunting at Target. She works full time with ValleyPBS as their Director of Educational Services and is also a freelance writer and YouTube vlogger (as a hobby). She's been told "bubbly" is the best descriptor of her personality, though she wonders if what people really mean is that she talks too much. Natali is a lifelong Fresno resident and Fresno State grad.
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Last week, I shared with you three beautiful hiking trails that are sure to delight your senses (while providing you with some great exercise!) this Spring. This week – since many of you have been asking that we at FresYes continue to share hiking trail recommendations and ideas with you, I thought I’d share my three “must try” hikes for the season ahead.

These three hikes are trails I’ve read about online but have yet to discover personally, but seeing as your schedule may be different than mine – if there’s a chance you can explore them before I do, I wanted to give you the ideas now. If you do go, please let me know about your experience, as I am truly beyond excited to plan upcoming hikes to these three locations and would love to have your tips and advice!

My Unique Trail “Bucket List” for Spring/Summer:

  1. Brown’s Ditch Trail – Bass Lake, CA

This trail isn’t a true “trail” in that it’s not recognized by the parks service and maintained as a trail, however it is said to be easily accessible, relatively level ground and easy hiking and a truly unique experience. This trail is partially a well-marked, dirt foot path meandering along the ground in the mountains above Bass Lake, the other part is made up of a 2-foot metal walkway that travels along the flume that carries snow melt down the mountain! Yup – that’s right, if you’re hiking this trail between February and June, you’ll be walking directly above flowing water!

photo courtesy of Jonathan Cook

photo courtesy of Jonathan Cook

There are a number of flume bridges you’ll traverse on this out-and-back trail that stretches a little over two miles and ends with a waterfall. I’d be hesitant to bring children or anyone who is easily dizzy on this hike, as the trail is above the ground and only 2 feet wide above rushing water about half of the time. But, if you’re sure footed, I think this trail is bound to offer a truly exceptional trek and view of the Valley. For more information on this trail, check out this Examiner article, written by Fresno Day Trips writer, Jonathon Cook.

photo courtesy of Jonathan Cook

photo courtesy of Jonathan Cook

This awesome video of a portion of Brown’s Ditch Trail was taken by hikers Bob and Julie, and shared on YouTube:

  1. Natural Bridges Trail – Vallecito, CA

This trail is a bit further drive from the Fresno Area, but it looks SO cool! I would like to take on this trek during the summer, hopefully on a weekday when it’s less crowded. Essentially, the highlight of this trail, located in Vallecito, CA just above Sonora is a swim/float through CAVE mid-trail! In fact, there’s even a second cave that’s supposedly even prettier (and less crowded) but a little more difficult to get to. This trail is a known swimming hole for people living nearer, so it can get busy so plan your visit accordingly.

Natural Bridges Trail

  1. Tokopah Valley Trail to Tokopah Falls – Sequoia National Park

Tokopah Falls is the highest waterfall in the Sequoia National Park, located South East of Fresno. One of the things that really intrigues me about the trail is not just the falls, but also the many reports made within the hiker comment section on All Trails (website/app for discovering hiking trails) about the marmots and black bears that live in the area. I would love the chance to see wildlife while hiking (though I’d definitely brush up on my bear safety tips again before going on this hike) and I have never seen a marmot, and supposedly there are TONS of them on the way to the falls.

Tokopah Valley Trail to Tokopah Falls

Apparently, this is a marmot.

Apparently, this is a marmot.

This is a bear probably daydreaming about eating a marmot. ;)

This is a bear probably daydreaming about eating a marmot. 😉

 

So, there you have it – my three trail “bucket list” for the Spring and Summer, at least when it comes to trails I’ve not yet hit. Do any intrigue you? Which one is most interesting to you? If you go, please do share about your experience!

Any suggested trails I’ve not yet mentioned that you’d recommend? Please do tell!

Outdoor Workout: Pincushion Peak Trail

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Francesca

Fitness Blogger at FresYes
Francesca is a former NCAA Divison I tennis player who decided to become a fitness renaissance woman after college. In her free time she like to Crossfit, swim, run and bike, participate in Spartan races and do anything that requires her heart rate to spike way up.
She lives in Fresno with her husband and two Boston Terriers, Babushka and Bambino who like to run after soccer balls just like their dad.

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I work-out hard to stay in good shape and healthy. Monday thru Saturday I either swim with the Fresno Dolphins, I CrossFit at Certus CrossFit, I run with my husband or I do the DailyBurn.com when I am on the road for work. I also eat fairly healthy. I try to stay away from processed foods and added sugars and I also eat a lot of veggies and lean proteins.…………..Then Sundays come around and I UN-DO IT ALL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We all need at least one weekly rest day to give our sore muscles a break, and a diet cheat day to keep our sanity (Just ask my husband what happens when I go without froyo for over a week…it ain’t pretty!), HOWEVER, there is a big difference between taking a rest day and GOING ON A MASSIVE COUCHING IT ALL DAY CAMPAIGN, CATCHING UP ON ALL REALITY TV RECORDED DURING THE WEEK, WHILE EATING EVERYTHING THAT IS IN SIGHT…day. The later tends to be me…most Sundays…whoops!

In order to break the cycle, hubby and I decided that Sundays should continue to be fun, sleep in, relaxed rest days, but not on the couch as per usual, but in nature. After all, we do live in the middle of a million of hiking trails, national parks, lakes, etc. so we might as well enjoy them as much as we can.

Pincushion Peak Trail
Last Sunday we chose Pincushion Peak Trail. I learned about this particular trail a couple of months ago after I saw an ad for the annual Pincushion Hill Climb race that San Joaquin Running organizes every year. It is a 1 mile uphill run that starts at the San Joaquin River Trail and ends at the top of Pincushion Mountain. I wanted to do it so badly this year! Running 1 mile all out, on a ridiculous steep hill sounded soooooooo amazingggggg!!!!! “Unfortunately” we were scheduled to be in India and Nepal in September when it was scheduled for, so I ended up trading the race for the Taj Mahal (not a bad trade really :D)..oh well, next year for sure!

Running up Pincushion Peak Trail
The plan was to grab Starbucks, drive to the bottom of the hill, hike up hike down, be done, feel good about ourselves and then go see the new James Bond movie in the most comfy movie theater seats ever (holler Maya Cinemas!). And that was pretty much what we did…we woke up around 8ish, left around 9, and made it to the bottom of the mountain around 10:30ish (we stopped at Starbucks!) and enjoyed a beautiful peaceful hike while getting 2 miles of exercise and enjoying some quality time together.

The view from Pincushion Peak
The trail goes uphill from the very beginning and it is definitely steep. The plan was not to kill ourselves (at least not this time around) so we ran up a bit, walked a bit, stopped some, took pictures and sat at the top for a while to enjoy the beautiful view of Lake Millerton. It was an awesome and beautiful hike and a good active rest day. This trail is perfect for everyone and for every fitness level: there were people power walking it, some youngsters ran all the way up, others were going up on mountain bikes and families enjoying the day. Besides, it is free!!! For me, Pincushion Peak lends itself for the perfect tabata workout:
• Sprint uphill for 30 seconds – walk/jog for 15…over and over and over till you reach the top 

 

The Pincushion Peak Trail

 

To get to the beginning of the trail: Take Friant Road towards Millerton Lake then turn left to Sky Harbor. Follow this road for about 6 miles and park by South Finegold Picnic Area Parking Lot. The trail starts right there.

I definitely want to go back and run the whole thing one day…just not on a Sunday 😀

Day Hike Destination: Lewis Creek Trail

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Natali Carrera

Natali Carrera is a devoted coffee addict who also loves her nine-year-old son, husband of 14 years and bargain hunting at Target. She works full time with ValleyPBS as their Director of Educational Services and is also a freelance writer and YouTube vlogger (as a hobby). She's been told "bubbly" is the best descriptor of her personality, though she wonders if what people really mean is that she talks too much. Natali is a lifelong Fresno resident and Fresno State grad.
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Sun through the trees at Lewis Creek Trail

Go figure. The girl who hates camping, windy mountain roads, prefers restrooms to trees always and is afraid of bears and snakes has caught the hiking bug. Yup, I’m totally hooked on hiking and now I’m pretty much dragging everyone who I can convince to come with me along for the journey!

Over the next several weeks, while the local weather is at its best,  I plan to visit multiple hiking trails that are within a short drive from Fresno and share with you my favorite trails so you can decide which you might like to explore as well. Keep in mind, I’m a complete rookie hiker – so if you like that perspective and thinking, “Hey, if she can do it, I’m sure we could” then you’ll probably enjoy these posts.

I should mention first, that the All Trails app (click here for iPhone, here for Android) has proven to be extremely helpful in researching trails in our area. The app will help you search for trails near you then sort them by length, difficulty, accessibility and more. The app can also provide you with driving directions, reviews from other hikers who’ve previously visited the trail, user submitted photos and even trails for other uses (mountain biking, off-roading, snowshoeing, etc.) I have found that the app is a bit more user-friendly than the web version of All Trails, which can tend to lag a bit.

Ok, so now onto our experience with Lewis Creek Trail…

Lewis Creek Trail is a little over 3 miles, and an “in and out” (meaning it does not make a loop, you hike the trail to the end, then turn around and hike back to where you started) that is very easy to find, located just above the Bass Lake turnoff, with parking right on the shoulder of 41. If you take 41 North from Fresno toward Bass Lake for about 50 minutes, the Lewis Creek Trailhead parking area will be easy to spot. This is an easy drive for those who tend toward carsickness, too. This trail is fairly popular, so expect to get a little creative if necessary if the parking area is full. Consider double parking cars within your own party to save space for others.

The parking area at Lewis Creek Trailhead

The parking area at Lewis Creek Trailhead

Once you head to the trail, you’ll see signs warning you about mountain lions and what to do if you encounter one. (Personal tip: Pretty sure if you bring with you a really excited group of children ages 3-8 you won’t see any! Ha!) As you begin your hike, you’ll wind downhill a bit toward the creek beneath the shade off mature evergreen trees. It was about ten degrees cooler when we hiked, than it was in Fresno, but certainly far from being cold even with the shade, so be sure to check the weather before you go to ensure you don’t end up lugging around a lot of extra clothing for no reason. I would say that a good 1/2 of the trail heading in is downhill, so though this is a relatively easy hike (children as young as 5 had no problems with this hike) those with previous knee injuries may not find it to be their favorite, so keep that in mind.

Here are some photos that will show you some of the highlights of Lewis Creek Trail:

The trail at Lewis Creek Trailhead

Shaded paths make for comfortable hiking

Lewis Creek Trail is both dog-friendly and well-maintained.

Lewis Creek Trail is both dog-friendly and well-maintained.

Shaded paths make for comfortable hiking

This wooden balcony lookout offers a beautiful view of Corlieu Falls

This wooden balcony lookout offers a beautiful view of Corlieu Falls

The creek

Though our drought has slowed the falls to a trickle, it was still lovely.

The creek makes for good exploring

And also offers sunning for hoards of beautiful butterflies!

IMG_2868

The end of the trail is a bit anti-climatic (obviously we were spoiled by our first hike, which ended with an awesome bridge over the San Joaquin River), as there wasn’t really much to see other than where the trail met a road and a sign stating we were in fact on the Lewis Creek Trail. However, we had a seat and enjoyed our picnic lunches and that gave us a nice recharge before we began our hike back.

Remember when I said it felt like 1/2 of the hike in was downhill? Well, if you’re following me, you’ve just figured out that I’m about to tell you that means half of the hike back up is uphill. Great cardio workout I tell ya! At the end, I really felt like I’d burned enough calories to indulge a little bit, which is good, because we all ended up capping off our great day hike with a stop at Robert’s Frosty Stand in Coarsegold. If you’re looking for old-fashioned sundaes, shakes, soft-serve, and dipped cones – you’ll want to make the same stop. Robert’s was super yummy and a great casual place to relax, eat and plan our next hike with our tired but happy friends.

Robert's Frosty StandI would definitely recommend Lewis Creek Trail to others for a great day hike experience. Though slightly more difficult than the San Joaquin River Gorge Bridge Trail, this trail is definitely family friendly and I’d say children ages 5 and over should do just fine. If you go, be sure to leave me a comment, I’d love to hear about your experience!