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Despite the crowded trail, this hike along the river was a dream come true for this nature lover.

My quest went into double digits during my vacation in Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Park.  The Tokopah Falls Trail gently climbs through the glacier-carved Tokopah Valley. Clearings along the trail offer views of the Marble Fork of the Kaweah River, which foamed and sloshed with snow melt.  The sound of the 30-40 foot wide river coming down the valley drowned out the other sounds of the forest with a constant yet relaxing white noise.

Along with the hundreds of other outdoor enthusiasts, I was joined by my friend Nathan, who you might recall organized hike #4.  We left our campsite at Lodgepole to begin this expedition, adding a mile onto the trek.  The first half mile was through the campground, which was packed with campers on this Memorial Day Weekend.

Once we got to the trailhead across the beautifully crafted wooden bridge, the fun began.  Most of the hike was under the shadows of incense-cedar, Jeffrey pine and Douglas-fir trees where many forms of flora and fauna call home.  Along the trail, Nathan and I spotted lodgepole chipmunks, Sierra alligator lizards, and even a curious yellow-bellied marmot.  Of the butterflies, I glimpsed mourning cloaks, orange sulphurs,  hoary (zephyr), juba skippers, whites and blues.   We both brought along our Canon 40D SLR cameras, so there were a few photo breaks along the trek.  Sometimes we unintentionally played a game of indian run (indian hike?) where Nathan would stop to photograph something he found interesting while I continued down the trail.  I would eventually find something I wanted to photograph while Nathan caught up and passed me.  This seemed to happen more than a few times during our outbound hike to the falls.

We both got our cameras out when we came around a corner and saw the falls for the first time from a quarter of a mile away.  Where the Tokopah Valley seems to abruptly end, a 50- to 100-foot wide waterfall spills down on a wall of granite.  The end of the hike can also be seen from this distance: a cul-de-sac viewing area to the north of the falls.  The crowd seem like small colorful ants, giving scale to the incredible falls.

I counted 45 people at the end of the trail, mouths either agape looking at the falls or being filled with snacks or packed lunches.  Large granite boulders made for semi-comfortable seats or tables.  The crowd made a fairly accurate representation of the park visitors this time of year:  Two septuagenarian couples from the Midwest, an African-American and his two teenage sons, a French family of four, two German couples in their twenties, two middle-aged female travelers from the Middle East, a few Spanish-speaking families, an English family wearing matching black socks and sunburns, and a large group of 13 (mostly pre-teens) of Indian descent.  Nathan and I were of just a few representing the American thirty-something hikers.  I’m sure more astute hikers would have read their hiking guidebooks and came either early in the morning or a different time of year when the trail is much less crowded.

But seeing all of these tourists on the trail is just apart of the experience one has to expect in a national park during a holiday weekend.  I enjoy people watching – even on trails – but it does irk me a little to see a lack of planning by those on the trail.  I saw a young girl in flip-flop sandals,  a teenage girl and her carrying purses, an Japanese kid wearing huge studio sound-reduction headphones on their head,  and a twenty-something woman wearing those supportless, treadless Ugg boots.  Even so close to the conveniences offered at Lodgepole, I think some people forget we are in the middle of the wilderness and need to prepare accordingly when planning to do any hiking, even on a trail as easy as the Tokopah Falls Trail.  I’m not a model example of a safe hiker (watch the video for hike #9 for proof), but it’s a good idea for everyone to review some safety tips before hitting the trail.  Here are a couple of sites for you to review for more information.

What I learned on the hike:

1. Yellow-bellied marmots aren’t scared of nuthin’, not nobody, not nohow!
2. Popular trails should be hiked early in the morning if you want to have some private “me” time.
3. Some people’s idea of picking up their snacks they spilled on a rock is to brush it onto the ground.

Hike #10 Trip Stats from GPS:

• Date of hike: May 24th, 2009
• Location: Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Park, California
• Length: 5.9 miles GPS (more like 4.5 via routing on walkjogrun.org)
• Duration: 4 hours, 32 minutes
• Average speed: ±1.3 mph
• Altitude at start: 6,797 feet
• Altitude min.max: 6,751/7,343 feet

This map was made with the data my GPS captured on the hike.
For a more detailed trip report map, check this out.

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