Ladybug Trail SNP, CA

“I got off work early Friday and my two sons , my nephew and I headed up the hill to Three Rivers.... turned off on South Fork Drive and followed it to it's end and parked at the Ladybug Trailhead (3,600'). It was already snowing lightly but it was melting as soon as it hit the ground. We left the packs in the truck and hiked up to Clough Cave explored a small cave with the headlamps. Later we went back to the truck and picked up our packs and headed up the trail. The trail follows the river for about 300' then crosses the South Fork of the Kaweah on a wooden foot bridge. After a short but steep climb the trail turns East...it follows above the river through dense groves of laurels, nutmegs, alders and live oaks.

The Ladybug trail has some very beautiful views! Rocky, Dennison Mountain (8,650) looms over the trail to the South. It was sparkling white with fresh snow. The way the clouds hung around the peak reminded me of pictures I've seen of the Himalayas.
There are many beautiful waterfalls along the trail.
As we continued up the trail we crossed Squaw Creek where the boys found a couple of Salamanders...they are cool creatures! We continued to ladybug camp... found a nice site and set up our tents. There was about an inch of snow at ladybug already. After getting our little camp set up we cooked up some Beef Stew and some dinner rolls......tasty!

I spent some time getting a fire going while the boys were down at the river filtering some water. When the boys came back we roasted some marshmallows. The sky was clear, the stars shown bright and the mercury dipped! The low temp Friday night was supposed to be 19 degrees....I'm pretty sure it made it ! 8)

The next day we awoke to approx. 3" of new snow!
Absolutely Beautiful !!!!
Spent the day, hiked back out and headed home.
It was a short trip with low mileage( 2 miles one way)
But it was my nephews first trip and I think we made some lifetime memories :) He was really jazzed about the whole experience....first backpack trip and snowcamping trip all in one!

Gear Notes...
My new WM Antelope ...Rocks!
my new Marmot Precip jacket and pants... Rock!
Bear canisters make nice stools and are much warmer than the rocks!

What's up with Digital Cameras ??? I took many beautiful pictures or so I thought :( Only to find out that the camera had fogged up on the inside and all the pics were worthless. They all looked like they were taken through a steamed up shower door.........Bummer!!!

A little warmth from my wife's blow dryer seems to have fixed the camera problem ....but how do you prevent this in the field? I really hate the fact that we didn't get one useable pic of this trip :(”

“Sounds like an almost perfect trip, with the exception of the camera thing. You might not have the pictures, but the memory's will last a long time.

I know what you mean about your WM bag, when I get up in the morning, I'm usually thinking about good it's going to be when I slide back into it later that evening.

I don't know what to do about the camera fogging up, except for keeping it at ambient air temp, which could play hell with your batteries...perhaps SnowNymph has a suggestion.

Sounds like the kids had one of those trips that they will remember for a long time too.....coool.”

“"Sounds like the kids had one of those trips that they will remember for a long time too.....coool"

I really wanted my nephew Eddie who is 13 years old to have a positive first experience, hence the low mileage short trip.
My sons had never camped in the snow either...so that great experience for them also!
He wants to know when we can go again!!!

Always leave them wanting more!”

“I don't know much about digital cameras. hope yours is ok. I want one for snowboarding, but need one that's 'water-resistant'. The only thing I know about batteries is that you can warm them up under the armpits. I had dead batteries on one trip (with 4 more days to go) and got 10 more shots by the armpit method.

Glad the kids enjoyed the trip!”

“Snow Nymph ...The Camera seems to be back to normal....taking clear pics again :) Never had trouble with the batteries.”