Lost in Dillonwood Grove …. 2.17.2002   Trip report   Photos and text by Rene Ardesch     It took awhile to let this trip go. I had to think how this could happen, and what I would do different next time. I’m very thankful for our luck, because experience only played a minor role. Went on what was to be a short day hike with my friend Will Mundy to a very remote section of Sequoia Park.   The Dillon wood Grove of Sequoias was the largest, still privately owned land till last Dec. 4 2001, when it became part of Sequoia Park. Will and I had heard that probably no one had been there for quiet awhile, and the logging road to the grove was open. Round about from the owner we also heard that there weren’t many sequoias left. We drove up that road for quiet awhile, going through old snow patches on a clear sunny day. About 4 or 5 miles up we found the closed Gate to the actual grove and parked. From here we started our hike, to go in on the road as far as we could go till a turn around time of 3, which would be our high point. Our goal would be to see the grove and check out a big dome in the back. The road required post-holing through several long sections of old deep snow, as the forest on both sides was too dense.  We found the cabins back in there and what appeared to be a small lumber mill area. Beautiful views of Moses Mountain were always to our right between the trees. We made our high point where we had food and checked out the Dome which looked to be about 4 pitches, but still required a bit more to the base. We saw one of the few huge Sequoia trees left standing close by it. After packing we headed back down the road and back home for dinner. We made good time and in the snow sections could see our tracks from earlier. On one of the last snow sections we were surprised to see LARGE cat prints following our footsteps for a while. This put an eerie tone to this deep forest of mostly Sequoia stumps and thick young trees. Now we looked around and back more often hearing just a few birds but mostly silence. We came to the longest part of the snow on the road, and pretty wet already, we decided to take the obvious short cut around it. We wouldn’t see the road again for a very long time after that……… The hardest part about getting lost is admitting it. After awhile though, when it gets dark and you don’t know where the hell you are, the thought looms big!  With us it took several things, it seemed at once, to admit the situation. After hundreds of yards of bushwhacking, with it now being dark, we stopped to go to headlamp mode. We realized a jacket and the map we were using had been lost. We were screwed!  We cursed the surrounding trees in unison feeling frustrated at what seemed our fate. We moved on to what had to be the road above for long uphill stretches only to be disappointed again and again. Finally, bonked out and sweaty, we found an overhang in a boulder set, in the middle of a huge manzanita thicket. Any other time this would be a perfect place to find a big rattlesnake I thought, as I casually brushed a tick off my arm, this was to be our bivy. With a fire as ours was that night anyone could survive.  Small, but warm it heated the rock and dried our socks and shoes. Sometime around 1 am it started to snow. The wind played shaker with the trees and the steady rhythm of rain turned the beat to a 4/4 pattern of visual snowflakes. The nearby foliage was turning white.  By the time light came, we were ready again to face the unkown. Now the ante had been upped. We put on everything we had and took off, reluctant to leave our warm nest. “We’re gonna make it man”  was our mantra. Our hands were turning numb, as were our feet.  On our last long descent down an unknown drainage we split a pack of gu and wondered about the snow coming down hard and our life in general. We could go another nite, maybe. They would never find us here though. We were way cross-country in a jungle of overgrowth that had never has seen man till now. Sometime around noon on Sunday, in a thrashing state of delirium, Will yelled that he had found a pipe or a culvert! It’s the road! High fives, hugs and yells. We looked like a couple of river otters, soaking wet and covered in dirt. We were out, but it wasn’t over yet. We had come out way down from where we had parked. If we didn’t get Wills truck today, it would have to wait till the snow melted.So on we mushed the 3 miles or so of uphill in the snow to the truck. We were happy to tell the ranger walking up the road as we drove out that we were okay, and definitely didn’t need a rescue. We had brought all the right stuff, even though it was only a short day hike. Our cell phone didn’t get out from even the highest hilltop. The space blanket was a lifesaver as was the firestarter! And we have a keen appreciation for the compass. The challenge was in our mental and physical strength. Something that comes at a price we paid in full. The love of life looked extra good! So did soup and a beer!                                                                                           Rene’                          .