Tablelands Foxtail search

[thegib]

Ok experts,
I'm familiar w/ the Tablelands (SEKI) and heading there later this week. I don't recall much in the way of trees anywhere. My partner wants a Foxtail. We don't have enough time to hit Glacier Ridge (which has outstanding Foxtails), so which direction do I head? We've only 2 short nights.

[Enigmagic]

there are quite a few trees around Tablelands Meadow, though I am not sure if there are foxtails.

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[thegib]

nice pix enigmagic, but not foxy enough.

[TurboHike]

There is a healthy grove of foxtail pines along the upper kern cutoff trail. It's not anywhere near the Tablelands, unfortunately. The area is circled in blue.

[Lenier]

There are foxtails on Alta, but on the southern slopes. Looking through my pics, the trees in Tablelands Meadows ( at least the lower sections) are Lodgepole pines. I'll look through my other pics but I'm not sure there are any in the Tablelands proper.

[thegib]

Thanks Lenier,
I don't remember any over Tablelands pass, on the way to Big Bird, nor any along the Horn col - pterodactyl route, but as I haven't been to Moose yet I just wondered if anyone recalled any stragglers thereabouts.

[druid]

Not quite Tableland, but there are a few foxtails at the head of the canyon of the South Fork of Sugarloaf Creek (Crowley Canyon), just over the Kings-Kaweah Divide. I took a few photos when I went through there last week, but the one JimmyJam took is better:
https://jimmyjamhikingclub.com/2022/06/ ... ah-divide/

[Harlen]

If your friend misses out on the Foxtail Pines, a consolation prize might be one of the largest population densites of the Western White Pine (Pinus monticola), which grows in the tributaries of the Kaweah River, from Heather to Pear Lake. They are a beautiful species, usually found only in sparse and scattered populations.

Western white pine, also called silver pine and California mountain pine, is a species of pine in the family Pinaceae. It occurs in mountain ranges of northwestern North America and is the state tree of Idaho.
Scientific name: Pinus monticola


Red Fir right, Western White Pine left of center, with Bearzy looking at it.

[thegib]

Wow, that's a serious tree. We just got back and I relayed this about the Western White and she said "that explains it", she noticed something was wrong, the trees and cones weren't matching up in her mind. Thanks for the tip.

[davishere]

Did you get the foxtail or came back without it?