Sanger Lumber Company & Converse Basin Exploration

In early October, my wife & I made a trip down to Sequoia / Kings Canyon National Park. We had visited the park seven years ago and she wanted to go back and explore Converse Basin again. Converse Basin is where the Sanger Lumber Company logged off an entire grove of Sequoia redwood trees from 1888 - 1908. It is a sad, but incredible sight. Hank Johnston's book "They Felled The Redwoods" tells the tale of how all but one of the redwoods were harvested.
The location of the sawmill was in the bottom of the basin. This is a photo from Johnston's book of the Converse Basin sawmill:

This view was most likely taken in the 1890's and is looking south.

Here's a view of the same general location taken last October:


Since the sawmill was elevated, it's hard to determine exactly where it was located, but this is the approximate area.

Here's a view of the back of the sawmill with the hoist beginning on the right:


I need to go back and try and replicate this photo.

Exploring Converse Basin, I spied these logs embedded in the ground just west of the sawmill site:




These were part of a skid road that extended about 500 feet to the west.

To be continued...