انقلاب ایران

انقلاب ایران . من با چه تکنولوژی است که در ایران که در طول استفاده از ایهیجان انتخابات مسحور شده است. اعتراض به استفاده از چهچه و دیگر سایت های شبکه های اجتماعی برای برقراری ارتباط... فناوری اطلاعات در سراسر جهان است پله تا دسترسی به اینترنت را فراهم کنید و سعی کنید به سپر از دانشجویان معترض و در حال حاضر گوگل است که به بهبود خود را ترجمه خدمات. من این پست را به فارسی ترجمه کنید و بعد از آن دیگر تنها برای تفریح.

Iranian Revolution

I have been fascinated by how technology is being used in Iran during this election excitement. The protestors are using Twitter and other social networking sites to communicate...IT around the world is stepping up to provide internet access and try to shield the protestors and now Google is improving its translate service. I'll translate this post to Persian and post it again just for fun.

Enchanted Pools Round Trip

Drove to Wright's Lake and finally did the round trip journey!

Took the Rockbound Pass trail and then cut over to the EP just before entering the Desolation Wilderness area on the poorly marked use trail. There's a little summit just before the turnoff and we stopped to listen to a lone coyote somewhere north of us.

The weather was good for hiking because it was cold and overcast with dramatic clouds. There were even a few rain sprinkles and it had rained earlier in the day.

It was a little tricky crossing the stream...it's spring and the water is COLD, DEEP and FAST but I found a relatively short crossing with relatively shallow water (below knee deep) and not too fast. I took my boots off and then started across. Wow! Cold! The bottom was rocky but a little mossy and soft without being slippery. I took it slowly because I didn't want to fall in and get wet and cold. It was a bit of struggle scrambling over the granite on the other side but I didn't get wedged in any of the cracks and was soon sitting on the rock putting on my nice and warm and dry socks and boots.

We did spend a little time sitting on various comfy boulders and logs on both sides to enjoy the scenery and the incredibly loud water.

Hiking down on the Twin Lake trail side I saw some new views of the small cascades and sat down to watch a solid wall of water fall down into a crevice and then dart sideways to drop down a chute and then boil up before dropping into a large pool. By summer this will be a great pool to take a dip and cool off...but not today!

We had no problems crossing the other little stream. The water was swift but didn't really get to the top of my foot so I let my water resistant boots take the brunt.

I had to leash Commando up down at the Wright's Lake loop trail because it's a bit busy now and it is an on leash area.

He had a great time and was a tired doggy for that evening and the next day.

Calaveras Big Trees Camping Day Three

We all slept in although I was awake at dawn. It had rained during the night and the meadow was steaming until the sun dried it out. We broke camp and went our separate ways...Tami and Donna to Jackson Rancheria and home and Commando and I for a big hike and then home.

I had planned to go to the summit and hike there but we turned aside at Spicer Reservoir and then took a side road to Summit and Elephant Rock lake. We parked at Elephant Rock lake and hiked to Elephant Rock. It's a giant pile of volcanic rock sticking out (like a sore thumb?) amongst the more usual granite. From looking at the map I'd wondered if it were possible to get to the top. If it is, it certainly doesn't look easy.

We ended up doing a loop trail back to Summit Lake and then back to where the car was parked. It's a nice easy trail...not too heavily used and with no significant ups or downs. There were some creek crossings but my feet only got a little wet. Most of the trail is marked for mountain bikes but I didn't see any evidence. Trails leading off went to Duck Lake and Highland Lakes both in the Carson Iceberg wilderness and way too far for me to go!

There had been a few cars along the way on our way to the trailhead but they were all gone on the way back. We stopped briefly at Spicer and gazed at the trail at the bottom of the dam. It's a cool looking lake and maybe we'll have to camp here sometime and explore some of the other trails.

Commando had a good trip and when we got home he looked at me like he expected me to carry him into the house. Hmmph!

Calaveras Big Trees Camping Day Two

Donna really wanted to explore some caves which is why we selected Calaveras. We woke the next morning and ate eggs, potatoes and bacon then drove to Moaning Caverns with a NEW 1500 foot zip line.

I had no intention of risking my life on a zip line but Tami and Donna went twice. Commando and I watched and he chased the zippees down the slope. Then they went on the cave tour while Commando and I explored the area and gassed up.

We drove down a Power House on the Stanislaus river on Camp 9 road which was a very single lane non-county maintained "road" down the Stanislaus River Canyon to the power house. We crossed a green metal bridge and then entered a beautiful meadow filled with purple flowers. After scrambling down a dry creek bed we hung out on a beachy area of the river watching the water pour into a deep pool. Very pretty.

Hopefully we won't have any poison oak!

Commando didn't like the green bridge (metal slats and stairs) but he braved it once he saw that I was going to cross without him. On the way back he was nonchalant, quite the old hand at crossings!

Tami and Donna slept in their truck because it had rained again at camp and their tent was wet. We were surprisingly tired and all slept great.

Calaveras Big Trees Camping Day One

Drove up around 11ish after running some errands. I bought a cheap screen house so we'd have some shelter for the expected rain and a somewhat expensive soft sided cooler on wheels so I could take up less space. The drive was uneventful and I selected space 21, which, I highly recommend. It's on the meadow one space away from the very nice restrooms and there's lots of space in the site.

It was a challenge setting up the rain tent with just one person but I used my giant brain and was able to prop two of the legs between the seat and the table top of the picnic table to hold them in place while I got the other legs assembled and positioned.

I took Commando for a drive and then a short hike on some unidentified forest service road just past Dorrington while Donna and Tami set up their gear.

It did rain the first night and I was glad to have the shelter. It was also a handy place to stored our chairs and wood when we were away.

The first night we feasted on sausage. I couldn't find the mustard I'd bought though. Damn.

Sleeping in the Escape was a bit of a challenge. My knee is still quite bruised from the fall I took at work so kneeling wasn't really an option. I also forgot to close my thermarest so the air leaked out and it was hard to get comfortable.

Also, Commando and I breathe out lots of moisture so the windows were fogged up in the morning. Still, it was nice to not have to crawl into a tent and sleep above the ground.

More French Meadows Reservoir

This was really more of a driving trip because I was dizzy and shaky once we got up there. We drove up the Ralston Ridge way but could have come the Mosquito Ridge way as all the snow from last weekend is gone.

We strolled around at the trailhead to Granite Chief wildernesss but I didn't have the chops to cross the snowmelt stream. I put Commando on the leash when going down to the American River past the one group camping. On the way back I didn't do that because I didn't see anyone around and certainly no dogs. Unfortunately the dog was in the tent with its owner and the tent dog and Commando exchanged some pleasantries before he heeded my recall command. I'm guessing that the tent occupant was napping and the probably wasn't the best way to wake up.

On the way back one of the campers came down with fishing gear and he was very polite so they are (whew!) a forgiving group. He said he hadn't caught any fish yet but he'd warned his worms to get ready and to hold their breath!

We turned off at the Duncan Peak crossroad but a downward truck said the road was still closed by snow so we headed back to civilization by Mosquito Ridge.

It was hot and even with the air I couldn't get cool. Still, it was a good day and Commando got a little exercise while I strolled and he chased sticks into FMR and even had fun running and biting the waves.

Ralston Ridge Road is open

Made it to French Meadows via Ralston Ridge road. Stopped in the campground and sat on the shore and read a book while Commando roamed around. We also took a stroll in part of the burned area along a stream. Then we drove up the river and strolled in another campground just checking it out. Oh, I also used a lever to shove a tree off the road more. Saw a bear on the way up. It was smallish and black and moving very fast into the woods.

Almost got to French Meadow Reservoir

Drove up Mosquito Ridge road past the Interbay turnoff and was stopped by a snow berm. Hiked up the road to the Duncan Peak turnoff and then turned back. The road is intermittently snow bermed with the longest and deepest section just before the DP turnoff. A well equipped, high clearance pickup with what looked like special tires made it up to the longest and deepest section.

It looks like the Ralston Ridge road may be open because there were new tire tracks coming from the lake side. They too were stopped by DP road.

The weather was cool and great for hiking. It was fun to hike on MRR with no cars (well, the 1 4WD) and enjoy the journey at the slow walking pace.

Lots of birds and squirrels but no deer sign.

Commando at day care

Took Commando in for his first day care visit at Grateful Dog. He seems to have enjoyed it. He spent some of the morning playing with a white shaggy dog and then played fetch with a Cairn terrier in the afternoon. He even let the other dog get the toy out of his mouth. So, if he enjoys it and it seems like he is tired tonight I may repeat this every other Monday. He was certainly hungry when he got home.

Bassi Falls

The road was clear all the way up to the trail head. I didn't want to hike from Ice House road, instead, I wanted to see if there was a good route off trail to the top of the falls...and then try going upstream.

Just before the trail turned right and started dropping Commando and I forged off into the pine forest. I could see some brush ahead, but thought that the pines would keep the brush to a minimum. Wrong! We worked our way through rabbit brush and mesquite picking up many scratches in the process. We finally made it down to the upper part of the falls by following a rough and (mostly) dry creek.

I enjoyed the first of my two sandwiches just lazing on the granite and looking at the view and listening to the falls. Commando ran around and smelled stuff. A family was a bit upstream (still on the granite) and asked if there was a trail down. I said no and they said they'd bushwhack back down just like they'd gotten up.

After studying the terrain a bit I decided to head straight up the granite face and then hope there was a trail through the brush covering the ridge. I had to admit, it looked pretty impenetrable.

After climbing up (and then relaxing some more) I saw a guy coming from upstream but close to Bassi Creek. I started back down and he was soon joined by his pal. I thought, hey, they look like they know what they're doing! Wrong.

I headed upstream until we got to a tiny creek. The decomposed granite is a little hard to track through (or maybe the guys had never gotten this far) so I had to choose staying on "my" side of the tiny creek or crossing it to Bassi Creek side. Both ways looked choked with brush. Unfortunately, I chose the Bassi Creek side. I soon lost any hope of a trail and just scrambled through the brush (tearing holes in my shirt) and really hoping I didn't break a leg.

There was a small waterfall that I could almost see. In the summer, it will be possible to just hike up the granite, but I had no wish to be swept downstream in icy water. After much more bushwhacking, I made it back to the granite.

I was a bit tired so decided to head down to the lower area as fast as possible as it's all granite and then a nice trail. At this point, if I never see another mesquite it will be too soon.

Naturally there's no trail so there was more bush scratching, except this time with a steep drop over what is essentially a brushy cliff to keep me paying attention. I actually had to help Commando down at one point.

We made it back and I soaked my feet in one of the icy rivulets before making the final push to the car. It really was a beautiful day and I'll look forward to hiking this again in the summer (and maybe with a machete).

Oh, the dog in this link looks just like Commando, except he doesn't have a tail. She's even got the running bug!

More Lake Spaulding

Took the marked foot trail all the way to the lake. The snow is melting fast but there are still plenty of 3 foot deep drifts. The streams are running well from the snowmelt too so I didn't need to carry water for the hound.

The high water mark is a good 50 feet above the water line and it's strewn with plenty of driftwood. I relaxed at the top of a cove and read some of my book and ate my lunch. The only people I saw the whole day were two guys and a kid with two dogs headed out for camping somewhere along the lake.

Then we followed the high water mark along until I got high enough to intersect the trail again. I threw a big piece of driftwood for Commando to chase in the water and he grew quite attached to it. Unfortunately, when our route took us between two boulders he was forced to abandon it. I sat for a while watching him try to figure out how to get the stick through the gap. A nicer owner would have rescued him from his plight...but I guess I'm just not that nice.

Hike to Lake Spaulding

Drove up 80 to 20 and took Bowman Lake road the hike to Lake Spaulding. Stopped at the road just below Fuller Lake (perhaps called Fuller Road?). I could see quite a bit of snow from the paved road so I took my snowshoes. Almost as soon as I got onto the snow though, I could see bare dirt ahead.

That would mark most of the trip...snow...dirt (or mud)...snow...dirt...granite, etc., etc.

We made good time up to the open canal where the dirt road ends. We took the short but steep way onto the granite outcropping and then bushwhacked our way down closer to the lake. Although it wasn't particularly difficult, we had to route find through impassible manzanita stands, impassible cliffs and other impediments. We didn't make it all the way down to the lake "shore" but made it most of the way. We stopped for mid-hike snack on a nice rock overlooking the lake, Old Man Mountain and 80 while in the sparse shade of a bristlecone pine.

On the way back, we intersected the signed trail which took us to the bottom of the steep hill where we'd left my snow shoes. There were also some significant snow drifts to get through so I really missed them!

The signed trail is a little strange. It leaves the dirt road to duck under a HUGE water pipe and across a stream. It then follows a nice trail at the foot of either a steep cliff or really, really steep hill until it gets to a dry creek crossing from the PGE hydroelectic facility just up the hill. There are signs warning you that PGE may release water at any time so stay out. Well, why have the trail go here then? The dry creek crossing is substantial and you'd have no hope of clearing the boulders if any water started rushing down. You then duck under another HUGE water pipe and then parallel the lake, presumably coming down the water at some point. I think this trail goes east a while and eventually ends up at the Grouse Ridge area.

If I were the trail builder, I would have avoided the many dangerous creek crossings and gone over the granite dome and back down.

We had to scramble up the steep, steep hill in the forest area to retrieve my snow shoes...then I slid back down the snow covered dirt road on my butt. Fun!

Not very interesting hike at Hope Valley

Drove up 88. Was planning on going to Salt Springs Reservoir but missed the turn (just after Ham's Station). Stopped briefly at Bear River reservoir but there were a lot of people and snowmobiles and the snow covered terrain didn't look too interesting.

Drove to Hope Valley and hiked randomly on the Nevada side of 89 to a small saddle. The going was a bit interesting as there was really no trail and bare dirt then deep snow. The terrain wasn't really open so no view eastwards. The view west to Carson Pass was spectacular though. There was also a small stand of very healthy bristlecone pine at the top of the saddle with a spray of winter aspen leading down the hill.

We enjoyed ourselves, but it wasn't a very long hike for all the driving.

Bosworth Meadows

Drove up to Ice House and hiked along to Bosworth Meadows. The trail follows forest service roads that are to the right of Ice House road just after the Crystal Range information station. There was still significant snow on the road and in shady spots under the trees. The snow was mostly hard packed so my tennis shoes were fine. The metal cattle guard type bridge was free of snow but Commando still refused to touch it with his feet. Luckily he was able to find a safe stream crossing area. I gingerly and carefully crossed. It was a beautiful day marred on slightly by a helicopter flying back and forth ferrying snow mobiles from what might have been the Wright's Lake area to what might have been the Union Valley area. After about 4 trips though the 'copter was finished and I was able to enjoy the quiet. The meadow was wet and the snow leading to the meadow was wet and I got my feet soaked many times. Fortunately my socks insulate even when wet so no harm done...it was actually somewhat refreshing. This will be a fun area to explore this summer.

Bike ride at Spenceville

Drove up to Spenceville Wildlife Area to try to bike to Fairy Falls. Unfortunately, I didn't start till early afternoon because I met the gang at Red Hawk. By the time I made it to the trailhead, it was about 3 pm.

Commando and I started off in the heat and dust. We stopped at the bridge and I encouraged him to drink and get wet. There were a lot of cows in pasture so I had to leash him up a few times. We walked up the hill and then had a spectacular view across a green, green saddle or maybe even a valley sprinkled with small white flowers. Commando spent some time running over the grass, clearly enjoying himself.

Then we coasted down the hill and stopped at the stream. The next bits are uphill again and it was getting late. I had Commando swim in the stream to cool off and he drank plenty of water too.

On the way back, the open saddle had cows over it so poor Commando had to be on leash again. He got put back on leash when a wily cow crossed the road (having gotten through the 5 strand barbed wire) to the other side and then went up a wash, through some rocks and disappeared from view.

We saw plenty of turkeys too so it was a good trip.

Sold Jetta

Bye little car. Just sold it to some guys from the internet after posting on Craigslist. I think I got a decent price. It was a young kid and he'll fix the car up and probably drive it. I told him to be careful.

Exploring Bowman Lake Road

Drove up 80 to 20 then Bowman Lake Road. I was hoping that enough snow had melted so I could hike to Spaulding Lake over the route I'd taken in snow shoes a while back. Unfortunately, that was not the case. Still I backtracked down the road a bit to a forest service road that gave access to the major granite. We explored the road and followed it past a small, unnamed lake and back to BLR. We hiked up BLR and then got back on top of the granite overlooking the small lake and bushwhacked back to the car. It wasn't a bad off trail trip and I'm only a little scratched up from a few parts where I had to scramble through mesquite or pines. The rock is beautiful. Mostly reddish but with swirls of color. I'm going to guess volcanic and iron. It's also interesting to see the granite layered (successive volcanic flows?) and then pushed up so the layers are vertical. We enjoyed lunch on some rocks under a sickly looking bristecone pine and then headed home.

Long drive to around Foresthill

Drove up Mosquito Hill road and environs to see if enough snow had melted to get to Granite Falls. It hadn't. Hiked along a forest service road and scrambled around in the brush following some cow tracks. Then tried to drive up Ralston Ridge to French Meadows. The road was good to the French Meadows road but it rapidly deteriorated with snow. It was getting late so we turned back. We took a brief look at the "Georgetown District History Tour" stop 15 which proclaimed that this was Blacksmith Flat and a "nearby" trail would lead to some mines. I could see where the old miners had blasted away the hills but couldn't find anything that looked like a trail or a mine. Still, it was a pleasant drive and two nice strolls.

Pluses and minuses of the new Ford Escape

Pluses: The way the back seat bottom folds makes a great place for the dog...it maximizes his comfort and minimizes the amount of fur. It's comfortable on long trips. The AC works great! The cupholder is well placed and so is the middle storage thingie. That middle storage thingie is huge so it stores a bunch of crap. The V4 is completely adequate for my needs. I was able to climb hills and accelerate onto the freeway with no problem. Visibility is great...huge windows, no big "things" in the way.

Minuses: The cruise control on the steering wheel is positioned so that if your hand is at 7 o'clock you can inadvertently turn the CC off. Also, the CC is a little slow at accelerating on hills. I'm not sure how well the 4x4 works. I was trying to climb a hill with not very much snow (1/2 foot) on pavement and I couldn't make it. I'll have to compare it to the Saturn to see if it does better. Or maybe I don't have snow tires.

Meh: Seat belt adjustment is better than some, but I still can't keep it from attacking me in some positions. Why can't they invent a shoulder harness that is TRULY adjustable for short, tall, fat, well endowed, flat as a board people? Why do they insist on black for some of the dashboard trim? Black is too hot, especially in CA. I'm not in love with the white, still, I can claim some eco cred because white is a better color to prevent global warming (or global climate change or whatever).

Bought a new car

Thanks Edmunds.com for the hours of time I spent researching various cars. Looked at the Scion XB, Honda Fit, Element and CRV, Toyota Tacoma, Nissan Frontier and Rogue and finally settled on a Ford Escape. I decided I wanted a somewhat boxy car that I could camp in and that was suitable for driving on local forest service roads. Most of the low gas mileage cars were too freaking low to the ground. I did really love the Fit though, and if it had just been higher off the ground I would have bought it. What sold me on the Escape was the price, high clearance, lack of crap dangling from the bottom (that can get damaged from rocks), simple looking engine, 0% financing combined with cash back. The dealership was okay with nothing too smarmy happening to make me ill. We'll see how it performs this weekend.

North Fork of the Middle Fork of the American River Trail

I've been meaning to take this trail for a while, but I've avoided it for several reasons. First, it's name is longer than the trail. Second, it's at a low elevation so it's usually hot. Last, it's the type of easy to get to place that is usually too crowded for an enjoyable wilderness experience.

This weekend was perfect. The weather is unsettled with heavy storms predicted so I didn't want to drive too far. It's also nice and cold. The trail looks worse than it is at the beginning with a short rocky slope composed mainly of talus. It soon gets onto actual dirt and levels out in the typical oak, slash pine, manzanita, tick infested terrain of the 3000 foot elevations.

There are constant views of the river about 300 yards below. With all the recent rain and snow the river was very noisy and flowing hard.

We trekked along happily and only had to scramble over one mud pile where a tree had fallen and taken some of the hillside along with it. Someone will need to come in and repair this section a bit.

The trail ends at the river along a granite curve with plenty of rocks to bask on in the hot summer. I stayed up on the trail's end where someone had built a nice granite platform and fire pit. Commando hung around for a bit and then went off to dig in the ground.

It was perfect timing because just as I was finishing my drink it started to rain! I'd recommend this trail for people with older children who want to end up at a nice picnic and swimming area in the summer. It's only a mile long so it's not much of a challenge otherwise.

Snow at Icehouse while sick

Drove up to Icehouse expecting 8 feet of snow after the most recent storms. It looks like I need to go higher because, although the scenery was nice, there was not 8 feet of new snow. I'm feeling sick so I didn't go far...just along the bank to the end of the campground and then back through the campground. I rested often and sat on a rock overlooking the lake for quite a while.

Commando enjoyed running in the snow...running full tilt along the bank biting the water with his patented scoop mouth technique...and chasing a stick that he'd found when I was obliging enough to through it for him. He got lots of exercise and I didn't but enjoyed the day anyway.

American River

Just about 3 weeks ago on an evening walk with the dog along the river we stopped at the "secret" beach. The water was so low that we could walk along the side all the way to the not-so-secret beach without getting our feet wet. The water was so low that the hound was able to chase sticks into the middle of the river.

Today the secret beach is gone. The path leading to the secret beach is gone and the water level is about 2 feet up the sand cliff. There is standing water in the overgrown gully.

What a difference the heavy rains are making!

Cheese Camp Road

On furlough Friday and also on Saturday drove up to Cheese Camp road to snow shoe. Friday was sunny and some nice people had packed down the trail with their snowmobiles and then left. We headed down and then skirted a hill until we came to one of the streams that empties into Union reservoir.

On Saturday it was overcast and some handsome men with their sons were just breaking camp in the pullout. They had a cool canvas tent with a heater so they must have been very snug. This time we walked down to the marshy area before the road goes up again. Commando dug all the way into the dirt after an interesting smell and I rested on a rock and drank my Vitamin water.

As I was getting my gear off at the car a pack of coyotes started howling over on the hill where Robb's hut is located. Commando seemed interested and I put him in the car before he decided to go investigate.

The snow is very wet and heavy but not very buoyant. It looks like it will be good for the drought conditions and, at the very least, stave off disaster for one more year.

Gloomy, stormy day in Bear Valley

Braved the storms to drive up to Nevada City and then to Bear Valley via highway 20. I was going to stop at the highway 2o ridge past the turnoff to Washington but it was snowing heavily and there was easily 3 feet of not very buoyant snow to plow through. Plus, there was no view.

Parked at the turnout in the valley and some thoughtful snowmobile enthusiast had made a nice trail up to the Sierra Trail and then back to the road. The snow is nice and wet and seems to be holding a lot of water. That's good for the drought. Conditions were good on the trail, but poor Commando went in up to his ears in the soft snow beside the trail. He didn't like it much but did obligingly chase snowballs into the deep snow.

It rained heavily at the lower elevations and snowed at the higher elevations. I might have stayed out longer but I really didn't want to be snowed in. I was glad to get out and I know Commando was glad too.

Stuck Trucks, Foresthill Bridge

I was pretty lazy and it's storming this weekend so I didn't even leave the house till about noon. Drove up to Colfax and took 174 then turned off onto You Bet drive and was hoping to make it via some side roads to Highway 20. Unfortunately, the road isn't plowed all the way through so I was forced to turn back. It was an interesting drive though.

They were stopping traffic in Applegate and not allowing any semis to proceed over Donner Summit. It was sad to see all of them parked along every exit and by the side of the freeway from Auburn north. I sure hope there is a plan to provide them with food and some shelter because if they're trapped there for a while they could get into trouble.

Drove back and parked under the Foresthill bridge and hiked up one of the American River forks. It's a nice jaunt for a rainy winter day because in the summer this is all jammed with people. Commando happily chased sticks and smelled stuff and we had a good time.

Local miscreants had painted part of the bridge supports and 3 of them were good. The pic of the smiley face is actually made with some rocks that have been cemented to the surface. I assume these particular miscreants are rock climbers making a climable surface. It was interesting.

Bowman Road Exploration

On Saturday drove up to Bowman Road off of highway 20 to explore. I could see that from 80, most of the snow had melted. At the Yuba River crossing, there was a sign for the Pioneer Trail so that's what we took. This segment connects with a trail to Spaulding Lake, although we didn't make it that far.

I didn't even take my snow shoes because the ground was so clear. The trail is relatively level, paralleling the river, with a few minor up and down switch backs. Some pretty big boulders had rolled down onto the trail and someone with a strong back and a lever is going to have fun shifting them.

Perhaps 1/2 mile along, there's a big meadow and there was an interesting sight. At the edge of the meadow there are about 10 pine saplings with the tops torn off. I'm going to guess bear, but I considered beaver and a buck scratching it's horns. I thought beaver would be tidier and would have taken the tops down. I thought if a buck had been scratching velvet I would have seen lots of damage on the ground from hooves and perhaps quite a few broken and bent branches. I picked bear because whatever did it had a LOT of strength. It looks like the tops were bent over repeatedly and violently. At least 2 of the trees were too big to wrap a human hand around. Also, a couple of the trees had dead needles although most were still green so it looks like it happened over time. Still, with the bear theory, I would have liked to see some bite or claw marks and I didn't see any damage other than where the trees were ripped apart. Except for one tree, the tops were just left where they lay. I'm not sure what would motivate the bear either. I picture them mainly eating and none of the trees looked eaten. Perhaps violent butt scratching?

I decided that humans would have used tools, possibly burnt the wood, and left trash around. Take a look at the picture and see what you think.

We stopped shortly after crossing a lively creek and then headed back. This is a good trail for early, early spring and late, late fall because the summer crowds are gone. We only saw one other hiker along the trail.

On Sunday we drove up to the other end of the trail (near Fuller Lake) and headed out. This time I took snow shoes because there was a lot of snow on the ground still in spite of the bare dirt patches.

I was glad to have them because some of the hills were steep and icy. I didn't take the official trail because no one had gone before and the snow was deep and unmarked. The weather was bad and I didn't want to get into any trouble.

We headed where snow mobiles had gone and ended up at a water pumping station taking water from (presumably) Fuller to Spaulding. I forced Commando to walk on a thoughtfully provided metal walkway and he didn't enjoy it. Once he made it to the rodent land beyond he was much happier.

Both days were cold and windy. Saturday was sunny but Sunday was gloomy and overcast.

EDNF 13N13

Drove around a bit on Icehouse trying to find the best place. Finally decided on 13N13. The road slopes relatively gently up and ends with an overlook to Sun Rock across a small watershed. I took a brief detour up 13N12, which eventually intersects with Cheese Camp road (?) but it was much steeper.

A truck had made ruts in the snow and a variety of walkers and snow mobiles had also gone up. The snow was firm with a few inches of fluffy new snow from last week's storm. Whoever had walked up before had probably walked up last weekend because they left deep holes. I admired their stamina because that's hard work!

We passed a fire hole with unburnt logs and two places where someone had spent some time digging a vehicle out and getting it turned around. The snowmobile tracks stopped in a cleared area and there were a variety of empty shotgun shells lying around. Who do they think will pick those up?

We crossed a small stream. Just where it crosses the trail it spreads out into quite a pool/marshy area and the previous walker had clearly gotten their boots (and probably ankles) wet. I can imagine just what they felt as they saw the pool, then discovered that the snow they were walking on was really just a deceptive cover over wet, wet water.

Soon the road takes a sharp right and now Commando and I were making the only tracks. Mr. Previous Weekend stopped and probably sat down on a stump to look over a creek down a short steep hill before heading back. At least, that's what the tracks looked like.

We kept on until we got to the summit and then headed over a saddle off the road to look out over the view. I sat on a log and ate my snacks and drank my Vitamin Water. Commando ate his snack and hunted rodents under the snow.

We headed back and were out for a total of about 3 hours.

Bad trip to snow - there has to be one

Drove up to Icehouse to try the hike Andy and I did the other weekend except this time turn right at the intersection. The weather was supposed to be bad, but it was worse than I thought. Ran into fog so heavy in Pollock Pines that the CHP was escorting vehicles west bound. It rained almost constantly with occasional gusts of downpour. There was no snow until we got to the top of Icehouse road and there was only about a foot of snow left.

I put the raincoat and snowshoes on and Commando and I headed off down the forest service road. The snow was very slushy and not supportive. The snow turned to mush underfoot. Commando had the worst of it as his feet just aren't as good as snowshoes.

When we got to the steel bridge, that was the end of the trip. I carefully crossed the bridge with the snow breaking down underneath my feet and hissing into icy Silver Creak. I tried to coax Commando across, and even tried to get him to lie on my jacket and drag him across but he would have none of it. His feet kept dropping into the abyss and he didn't like it.

We headed back to the car and then drove to Icehouse Lake. We parked at the dam and walked across. My plan, before it got very dark, was to walk to a little prominence just past the dam. Well, we were stopped by a steep cut that let overflow water bypass the dam in wet seasons. If it had been earlier in the day I might have tried to go down and back up to continue, but the sun was setting and I didn't want to get covered in mud and soaked to the skin and discover that there was a wet, muddy climb back up in the pitch dark.

We finished up with a tiny bit of stick throwing on the shore and then drove home through the pouring rain.

Oh well, there were some good views of water vapor rising from the dark green hills on the drive down so the day wasn't a complete waste.

Coldstream Canyon

Drove to Truckee and took the Coldstream Canyon trail out past some small nameless ponds and then headed back. At the beginning we ran into a state parks ranger and kept Commando leashed until he left (scofflaw!). We encountered several sets of dogs and Commando even played his favorite running game with one pup. The trail is nice but busy and I imagine it will be even busier in the summer. I was dismayed by the many, many, many piles of dog poo everywhere. We certainly don't make many friends when we don't pick up our dog shit!

Snow, snow, snow

Several trips to the snow and I've decided to abandon x-c skiing for now and stick with snowshoeing.

The day after Christmas we drove up to Hope Valley and rented skis and took a short trip on the flat area. Commando got to play with a lab and they really tore around like loons. We didn't stay out too long. The snow was deep and powdery so Commando found it tough going. It was also bitterly cold, about 9 degrees Farenheit and I wasn't sure how Commando would tolerate the temperature. He kept lifting his paws off the snow. The traffic was also horrible and very near Red Hawk casino there was a bad accident. The views were spectacular though with fresh powdery snow shining in the sun.

Drove up to Truckee on New Year's and rented x-c skis at the BackCountry store. They are really nice with no attitude so I highly recommend them. Drove up 89 almost to the big valley and skiied up a small road that leads to a closed for the season shooting range. The skis did well going uphill although it was no easier than snowshoes. I found going downhill to be harder than I thought and I was so afraid I would fall and break another bone that it just wasn't fun. These skis are easier to handle than the skinnier kind. That was nice. Still, it's on this trip that I decided to just stick with snowshoes.

Andy came up and we drove to Icehouse. We stopped at REI in Folsom first and were dismayed to see an enormously long line. An employee handing out tickets outside said it was the used gear sale. So much for our quick trip! Andy spent heavily on new boots, new snowshoes and new gloves.

We stopped somewhat randomly at forest service road 12N28 and hiked up about 2 miles and then back down. This road passes Jones Camp and skirts Bosworth Meadow. I'll have to explore the meadow a little more next time.

Snow! Hallelujah SNOW!

Friday night it snowed. Saturday I rented some x-c skis and headed up to the Peavine Ridge road in the Ice House area. It's nice and flat there and I figured I could practice x-c skiing without too much trouble. As a backup, I brought my snow shoes too.

We first stopped way, way down the road where it intersected with a snowed over dirt forest service road. I picked it because the snow plow had made a parking space off the road. Although the road trended uphill, it wasn't too steep and didn't look too long and I was going to practice anyway so I might as well practice on a hill. After struggling for about 15 minutes trying to get over the chunky snow berm, I re-thought my cunning hill plan and we drove back to the intersection where one could turn off to Union Valley Reservoir. It's flat, flat, flat there.

I geared up again and tentatively headed out across the virgin snow. It was about as physically hard as snow shoeing, although the few slipping sensations were scary. The snow was only about a foot deep, but these skis were really engineered for groomed trails not "back country" conditions. The springiness was nice. After plowing through some snow for a while, I took the skis to the road, which had a few inches of snow on it and could be classified as a groomed trail.

I got into the whole gliding motion thing and could see that these would be faster under some circumstances. Soon though, I was getting a bit tired.

Commando ran around like a loon. The snow was chest deep for him so while I was getting my ankles wet and making slow progress, he was bounding around and pushing through much more mass. He demonstrated the terrier interest in rodents and spent a lot of time with his ass in the air and his head shoved under the snow terrorizing some poor beasties.

We also played the "catch the snowball" game which both of us find pretty darn entertaining. He really makes some spectacular and athletic leaps and gets good water from chomping down on the snowballs.

We drove down to the reservoir and walked about 1/2 across the dam. The tracks are some tiny mouse-icle tracks. For some reason, several teeny rodents had crossed over the top of the dam in many directions and their tracks were all over.

The view of the mountains is of the Crystal Range and the reservoir. My pathetic cell phone doesn't do it justice, but maybe it will remind me of the majestic view.

Eagle Lakes again

Drove up to Eagle Lakes again off 80 at the Eagle Lakes exit near Yuba Gap. This is a good trail in winter and spring when the days are short and the weather is iffy. It's an OHV area so during the summer and on good days you may encounter too much dust and noise for a good hiking experience. Plus, I'm guessing the OHVers would rather not be on the alert for meandering hikers.

We made good time to the summit (at about 1.5 miles) and stopped for a drink. Encountered no one and had interesting views of a half moon over Old Man Mountain.

Got a little lost near the lakes because the map does not really correspond to reality. Took a spur trail to the east end of the biggest lake in the group and enjoyed another rest.

Commando thought he could see something in the water so he spent some time up to his belly in the water, leaning forward eagerly then leaping back onto shore when whatever he could see underwater did something scary. It was very cute.

We hiked back up and continued on to the west most end of the lake and got onto the Grouse Lakes trail for a few minutes till it crossed over the (now dry) stream between a small lake and the big lake.

I sat on a sunny log and watched Commando experiment with the thin ice. I had tossed some little sticks on the top and he wanted to get them, but couldn't quite figure it out. He would push with his chest and lean forward and not reach. Then he would run out on the bank and circle around looking at the sticks from other angles. Finally he discovered that he could use his paw to break the ice and get close enough to touch the stick but he couldn't quite pick it up. He tried for probably 20 minutes.

On the way back I nearly killed him. There was a very small lake at the side of the trail and I meant to throw the stick in at the very edge. I chucked it over a log and about 4 feet out. Commando leapt over the log and swam to the stick. Of course, on the other side he can't leap because he can't touch bottom. He started to swim back out and I called to him and he scrambled over the log (pokey things on top) and made it back to shore. He seems to tolerate the cold very well and seemed to enjoy the icy water but I didn't want to test his endurance under those conditions. I'm sometimes surprised at how well he tolerates cold because he's got thin fur on his belly so he's not really bred for snow and ice...but he loves it.

We encountered two people on the way back and had no further adventures.

This is probably best in the spring, as soon as enough snow has melted to make the trail passable but before the OHVers get outdoors. It is good in the fall and winter too. It's not good enough (other than the views of Old Man Mountain) for more than a nice walk.

White Bark Vista

Although Andy's feet hurt and I was sick with a little influenza we still drove up to explore around Shaver and Huntington Lakes. We stopped at the main public parking area at Shaver and took the dogs along the beach. We didn't encounter anyone and the dogs enjoyed the time. Commando demonstrated his great swimming and stick chasing skills.

We took the back way up to Huntington Lake. Andy remembered a great granite overlook so we continued on up to Kaiser Pass. Mother remembered a camping trip here as a child with Uncle Norman.

There were only a few inches of snow, the sky was clear and sunny and temperature was in the mid-40's. We first tried driving up the road but the car slipped and we had no idea whether it was passable or not. We chose the better part of valor and parked the car off the road at Kaiser Pass.

We started out with two women on cross country skis and soon left them in the dust (well, snow). The climb was steady, but not at all steep and I wasn't bothered by the altitude.

Close to the top, an SUV passed us so I guess the road was passable after all. Still, we had the moral high ground.

The view at the top was magnificent! It looks over Edison Lake and the Ansel Adams and John Muir wildernesses. Andy had cleared the summit long before I did so he was ready to go once he'd come down from some nearby granite outcroppings. The SUV that had passed us also had some annoying barking dogs that they said weren't friendly.

Perhaps they were annoyed at off leash Commando and Moose, but our dogs are well behaved...well, sort of. We did watch Moose because he's very old and deaf and may be a bit crotchety with the young whippersnappers trying to pee on his lawn.

We started back being mindful of some of the patches of ice covered in snow. The SUV headed down and we had a bit of a job getting deaf Moose out of the way but no animals were harmed.

Two other SUVs headed up as we headed down.

We thought we were at 8000 feet but we were really over 9000 feet. The distance was short, about a mile of walking, less than that as the crow flies.

Enchanted Pools Deux

Made it! On the last trip I was within 100 feet of the pools (maybe 300), but it was good that I turned back because it was dark when I got back.

This time, because I knew the "trail" I made excellent time to the pools and was sitting on a rock between the upper and lower pool eating my leftover pizza within an hour. They are beautiful, exactly as described by the name.

We hiked a bit upstream and I crossed and tried to find the Rockbound trail to return. I didn't find the trail and we ended up bushwhacking to the lower falls (where steep cliffs stopped us) and beating through some willows and stepping into the stream up to the middle calf to cross.

Commando needed some urging, but he finally came through.

I think next time I'll try the Rockbound trail and see if I can determine where to cut off and head for the pools.

This also looks like a nice trail up to Twin Lakes, much easier and more pleasant than the real trail. That will probably wait for summer though!

I'm very glad I made it this time.

Enchanted Pools

Tried to get to the enchanted pools and didn't make it. In my defense, we didn't leave till noon and it gets dark early. I also didn't have a map or compass and only my memory of looking at someone else's map to guide me. I also met some people on the trail who confirmed that if I just headed left on the faint trail off of the Twin Lakes trail and had some luck I might find them. I probably got very, very close...say, within 1/4 mile.

I'm glad I turned back when I did because it was almost completely dark when I got back to the car. There was just enough light to see the beautiful Crystal Range reflected in the mirror still Wright's Lake with a tiny campfire across the lake and an early star over Mt. Price to add extra charm to the scene.

It was an excellent hike over awesome granite slabs with some stream crossings and a waterfall. I could hear a bigger stream at the place I stopped in a steep canyon below (probably the source of the pools) but it was getting late.

As usual, Commando enjoyed running around like a fiend. We only met 4 people. Three in a group at the beginning, and 1 guy who came up behind me on the way back. He'd been at Grouse Lake.

I wanted to try again today, but I was more tired than I expected and so I lazed at home with a small trip out to get a new ear piece.

Snow 2008!

Drove up to Wright's Lake again, this time via the partially paved Granite Springs road. The weather was overcast but clearing up and the recent storms hadn't dumped too much snow so I figured the roads would be driveable and they were.

The forest service had been clearing the forest all season and with the start of rain and snow we drove past dozens of burning slash piles. I was surprised at how much heat those piles create!

Wright's Lake was more overcast than the rest of the area as Commando and I headed out on the short 1.5 mile loop trail. I had brought my snow shoes, but as the snow was only a few inches, I didn't wear them.

It was quiet with only two sets of human tracks. We met the couple and their two dogs about 5 minutes from starting out. They had two. The dogs exchanged pleasantries and we each headed our separate ways. I was glad to be able to follow their footprints in case I lost the trail.

Well, they weren't very good at route finding as it turned out. After a very short climb, their print stopped when the "trail" did at one of the cabins and they had looped back on an alternate route. I pressed on a bit into the brush, but it was obvious that there was no trail.

I backtracked to the flat land and started ahead at the most recent "Loop Trail" sign. I kept looking, but no other sign. I took a side road (snowed over) that went in the right direction. We passed a few more cabins and then some signs saying that vehicles couldn't pass.

I could see one set of human tracks from the weekend before, that had been snowed over. I could also see what looked like a trail, if I were a heavily travelled trail covered with a few inches of snow.

Still no "Loop Trail" signs but the route looked good. There were some orange markers nailed to some trees, and signs in different directions saying "Horses" and "No Horses" at a large clearing. The horse trail didn't look very well used.

I was just starting to get a little worried that I might have to backtrack when we finally encountered the trail junctions to Rockbound Lakes and Twin Lakes. A bit down from here I sat on a cozy rock, ate my snack and drank some water. There is a spectacular meadow above the lake with Silver Creek running through it. The creek is very still with little current (usually!) and someday I'll have to bring my kayak up.

We continued onward and as we neared the cabins on this side of the lake there were fresh footprints again. The sky cleared up a bit and I thought maybe Red Peak might show up.

Back at the car Commando got to run around with a beautiful red hound dog pup. Great end to the day!

Lyon's Creek Trail

Although the weather was frightful with rain (and snow above 6K) I still wanted to hike. Commando and I got into the deathtrap and headed up to Wright's Lake via Ice House and the Wright's Lake tie road.

I was an uneventful drive although the huge rain in Placerville didn't fill me with confidence.

There was about an inch of slushy snow just below the big meadow at the junction of the tie road and Wright's lake road and it continued to snow/rain steadily. Snow had accumulated on the road to the lake with many tracks of previous vehicles. I had passed a few hunters on this last day of deer season so was glad that I'd remembered to bring Commando's bright yellow slicker.

At Wright's lake the gate was open. I had planned to hike around the lake, but when I saw the snow on the road, and that it was continuing to snow, I chickened out and decided to head a bit lower to hike. Although the deathtrap had handled well enough so far, I really don't have a lot of confidence in it and I really don't want to become a statistic.

We stopped at the Lyon's Creek trailhead. I hadn't hiked here in the past because the parking area has always been crowded. Today, there was a truck towing a small boat and that was it. As I parked, a couple (with two charming dogs) pulled in to hike. Our dogs got acquainted and ran around like loons while we geared up.

They hiked on ahead as I made my slower way along. For some reason my cell phone wasn't working, although it should have plenty of power, and I wasn't sure how long I would be out. The terrain was pretty, with about an inch of very wet snow. The temperature couldn't quite decide whether to be freezing or not, so there was a mix of snow, light rain, and even some sleet at one point. There was about an inch of snow on everything.

As far as I went along the trail (which wasn't far, maybe a mile) the trail was easy. Relatively level with only a few rocks. It's mainly a typical alpine forest on granite. There are a few views of the creek from just off the trail.

I will have to try this trail in better weather, and even perhaps stay overnight at one of the lakes. Next year!

Crystal Lake, Hampshire Rocks, Summit Valley

On the other side of 80 from Eagle Lakes it looked like one could drive or hike up to a lake on the other side of the railroad tracks. It's more scenic than it sounds. One could drive up to the tracks, but the fenced property on the other side said "No Trespassing" about 100 times so I figured they were serious.

We then exited at Big Bend and looked at the Yuba River. We strolled around the closed Hampshire Rocks campground and explored the river a bit. Commando got wet and enjoyed trying to chase the pitiful excuses for sticks I threw for him. At the end of a season of camping, even the twigs are puny and weak.

Finally we drove down to Soda Springs and explored Lake Van Norden and the surrounding valley. It's a beautiful valley in the fall, although it could use some aspens on the surrounding hills. The grass is golden yellow and the center of the valley is dry. It must be quite a bog in the spring or in a wet year. Commando really had a great job leaping all over the terrain occasionally stopping to terrify the rodent population by sniffing at a rodent hole. I could see signs of other predators in a pile of game bird feathers with nary a bone left of the carcass. There was a gaggle of Canada geese and ruined part of Commando's afternoon by leashing him up so he wouldn't chase them. A part of me would like to see him chase them. I suspect they would be more than a match for him, and I might enjoy him watching him running away from a particularly aggressive specimen. However, I try to be a good citizen and harassing wild life is not in the handbook...even if the wild life is more like a flying rat that converts meadow grass to copious poo.

He slept soundly on the ride home and was only able to chase one tennis ball before falling into a nice nap before going to bed. A tired dog is a good dog.

Eagle Lakes hike

Drove up 80 to the Eagle Lakes exit. This was the first time I've had Commando in the dog seatbelt. He wasn't too happy about it, but I felt more secure knowing he wouldn't fly out the windshield.

We stopped for a rest break at the Indian Creek staging area and then drove up the pretty bad road for a bit. Most forest service roads are marked "high clearance 4WD" but many aren't that bad. This one was pretty bad, and it got worse the further we travelled.

I parked about 1/4 mile past the staging area and hiked from there on. We soon came to a signed fork saying only 2 miles to Eagle Lakes. Various OHV clubs are maintaining the trail and they have done a good job. The road is relatively flat, going gradually uphill with some minor steep bits. From an OHV perspective, it's really strewn with big boulders and there are granite or sandstone ledges with varying degrees of steepness every tenth of a mile or so.

We never made it to the lakes because I got sidetracked at some muddy ponds. Commando was hot and thirsty and we kept going off trail to check out likely looking places. One was very, very boggy and Commando sank in up to his stomach in the mud. We kept on and reached a actual pond with water and spent some time gazing around. He drank and cleaned some of the mud off chasing sticks.

We headed back to the OHV road and continued on to a summit. There is a faint OHV road intersection to Fordyce creek and it said Eagle Lakes was 3/4 of a mile ahead. We were out of water and I had forgotten to bring food and was pretty hungry. We did spend some time at this summit sitting on a granite rock looking over the (spectacular) view. Although I'm not a fan of logging, a lightning strike on a particularly large, old growth tree would have improved my view of the Old Man Mountain (looks kinda like Half Dome).

Quite a few small birds flew around to enliven the view.

We finally headed back and I was so hungry that the mild climb back to the truck really took it out of me. Commando was also extremely thirsty! I guess I'll have to carry more water for him. When we got to the store at Cisco grove he was butting my hands trying to hurry me along in serving him the water.

This looks like a nice snowshoe hike this winter, and I'd like to explore the area more next summer and try to get to Old Man Mountain. It looks like Fordyce Lake might be car accessible and might be within hiking distance.

Andesite Peak

My goal was to reach the Peter Grubb hut, but I miscalculated the route and didn't make it. I also let the last 100 feet of Andesite Peak defeat me. I scrambled up maybe about 30 feet, then considered the loose rocks and the steepness and considered how I would get down without breaking any bones. Perhaps I was a wuss, but I'm not the most graceful person and I really did not want a cast for my 49th birthday.

We drove up the snowmobile trail/road. It looked like if I followed the road to the end, we'd be very, very near the Andesite Ridge and the trail to PGH. I took a wrong turn and we ended up about 1/2 way to Andesite Peak. I bushwhacked along the ridge through a mature forest which desperately needs a cleansing fire. We reached a small meadow and I gave Commando some water and sat on a perfectly lovely bent tree and surveyed the pretty view.

I could hear voices so knew I was close to Hole in the Wall trail. Sure enough, about a football field away was the trail. Hiked up, ate my snack at the top, hiked down. It was a beautiful fall day and I enjoyed the views over Donner Summit.

Texas Hill Road

Drove up to Emigrant Gap and took the Texas Hill road. I was planning on hiking from the campground down the stream to the waterfall, but ended up exploring THR until the pavement ended and then hiking up the Helester Point road for a bit. (Side note, read the Helester Point link, then go to the linked blog home page. It's a special story)

The fire had burnt through here in a good way. Plenty of pines were left and there is a lot of new shrub growth from the roots. There are lots of critters as evidenced by Commando running off pell mell to try to catch them. He ended up a little soot blackened, but not too dirty.

We tried to drive over to Foresthill and got lost (the map is not clear) and then stopped by the expected gate. Along the way we saw some spectacular views of the North Fork of the American River. There was one particular place that was breathtaking!

Meiss Country, Scott's Lake to Big Meadows Trailhead

Drove up to Hope Valley to see the aspens and the fire damage around Burnside Lake road from this spring, and of course, to take a hike somewhere. I had decided that either Crater Lake or Scott's Lake would make good hikes from highway 88. Although the climb was steep, the distance was relatively short.

As it turned out, the forest service road to Scott's Lake was open and we drove all the long way up to the lake. It isn't much of a lake now with the water level down almost to dry.

It has pretty views of the peaks around Hope Valley and there were some small groves of aspens framing the lake. I was going to hike back down, but a hiker said there was a well marked trail down to the Big Meadows trailhead that was less than 3 miles. Commando and I headed off and let our shuttle driver take the car to meet us.

It was a beautiful trail, although probably too crowded in the summer for us. Easy to follow and not very steep. It generally follows a creek and watershed down from the peaks. The forest is mixed with pines and aspens. We passed several golden meadows with willow thickets and ate our lunch sitting on an ancient log still impervious to rotting.

We did pass a few mountain bikers (or they passed us) and only 1 other set of hikers so at a more popular time of year I'm not sure Commando would have been so welcome.

Close to the trailhead there's a junction to head to Meiss Lake and that looks like a great hike for another day.

Cascade Lakes to Long Lake

Drove to Soda Springs, then took Pahatsi road until it turns to dirt and continued following it till it ends at Cascade lakes. These were pretty unimpressive although the glacier erratics boulder field we passed through to get to the lakes was interesting.

I wasn't sure what I wanted to do and was pleased to see a trailhead sign, "Palisades Creek Trail." The mileages were a bit much for me. About 1/2 mile down, the trail forked and I took the non-trail fork and ended up at Long Lake. This is a very pretty lake, and natural too. We hiked along an easy path on the east side of the lake and took a trip down into a watershed declivity that is probably more like a waterfall in the spring.

Then we crossed the lake and went trail less back to the trail head. This was a little more difficult than it sounds because there wasn't a shore, more of a series of boulder cliffs to scale interspersed with willow and manzanita thickets. I came home with plenty of pine needles in my hair!

This is a pretty, pretty area and I think I'll try the Palisades Creek trail for a bit longer.

Dog Mobile at Heart Association

Saturday we took two dogs, Spike and Becca to the American Heart Association walk in Land Park. Becca (my dog) was a sweet, sweet puppy who is very smart and already knows a lot of tricks. She was a little uncertain a few times and did NOT like the band, but she was happy and willing to trust. She knows sit, down and touch! She was learning not to jump on people and showed real progress by the end of the day. She also is learning to walk on the leash.

I picked her because she greeted me at the cage door with a toy in her mouth. That's the kind of happy, playful thing my dog would do and I found it charming. She happily chased balls in the ball yard and came willing to me when I called. She wanted to play with all dogs and people that she saw and she wasn't phased at all when an owned pug dog growled at her. She thought Spike was awesome and really wanted to play with him. She happily accepted petting from everyone, adults, men, women, children and even the whole cheerleader squad.

What a cute, cute dog.

Spike was very dignified and happy to meet everyone. The picture I took of him shows him getting belly rubs from several people. One person had just taken her hand off his belly and he had opened his eyes.

Kayaking!

Teana wanted to try kayaking so we drove to Lake Natoma to the Sac State Aquatic center so she could rent a kayak. Mine traveled fine in the back of the pickup truck, although it could probably use some padding. For some reason, I'd forgotten that there was parking at the AC so I parked in the park and ride lot at the entrance to Nimbus Flats. Then I had to carry my kayak and gear all the way across the road, along the bike trail, around the razor wire topped chain link fence, into the parking lot, and finally, finally to the water. We had no problem renting although there was quite a long wait till the "harbor master" came to help us get underway. I had launched from the beach and was sitting in the water by the docks.

We headed straight across the lake to the area through the culvert. The water is very low and we actually had to walk about 20 feet at the end near the culvert. The water plants that fill the water on the other side were propagating and poking some kind of pollen dispenser (or seed pod) above the water line. We didn't see any of the giant fish that I was hoping for.

When we got back out to the main lake, we briefly switched kayaks. I could not get comfortable with the other backband and so we switched back. The rental paddle was the worst paddle I think I've ever touched! It seemed like it was weighted with lead. I let Teana have the nice paddle and I used her bar bell, I mean paddle, for the trip back.

Both of us were tired and my shoulders ache. I remember how much I enjoy kayaking though and must figure out a way to take Commando along.

Grouse Ridge hike with cow drama

Got Commando because I wanted to tackle the (I thought) trail-less overland route to the little lakes I could see from the top of GR proper. We parked under the shade trees where the trail to GR starts and headed overland down the meadow.

We got to the edge of the cliff and looked down over Sanford lake. As expected, there's no easy route down the cliff for a hiker. We paralleled the cliff edge for a while gazing over the spectacular view and then worked back to the meadow. We crossed a dry stream and then intersected a good trail to Sanford that followed the stream's course.

We took it, and after about 1/2 mile or so, we were soaking our feet in Sanford lake and gazing around. The lake is at the base of GR and is framed by a lichen covered granite head wall on that side. The granite continues around the lake getting lower and lower until it disappears and gives the lake that "endless" pool effect overlooking the wilderness beyond.

We waded around and explored some of the shoreline and I tossed sticks for Commando. Although I had carried my big, heavy Neal Stephenson book (System of the World) I just wasn't quite in the mood to sit and read it as planned.

There are quite a chain of little lakes and so we headed out to find some of them. There wasn't much of a trail and the first lake we found was really just a muddy pool. Then we found a dry lake. Then we found a tiny, pretty lake, then another little lake. At a granite saddle at the north(?) end of this lake I could see another big lake (about Sanford sized) maybe 500 feet below. This was Downey lake.

It was getting late so we turned our backs on Downey and scrambled up some scree and into a volcanic slot to the top of the ridge overlooking both the little unnamed lake and Downey lake.

We just kept bearing west and south and going up and eventually we reached the proper trail and had just a bit of a climb left to back to the car.

I saw some strange, fresh tracks on the trail. I thought, gee, those look like cow tracks, but I'm not sure they graze cows here. I tried to make them out to be very large deer tracks...or perhaps scuffed horse tracks...or perhaps horse tracks where the horse had some kind of weird shoe...but none of those theories seemed plausible.

As we neared the camp, I could hear some musical tones...perhaps a banjo? Also, the music was intermittent. Keep in mind that it's windy and non-wind sounds are obscured wind sounds.

Eventually the mystery was cleared up...by...free range cows with bells! They were marching through meadow just below the camp. The campers thought this was pretty exciting and people headed into the willows to get closer to the cows. The cows weren't too fond of that idea and a terrific mooing racket began. It wasn't really mooing, more like braying and mooing.

By now I had Commando on his leash, because I was pretty sure he would find cows entertaining to chase and that's just not right. We kept walking along the (now) road back to the car while the cows kept up the same pace just below us in the meadow.

The continued the braying and mooing. Something was stirring them up (and it wasn't Commando).

We saw them stretched out in a loose line below. A caramel colored cow, followed by about 7 light to dark red cows, then a dark red cow behind and still in the brush. The last cow was making most of the noise.

We kept on to the truck and sat down near it on some rocks bordering the meadow just as the line of cows was walking over the saddle to wherever they were headed. The caramel leader cow paused at the top to give another loud bray, moo bellow and they continued on at a fast pace. These were cows on a mission.

I kept sitting on my rock while Commando kept trying to figure out if there was some combination of moves he could take to escape the leash and follow the cows.

A good while later, I heard the bell again and the dark red cow and a large dark red bull calf crested over the saddle. They didn't like seeing us and paused, but then continued on after circling us. So this explained the mooing and braying! The bull calf wasn't keeping up and the other cows were scolding him. The lead cow had finally abandoned the mother and her calf to get the rest to...wherever they were going. Fascinating!

Commando was very disappointed to not get to chase the cows but he settled down once we were back in the truck headed home.

Visit from brother

Andy came for a visit this past weekend. It was fun (except for his usual foot odor) and relaxing. I did forget to put the Trader Joe's croissants in the oven so breakfast was a bit haphazard. We drove up to Grouse Ridge and strolled around there, up to the lookout and up to Grouse Ridge itself. We also lazed around in lawn chairs reading. Very nice. Up from GR, it looks like a very short hike to some small lakes just down the crest from the camping area. That will be my next trip.

Camping at Blue Lakes

It was slated to be an over 100 degree weekend here in the Valley so we decided to head up to the Sierras. I had been wanting to take the Burnside lake trail from the lake to Grover Hot Springs state park and this seemed like the time to do it. We arrived at the Blue Lakes area around 5 pm-ish and drove through all of the various camp sites before settling on the farthest site, or Upper Blue Lake.

After setting up camp and eating a Trader Joe's packed meal, Commando and I drove down to the lake shore and splashed around for a bit. The moon was full (or close to it) so the water was extra beautiful.

The next morning we ate and headed to Burnside lake. We stopped at Sorenson's Resort for coffee to go. I will give Sorenson's props for living up to it's luxury reputation. The extremely courteous concierge helped a woman who complained that her mattress was falling off her bed and also complained that her dinner dishes hadn't been picked up yet. The concierge was affable and polite although I was wondering why you would come to a beautiful place like Sorenson's to eat dinner inside. Next he helped a peevish older woman with a call to Southwest. She seemed to take it personally that her cell phone didn't work here (duh!). He dialed the number (from memory!), joked that he flew SW too and that's why he knew the number, and reminded her that there was a phone room available. She remarked that they were going to have to drive down to Sacramento and I wondered why they didn't try for cell reception somewhere along the way.

When it was my turn the concierge told me the coffee was around the corner and unblinkingly charged me $5 for the two paper cups of ordinary (but good) coffee.

Burnside lake was packed with campers, including some at our "special" location. I would have let Commando splash around in the lake and gotten both of us wet for the start of the hike but the two dogs nearby didn't look like suitable playmates. I geared up, checked my watch and headed off on the trail.

The meadow just to the southeast of the lake is gorgeous, absolutely stunning. We walked through tall grass that was halfway between spring green and full-on summer golden. We hopped over a sluggish and slow moving stream with deep, deep sides. Thousands of grasshoppers leapt up in outrage at our passing and then settled back down into the grass. I also lost the trail here, or perhaps no trail can compete with the lush growth of this meadow.

There was one mark. At the camping side of the meadow, some brainless idiot buryed their camping trash (a whole carload of it) a good 2-3 feet deep. Animals had dug it up and strewn the trash around. May these people someday realize what they'd done and burn in shame and then spend years cleaning up other people's messes in payment of their debt.

I found the well marked trail at the east most side of the meadow and was very glad. I knew this was a rough trail, but it should have been well marked and I wasn't quite sure what I would do if it wasn't.

The trail wound slowly down by the same stream that had cut such a channel through the meadow. Then we reached the edge of the downhill part. Wow. I had been imagining a slope, this was a cliff. There were spectacular views over the valley below. I could even see the roofs of the hot springs bathing facility.

The trail was now steep, and still followed the stream, now more of a boulder choked waterfall...although, I could only faintly hear water underneath the boulders, not actually see any water. There were still pines.

Eventually we came to a sentinel pine, crouching at the cliff edge and guarding the end of shade for some time to come. I had to lower myself off a 2 foot granite drop (sliding on my ass) to continue. We headed down, still loosely following the waterfall on a very steep trail composed of loose dirt and granite rocks. Manzanita brush and another bush lined the path along with willow and stumpy, poor soil aspens. I inched down the trail and Commando scurried from shade patch to shade patch...sometimes jamming himself into a bush to cool his paws. We stopped several times for water.

We reached what I will name, "Cabin Rock" and had a good long rest in it's shade. Cabin Rock marked another level-ish part of the trail perhaps about halfway down. We were just reaching the top of a thrust of rock across the waterfall and I kept scanning it for signs of a trail to see if we would have to climb any part of it.

During this level part, I decided to stop to pee. As I stepped off the trail, towards the boulder creek, a bear leaped out of the rocks below and ran off up the creek and to the other side. Commando ran off full tilt after it and only stopped when he got to the boulder creek. Poor bear, if it had only stayed still I would have peed and we would have been on our way without being any wiser.

The trail soon became extremly steep again, and hot. I couldn't believe how hot it was and poor Commando was really suffering too. He hates to drink bottled water, but he drank twice at our rest stops (although he spurned the water once too).

The next milepost was crossing the waterfall that we'd been following down and getting onto that ridge of rock I'd been eyeing. I could swear I heard ducks fussing and a loud splashing noise but couldn't see any pond nearby. Although I wanted to rest near a pond, and get Commando a good long drink and get him soaking wet I didn't want to go off the trail. We were now down in the forest and could get lost or wander around aimlessly searching for a teeny tiny pondlet and expending energy that I didn't have to spend. I was getting a blister on my left big toe and I hoped it would stay at the annoying stage and not progress to the "must take my boot off and limp home" stage.

The trail went down, down, down still with both toes jammed into the front of my boots. I stopped a few times to re-lace, but it wasn't any help. At least now we were (mostly) in the deep shade and I thought I could see level ground below.

Down, down, down. Switchback after switchback. Surely just a few more steps. Down, down, down, the bottom is just there, I can see it, why aren't we there yet? I slid down a dusty part. I slid down a pine needle part (surprisingly fast, perhaps scarily fast). Still the trail went down.

Finally, finally, the trail leveled out. The downhills were mild and short and we were headed due east-ish...or due Grover Hot Springs. We crossed a wet swampy area and Commando wet his paws and drank some of the water. We stopped soon after and had our lunch and finished the water. No more until trail's end.

I thought I recognized where we were from previous visits and got excited when we crossed a dry streamlet (hadn't the crossing been bigger?) and I thought for sure we would soon be on the flat meadow proper.

Oh no. Another steep, sandy, and hot hot hot downhill. We had just been on a plateau, not the floor. Ow. My aching toes. How can we be suffering so much from the heat? It can surely only be 80 and that's not so hot. More down. Stop and rest. Down. Stop and rest.

Finally, finally we're down. We're in an open forest and I can see the line of the creek that runs through GHS just off to the right. Then, at last, I can see other hikers ahead...soon, the Burnside Lakes trail joins the trail the trail to the falls. We are almost home! I'm not sure how far we have to go, and it's still amazingly hot, but I'm pretty sure I can stagger to the waiting car.

The trail soon gets very close to the creek and Commando cools his paws and soaks his belly in the cool, cool, cool water. I want to go down and soak my feet, but even the few short downhill steps seem like too much. I want to conserve energy at this point and rest my aching toes.

Soon, we come to the junction with the trail that goes to the hot springs, and I see that we only have 3 tenths of a mile to go. Whew. I can make that. Although, why does it feel so frickin' hot at only about 80 degrees F?

I make it back to the car. The temperature is 99. GHS is lower than Burnside (by about 2000 feet) and that explains why it is so hot...because it is.

We stop at the ranger station at the exit so I can wash Commando's feet with their hose. He had cut the back of his leg and there was quite a streak of blood. I wanted to make sure it was okay before we left civilization in case I needed to find a vet. He had licked the leg a lot, and perhaps favored it a bit when lying down, but he hadn't been limping and he had no trouble running off at full speed to chase the rodents and other critters.

Total miles for the hike is 5.5. I was glad mother was there to pick me up at the end, because there is no way I could have hiked back up! As hard on me as the downhill was, the uphill and the heat would have killed me!

Hmmm, next time maybe Charity Valley?

Bassi Creek by Red Peak Trail

My original plan was to head back to Schneider camp and try for the lake again, but as I drove up 50, I just couldn't get excited about the longer drive and the elevation. I decided to go up Icehouse road to Cheese Camp road and then hike to Bassi creek.

At the end of the paved part of Cheese Camp, at the locked gate, there are 3 options for getting to Bassi creek. I ducked under the gate and hiked up the road. This is an easy hike with a gentle grade up. Even this late in the season there were pools of water in Tells Creek.

There was no one at the horse camp, and I only encountered two fisherman coming down as I was going up. A little over two miles is the junction with the Red Peak trail and Bassi creek is right there. I took my boots and socks off and soaked in the creek while Commando ran all over like the lunatic he is. He chased a few sticks that I threw, but he was more interested in running full tilt through the water and wading around.

I put the socks and boots back on and we continued up the trail to where it officially crosses the creek. Just before the crossing is a gorgeous meadow, just turned golden for summer.

We turned back at the crossing and headed back.

The Crystal Basin area is truly magical!

Schneider Camp

I wanted to hike from Schneider Camp to Showers Lake but got a late start to the day and it was hot and I was really feeling the altitude. Turned back after a short distance and explored around the barn and the crossed the meadow and got back onto the road. It's late spring in the high country now. There are still plenty of flowers, but it's clear that they've seen better days and it's only a matter of weeks before everything turns golden.

This view is of the flapping door to the barn which Commando did not find as amusing as I did.

After that, drove to Burnside Lake and splashed around to cool off. There was a family of ducks at the lake, but the kids were almost grown and Commando gave them a cautious look, but didn't chase them. After we'd been splashing around for about an hour, another family of ducks came by. This time, the ducklings were small and cute so I hustled Commando back to the truck and leashed him up before he could commit a war crime.

Duncan Peak

Drove up to Foresthill to Robinson Flat and then to the Duncan Peak lookout. The road had been closed last weekend due to the fire and we wanted to see the damage. It's not too bad. There are plenty of live trees left and the forest should recover quickly.

Commando and I moseyed around the fire lookout, but didn't go actually up to very top. There was someone there, but they shut the door and didn't say hello or anything so I let them have their privacy. It's an interesting volcanic outcropping with some cool looking colored rocks.

Then we hiked the trail to Little Bald mountain which is the other end of the ridge from Duncan Peak. Neither of these are very tall...they are both right around 7000 feet.

The trail was easy but a fire a few years ago has left the ridge mostly bare of trees so it was hot and sunny. There were lots of fresh cow tracks (and fresh looking manure) so I kept scanning for cows ahead of us. Sure enough, just before we got to what looked like the end, we saw about 20 or so cows and calfs lounging around in the sparse shade. I put Commando on the leash and decided to keep hiking. I thought they might stroll off and we wouldn't disturb them too much.

Within about 20 paces, they leapt up (well, as much as a cow can leap up) and galloped off a few paces. I've been trained not to harass stock so we turned around and went back. Commando kept looking back because cows sure seemed like something that would be fun to investigate and maybe chase, but I kept telling him no and eventually he resigned himself to the small rodents that are really his specialty.

We then drove down to French Meadows Reservoir for a cooling dip. This is really one of my favorite areas to visit. Even with the lake down a good 50 feet and plenty of haze from the fires it's still a pretty lake.

Dog Mobile

Went to a dog mobile at the home show at the convention center. Took a dog named Michelin (gordon setter cross), two pit mixes (Abby and Brindle), and a dachsund mix who had an enormous personality. All of the dogs got lots of attention and were mobbed by potential adopters. I fell in love with the dachsund mix! Michelin was cute and will be rapidly adopted but the little dachsund (whose name I forget) was the best. Abby was cute too with an enormous bull dog head...really, it was GIANT. And she thought she was a lap dog too and spent lots of time licking people's faces.

I'm glad I went but missed taking my own dog for a walk.

Reno Trip

We stopped at the famous and excellent Ikedas in Auburn and had lunch. I also picked up peaches and tamari almonds. The fresh peach shake was outstanding!

Lost money the first night but it was good to see everyone.

Donna and I got up bright and early to hike the Mt. Rose trail off highway 431. I was hoping it would be less smoky than it was. The trail itself was relatively clear, but there was still a haze. We could see Lake Tahoe, but not clearly and we couldn't see across the lake to Mt. Tallac. We hiked up by the new trail...which is an excellent trail. Well graded, good route, great views (when the air is clear). Last time we'd hiked we'd gotten stopped too soon by huge snow drifts.

This time, we made it to the intersection of the Tahoe Rim Trail and the old trail. There's a small waterfall there overlooking a meadow overlooking the Carson Valley. We ate lunch, I cooled my feet in the stream and Donna scrambled up the waterfall.

To make it a loop, we hiked back on the TRT and the old trail. The new trail is much, MUCH better. The first part is good with a steep climb up the watershed and then across a flowery meadow. Once we reached the top of the saddle it was not nearly as pretty. The route down follows a hot, dusty road in full view of the sun with very little tree cover. If we'd turned up hill, we could have summited Relay Peak.
After a steady downhill of about 3 miles we were back at the car park and cooling off with the AC and the rest of our water. I would really like to summit Mt. Rose, but it will have to wait...at 9.8 miles, it's just a bit too far for me now...not even counting the 2000 foot elevation gain!

Dinner was pleasant although the steak was tough and gristly. I lost again at blackjack and the slots. We stayed up very late chatting about religion and the death penalty and Obama (we're all Obama supporters but have different views on religion and the DP). Di and Val left around 530 am for some family commitments and I went back to sleep.

On Sunday mother brought Commando up and we drove up the Burnside Lake road to Burnside Lake. Commando chased sticks in the water and then we both hiked around the lake. It can't be more than a mile around and there's no elevation change.

We drove back and can chalk up another successful trip!

Smoky and Hot Hike

Gas prices are keeping me from driving up to the mountains every weekend day to hike, but I haven't been up in about 3 weeks. Friday was the 4th and Donna's party at Malene's. Saturday I went in to work for about 2 hours. Sunday I was determined to go up. I wanted to go to the Carson Pass area and maybe hike from Burnside Lake down to Grover Hot Springs but Jodi called and wanted a ride to her cabin. She thought she could jog around the lake while I hiked.

After looking at the smoke she decided not to jog. I was going to try for the top parking lot and Castle Crags peak but the road was very bad, it was late and lord it was hot and smoky so I decided to head down the forest service road near the lodge.

As soon as I let Commando out of the car he had several bouts of explosive diarrhea and then he threw up. Lovely. He seemed lively enough otherwise so we headed down hill.

There was no view and it was hot. We hiked for about 45 minutes and then headed back. A few off road bikes passed and a few cars. Commando was hot too and only chased a few critters. He did go after one set of bikes and it was kind of funny how fast he went...the bikes had to slow to go around a turn and I wonder if they were surprised to see him so close behind. Other bikes he ignored.