Drove up 80 to Cisco Grove exit and took the signed dirt road to Fordyce Lake. The beginning part, once paved, is in some ways the worst part of the trip due to the HUGE potholes. Someone has graded parts of the road because when I drove it late last year it was much worse. Once over the Fordyce Summit the road is also not good, but PG&E is doing some maintenance and they have repaired and sanded the road for heavy equipment.
We parked about 1/2 mile from the lake and then strolled along the inlet meadow to the the dam. From the dam you can see the back side of Old Man Mountain and I think I'll try to get there before winter closes in.
It's pretty, but Grouse Lakes is prettier so I think I have probably seen what I wanted to see with this trip. I may try to take another drive up to Lake Sterling.
Commando had a great time running around and chasing sticks.
Monday, August 31, 2009
Saturday, August 08, 2009
Saw a dead skunk with skeleton-y goodness!
I just cannot get moving in the mornings so it was very late (4 pm) when we hit the trail at Fuller Lake to Spaulding Lake. All of the water in the streams is gone until you get to the stream that parallels the second big water conduit.
I decided to take the bridge over a water-filled stream that leads to Spaulding Powerhouse 3. The trail is fairly level and parallels the shoreline, albeit a good 100 feet below. The water is low.
There was a dead, mostly eaten skunk on the trail. It was partly dessicated (doesn't take much in the dry heat) and the skull was intact (with fur) and the tail bone (with fur) was also laid out neatly. There was some blobby, leathery looking innard that the predator also hadn't eaten. I almost wanted to take the skull because it would look sort of interesting (once the fur and gory bits had been boiled off) but I decided not to. The smell was faint. Poor skunk.
We made it over the first dam and rested along the shore. Well, I rested and Commando chased sticks, dug up good smelling stuff in the duff, and looked for critters.
I had been hoping that there was a link between this trail and the trail that follows the Yuba River so I could make a loop but if such a link exists, I didn't find it.
It was a nice hike with beautiful weather although the mosquitoes are incredibly fierce.
I decided to take the bridge over a water-filled stream that leads to Spaulding Powerhouse 3. The trail is fairly level and parallels the shoreline, albeit a good 100 feet below. The water is low.
There was a dead, mostly eaten skunk on the trail. It was partly dessicated (doesn't take much in the dry heat) and the skull was intact (with fur) and the tail bone (with fur) was also laid out neatly. There was some blobby, leathery looking innard that the predator also hadn't eaten. I almost wanted to take the skull because it would look sort of interesting (once the fur and gory bits had been boiled off) but I decided not to. The smell was faint. Poor skunk.
We made it over the first dam and rested along the shore. Well, I rested and Commando chased sticks, dug up good smelling stuff in the duff, and looked for critters.
I had been hoping that there was a link between this trail and the trail that follows the Yuba River so I could make a loop but if such a link exists, I didn't find it.
It was a nice hike with beautiful weather although the mosquitoes are incredibly fierce.
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