Late Spring Off Highway 50

Drove up to 42 mile road near Sciot's Camp and hiked along the road that eventually goes to Cody Meadow. It follows Strawberry Canyon up Strawberry creek. The road is barely passable with a modified 4WD although I wouldn't recommend it. There are still too many big snow berms and the road is wet.

I was fascinated by the land slip a bit of the way up. A huge section of the hill has slid down to the creek at sometime in the past. You can see the huge scoring, rumpled dirt, and downed trees scattered over the hill. It was a while ago though as the road was built through it and the vegetation is back. Although I wasn't really worried, I didn't linger in the vicinity.

Commando enjoyed himself but was still tired from our hike on Saturday. I can't wait for full summer so I can explore more of this area. The Eldorado National Forest is truly a magical place.

Late spring off Highway 80

We drove up to the Eagle Lake exit and parked at the OHV parking area and hiked up the 4WD Carlyle Road. We have hiked to Eagle Lakes before so this time we turned left onto Grouse Ridge trail (actually another 4WD road) to visit the Pierce OHV staging area.

All the roads were wet with streams running down them and big, deep puddles. Freshets cascaded off any available slope leading to the Yuba river. We had to wend our way through the mostly deserted campground because of a snow melt lake across the trail. We relaxed at the river and were deafened by the noise.

Saw a funny pickup truck with an "Impeach Obama" bumper sticker. I'm not about to make snide comments to random strangers but I did wonder why they seemed to be all geared up to recreate in the socialist Tahoe National Forest.

Today was the day for funny sights. Almost at home we followed a stretch limo Ford Explorer. That seems an odd choice for a limo because I certainly have never considered Ford to be a luxury line.

Good day, tired dog, waiting for the pizza delivery.

Still miss San Francisco

Obama was in the city for a visit and a diverse group of protestors came to celebrate. These are a few things from the video that remind me of the city and why I loved living there.

Everyone is relatively mellow...diversity...it's raining!...the new Right...the Old Left...the creative solar protest chant...plenty of other people not there because they're doing something different and don't care...the happy, smiling cop at the end of the video.

San Francisco is just a town that likes to party and likes to be a spectacle.

Puppies and water

On Saturday drove to Arbuckle to look at a cute Boston terrier puppy with Diane. Although I'm a spay and neuter and adopt from the SPCA kind of person, these puppies were pretty cute. The dog runs were clean and the animals seemed well cared for and healthy. Diane ended up getting the puppy. She'll have to wait a few more weeks though till she's old enough to go home with her.

We drove up highway 20 and looked at the late spring flowers in Bear Valley and then drove up a dirt road into the Mendocino National Forest. We hiked up the dirt road along a stream and then hiked down the stream (getting pretty wet in the process) back to the car. It wasn't much for distance, but scrambling along the rocks and route finding were interesting.

On Sunday drove up to Kyburz and took the Silver Fork road to the Caples Creek trail. The road is blocked by snow just over the Fitch Rantz bridge. The trail is pretty easy, at least to the intersection with the Forgotten Trail. I think this summer we'll have to spend a bit more time along the Silver Fork road.

Camping Trip

Drove up to the Salt Springs Reservoir for a night of camping. The usual roads are blocked by gates and snow so I took the Tiger Creek road. It's quite a road; it follows the Tiger Creek and North Fork of the Mokelumne River canyons. It's extremely narrow and only about half paved...although, the dirt parts were some of the wider and faster parts. Because it runs through the canyon area, there's a 500 ft. to 1000 ft. drop on the water side. The fast moving forest service and PG&E trucks were a bit scary too, but there was always room to pass as long as you folded in your mirrors and didn't mind exchanging dust particles. I was glad there weren't any logging trucks because I wasn't wearing brown pants.

We checked out the dam area (no camping) and 2 of the 3 campgrounds. We selected White Azalea because it had a flat open space on the Mokelumne River. There was a couple at the other campground and me at this campground so it wasn't very busy.

Commando and I enjoyed a stroll around. We went down to the empty picnic area...over a bridge...along an old, unmarked forest service road/trail...and then back to camp. Commando ran all over the campground. He played in the water. He chased birds flying overhead. He chased far away squirrels.

I made a sandwich and lit a fire and just relaxed. Sometimes I read a book. Sometimes I looked at the fire. Sometimes I looked around at the river, or the fish biting, or the bats scooping up insects from the air, or the ducks paddling in the water. It was a bit colder than I'd expected but I stayed warm enough with the clothes I'd brought.

We went to bed in the back of the Escape. I closed the hatch but left the window open and we were as snug as could be. There wasn't much of a moon, but I could see stars. Sometime late at night, Commando woke me up with growling as another car pulled into the camp area. I could see the glow of their headlights against the tree trunks for a while, but eventually I went back to sleep.

In the morning we got up just as the sun was peaking between the V shape formed by Calaveras Dome and Hammer Dome (thanks KE). I had brought two cups of cafe mocha from Peets for my morning coffee and put it on the Propane Coleman to heat up. I went down to the river's edge to share a moment with Commando. When I came back all of the coffee had boiled away. I drank some dregs and then ate breakfast.

From the scouting the day before, we decided to hike up to the top of Garnet Hill. This is an old mine road that loops about 1000 feet up to the summit. I stupidly didn't bring any water for Commando, thinking there would be some seasonal stream for him to drink from. The trail loosely follows Monroe creek and it was filled with snow melt and was a constant and substantial noise. Unfortunately, Garnet Hill was dry and Monroe creek too steep sided even for nimble and athletic Commando. By the time we got to the summit (meh) he was one thirsty dog. He still wasn't thirsty enough to drink my Vitamin water though and he still had enough energy to chase off after squirrels.

We hastened down as fast as the steep terrain would let us. Poor Commando tried to get down at one point, but was defeated by the steep banks of the creek. It was almost comical to see his disappointed face. Less than 1/10 of a mile down though, and with some guidance from me, he was able to get his drink. He actually hates any bottled water and has often refused water I've carried for him. I bet he might drink water if I filled up from any lakeside that we might happen to be near.

We finished the trip to the car and then headed home. We did make a few side trips and excursions, and, after driving 22 miles out of the way, discovered that the Panther Ridge road back to 88 was not only blocked by snow but also blocked by a gate.

It was a good trip and can't wait for more of the high country to melt so we can camp again.

LOVE "Community"

This week's episode, a sly parody of action movies, was outstanding. I won't pretend to know all of the mocking references to actual action movies, but I could see many of the cliches in action. The show meta-mentions some of the cliches but leaves us to enjoy others. The hero coming into the game late, the male bonding, the gratuitous sex scene, the magical Asian fighter, evil laughter, and the hero backlit by an explosion as the fight comes to its end. The show also references Glee although the tubby Glee Club body shot out of a tree also pokes fun at the hotties on Glee. Fun, fun, fun.

Wright's Lake Road

The road was clear for about 2.5 miles and then it was very snowy. As we climbed, the snow got deeper until it was about 5 or more feet deep. We followed snowmobile tracks so going up was relatively easy. Once the sun started melting the top layer of snow I put the snowshoes on to avoid post holing. I actually hurt my knee near Lyons Creek and favored it on the way back. I also forgot to put on sun screen and burned the bottom of my cheeks from the reflection off the snow. Ow. We had a great time and both of us are very tired. Can't wait till the snow melts, however, it looks like it won't be until June at the earliest. Good for the drought, not so good for hiking at Wright's Lake.