Commando Chases Waves on the American River Confluence January 2017

Another of the many videos of Commando going completely insane due to waves.

Another low elevation hike with ticks

The weather was unsettled so I decided to stay out of the chain control zone and hike in Auburn. There is a small waterfall called the "Black Hole of Calcutta." It's at a popular area which I would normally avoid, but I was hoping that only die-hards would be out in the possible rain.

We drove to the Auburn confluence area and parked across the highway 49 bridge and started hiking along the Western States Trail. I could only let Commando off leash occasionally because there were other people about. We strolled along quite nicely for about a mile and viewed the waterfall. Despite the rain, it was thin and thready but it was high and dropped into a scenic dark-gray granite grotto.

We headed back and I stupidly elected to try to hike down to the river on the Cool trail side. After bushwhacking around for a bit, I was forced to turn back.

And, I have a tick bite on my back shoulder!

Slow Trip to Hell Hole

Drove up to Hell Hole reservoir for a short hike. I wasn't very motivated and left late. Reached Hell Hole and headed across the dam to the trail to the campground. It was pretty hot. Reached the trail and started climbing up the trail. It traverses a steep hill, nearly a cliff, over badly broken granite and volcanic gravel. It was hot and not very inspiring. I didn't get very far and decided I'd had enough and we turned back. Even Commando didn't seem too enthusiastic. The vulture that circled overhead was certainly not very inspiring either.

Just at the end of the dam there's a slope to the lake so we headed down. Commando needed water and there were plenty of driftwood sticks for me to throw and huge driftwood logs for me to sit on.

Fortunately there was a rocky, beachy slope so I could toss sticks pretty far out before Commando had to swim. The water is very cold and I really don't want to have to swim in it to rescue him. He is very confident. He swam out several times to try to retrieve a stick that appeared to still be firmly attached to the log jammed just under the surface.

I had noticed some weird looking thing on the bottom of the lake in the shallow water. They look like fleshy pink and white tulip with octopus type tentacles. But they don't move, they seem anchored to the bottom. I didn't touch one.

For some time I'd noticed one at the surface that was moving around a bit but didn't think much of it. After a while I focused on it a little more and discovered that a smallish snake was trying to eat one of these weird looking things and was having great difficulty gulping it down.

I watched the snake for a while and kept Commando from bothering him. The poor snake didn't seem to be making much progress so we finally left without viewing the final swallow. I hope he managed to choke it down.

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.

Fork's House - Not

Drove up the Foresthill road with no particular plan other than to go as far as the snow would let me. The road was snowed in and blocked with the gate at China Wall OHV. I decided to explore the Fork's House Nature trail. Although there was lots of snow, there was also plenty of bare dirt and I decided not to break out the snow shoes. When I got to the trail, it was snowed over and the path was not obvious. There was also someone shooting in that direction and I try to assume that they are dumb asses and not paying careful attention to where their bullets end up. Most of the shooters I've encountered have been courteous and safe, but it only takes one bullet to make my day very bad.

I think the trail is at Mitchell Mine road, but the map I have access to in not clear. The shape is right but the elevation looks funny. The road was clear of snow until I had committed myself and then it was all snow, sometimes up to three feet deep. Fortunately the snow mobile crowd (or someone) had been packing the snow down so it was relatively easy going with only a few instances of break through. We dropped down to what looks like a year round creek that was bursting with snow melt. Then we started climbing up a steady grade. We reached the heavy equipment that was responsible for packing the snow and continued on for a bit before returning to sit on the bench at that back of the snow vehicle to enjoy a light snack and some Vitamin water. This is a relatively pretty trail and will be nicer a bit later in the spring when the snow is more melted. It doesn't look there are any spectacular views though.

Foresthill Again

Suddenly winter decided to arrive and there is finally snow! It's down as low as 3000 feet. It's still snowing and many of the highways have chain controls and I wanted to avoid all of that. I drove up to Foresthill as the Divide road is relatively flat with few turns. The sky was overcast at Auburn and it was raining. It was overcast in Foresthill and there was snow on the ground. The road was barely cleared and I drove around a little trying to find a place to park.

I pulled off at Sequoia road and then snow shoed parallel to the road to Georgia road. I went down Georgia road for a bit and then headed back. It was snowing most of the time with some light hail. The snow was nice and dense and very wet. Perfect for the purpose. Some other people had done the same trip and it was nice to walk on their trail.

Devil's Falls

Based on the great waterfalls page, I drove east to Colfax to Devil's Falls in the pouring rain. The excellent directions got me right there and it's a beautiful drive, even in the bad weather.

Commando and I hiked around from the falls to the bridge and down to the river. I had Commando off leash and he was reasonably obedient. I won't be able to trust him yet around other people, but he's definitely getting it.

He did learn an important lesson too that's kind of funny. He got carsick again (I'll have to take him to the vet for that) and so I stopped in the middle of the road to let him out to finish being sick and clean up. He scampered around happily and refused to come back to me in spite of the treats.

I was in the middle of the (isolated, dirt) road and could see a pull out about 100 feet ahead. I got in, left the driver's side door open, started up the car, and drove to the pull out. Wow! Commando had a complete attitude adjustment and decided that maybe coming when I called was in fact the best option. He got a treat and some ear scratching as a reward. I also put him in the front seat to see if that made his stomach any better.

He really is the perfect companion dog for me. He's smart though which means I have to be smarter with training. On several instances you can see him thinking, "Hmmm, do I want the treat she's offering, or is what I'm doing now more entertaining?"

I hope we can get him over this car sickness because he loves hiking and hiking involves getting in the car and driving. He seems to recover quickly and still loves hopping in the car for a ride so we'll see. Maybe the vet will have some insight.

He's curled up now sleeping in his new dog basket from Ikea. So cute.