Sunstones, Goose Lake, then back to California

On Friday, Laura, Liz, and I went past Plush to the sunstone gathering area.  I picked up quite a few small ones, but Laura found several good sized crystals and all wth color.  One really needs a shovel and a sieve.  This a unique Bureau of Land Managemnt area where sunstones (with several mine claims and operating mines) abound.  They are the Oregon state gem stone.

We also glimpsed (too quick for a photo) a beautiful antelope on the way in to the sunstone gathering area. 

Erich left on Friday, and missed the wonderful barbecue at Davis Creek that night. On Saturday night we strolled toward the lake and caught sight of  a pair of sandhill cranes and their young one--they are huge birds.  It was only the three that we saw, and I thought sandhills travelled in great flocks.

It ws a weekend of BBQs because we had a great steak at the annual volunteer fire department BBQ at Goose Lake on Sunday afternoon prior to pulling out and heading south.  Great food and good music!

Deadhorse to Goose Lake

The wind kept being gusty at Deadhorse Lake, and the bug tent is on its last gasp, but provides shade, as the sun is very warm when the wind stops.   Many small boats, plus a few other float tubes and pontoon boats are launched each day--some from a few campers using the area but many from day use (perhaps coming overfrom Campbell lake).  Then, on the Friday, the campground filled up, and all sites were in use along with some at the group site.  Many fisherpeople dotted the shore as well as fished in boats/floats/pontoons.  Laura caught a large trophy trout and two smaller fish, which we cookied up for dinner.  After that, both she and Chris caught fish, but released what they caught.  The rest of us did not fare so well and didn't have bites, or if we did, none were caught.

On Friday, Brad and Judy headed toward Red Bluff, leaving Erich, us and the kids at the camp.  We planned to leave on Sunday and head to the Deschutes area, but we decided that the planned camping sites would be even windier than Deadhorse, so we decided to head back to Goose Lake and fish and explore arouind that area.   Erich decided he would go there as well, and the kids planned to leave after supper on Saturday.  Lincoln and Parker did not sleep well Friday night, and Lincoln was really tired because he was so busy playing, so Chris and Deidra changed their plans and left mid-day on Saturday, planning on getting a motel room for the night where maybe the two boys could get some more rest.

On Sunday morning, we arose early, and began to caravan with Erich out of the National Forest.  Erich's brakes did not seem to be working properly, but wr made it easily back to Lakeview then to the Campground, where we set up camp.   We returned to Lakeview and lunched at the Burger Queen, then did laundry, filled propane tanks, re-fueled, and returned to the base camp.

Goose Lake is a beautiful campground, with fields of lupine extending from the grassy campsites out into a large meadow.  Birds and other wildlife abound, around the many trails (below)..  So do mosquitos, and I wore my bug jacket most of the time, but still managed to get well eaten by the blood-suckers.  Erich is parked next to us in campsite 24, and we are in a secluded campsite 25, with Laura in 26.

It is warm at the campground, as a heat wave has hit the western states.  The central valley and interior coastal valleys like Boonville are in the 100s, and Death Valley is reaching 125 degrees.   The nineties here at the lake make it too warm in the trailer (we have air conditioning if we want to use it, but outside in the shade is nice with a soft breeze) until bedtime, when it cools down considerably.  We are cooking on the camp stove--delicious breakfasts like sausage and eggs, and today we had bacon and eggs with home-baked bread`on the toaster.  Wonderful!

The first morning (Monday) at Goose Lake was dedicated to locating a place selling California fishing licenses, which we found at the Davis Creek store.  They still have a barbecue every Fridat night, and we plan to go there this week.  Our next stop was at the Plum Creek winery, where we helped the local economy along with purchases of wine, jams, and spirits.  The owner told us that the big Goose Lake BBQ was this Sunday, so I re-arranged appointments to delay returning by two days so we could attend the BBQ.  We did some errands in town while Errich stayed at camp, and then swung by the New Pine Creek  rockshop where Laura also helped the local economy.  In addition to selling rocks to us and others passing by, the owenr sells and ships large bags of rocks to  China, where they `are made into beads and other items and sold back to Americans and others.  That night,  Erich cooked steaks for us, and our dinner was another delicious one.

The weather forecast was for a warming trend, and the next day it seemed appreciably warmer as we headed back to Davis Creek to take the long way into Reservoir C.  I hadn't known how many miles it would be nor the slowness of the road, so it took a good 2.5 hours to reach the turnoff to Reservoir C.  Along the way we passed through the Devil's Garden area, stopped to explore the historical Pease Cabin, andafter a long while on the gravel road,  decided that we would go into Alturas for lunch.  Laura said she would return to reservoir C the next day, but Liz and I decided we would take her back after lunch, since we were already near, but Erich had had enough of the gravel roads, and decided he would return to camp.  So, after swapping some gear, the three of us returned to reservoir C to fish the afternoon.

Laura fished and caught two trout equal or larger to her trophy trout at Deadhorse, and the whole time was surrounded by pelicans. 

Four large white pelicans seemed to be summering on Reservoir C, and were very interested in her.  Perhaps they hoped she had a stringer of fish they could swipe. But Laura was catch-and-release fishing, so they were out of luck.  It was a warm day, but there was shade in the smll campground (3 sites), and we read, watched wildlife, and took photos whjile Laura fished.  

We returned to Alturas, filling up with gas then doing a quick hose off at the carwash before returning to camp in the early evening.

The next day we traveled 299 to Cedarville, and spent the day doing a little sightseeing in town, a bit of rockhounding out the road by the cemetary, and had lunch at the small diner where Liz, Laura, and I had eaten before.  It was good, and we bought a loaf of homemade bread to take away with us.

That afternoon Erich's air conditioning in his trailer went out--the fan worked, but no cooling.  Erich had planned to leave to head for Red Bluiff on Thursday, but with the heatwave hitting he was concerned about B rody if he stopped at Camping World in Anderson tio get it and the brakes fixed.  As the three of us left Thursday morning  to fish Lily Lake, Erich was heading into Lakeview to make calls and do a few chores, planning on leaving real early Fridaty morning. 

Deadhorse Lake

The three rigs caravanned into the Fremont National Forest—first turning on to Thomas Creek Road, and criss-crossing through agricultural lands, until the National Forest lands started with typical small brown signs directing us toward Campbell and Dead Horse lakes.  We passed through some beautiful scenery, with wildflowers throughout green meadows, surrounded by timber lands.  The roads were open range and we slowed for cattle on the road several times.  Some pre-commercial thinning had stacks of small trees on landings past the Dairy Creek turnoff, but we were un-prepared for the extent of cutting once we turned onto the gravel road leading to the lakes.  Most trees were cut along a wide swath along the roads, but the upland areas were grey—dead tree thickets abounded, with only an occasional green survivor.  All the destruction relates to a severe beetle infestation.  Where once you could not see Campbell Lake from the road, now it was easily seen, all the way around, with barren campsites supporting only an occasional leggy tree.  Despitethis foreshadowing, I was unprepared for the sight of Deadhorse Lake—a place I had camped frequently under lush trees with the small blue lake lying like a gem surrounded by the green forest.  The green forest is gone and, like Campbell Lake, only a few trees are left in a swath around the lake, with dead grey forestland above on the hillsides.

After the initial shock, I adjusted.  The area is still pretty, but is not the lake from the past.  Don’t expect that, and the lakeside campground remains enjoyable.   We set up our camps side-by-side, with me between Brad and Erich.  The bug tent went up quickly, as did Laura’s tent.  Water was brownish, and not really acceptable for drinking, but we felt we could try Campbell Lake for water  Liz went for a walk with Emily, and the others were out and about as well.  Suddenly, a huge gust of wind—far more serious than any gusts we’d encountered, blew across the lake and hit the bug tent.  The stakes ripped out of the ground and the tent cartwheeled onto the campfire.  I ran toward it from the rig, and Laura ran up from the lake, and together we pulled the tent off the fire and rotated it back pver the nearby picnic table.  We re-affixed the poles, ran guy-string ties top two trees and another to a stump, and secured it from further wind cartwheeling.  However, a three foot length of netting had melted, which I patched with black Gorilla tape, and the tent was slightly mis-shapened, but it still did the trick and kept out the insects, more-or-less.  Gusty winds would batter it over the next several days, gradually pulling it into shapes never intended by the manufacturer.  One entry zipper gave up the ghost a couple of days later, but the tent still provided  shade and some protection from bugs.

 Laura got some nibbles on her first morning out, but I didn’t get a bite, nor did Erich or the others.  Fishing from the bank I sa challenge because of all of the trees and brush which are in the lake around the shoreline.

Cocktail hour came every night, and we enjoyed ourselves around the campfire.  Emily would play with her Ipod while the rest of us talked about this-and-that, then mainly went our separate ways for dinner.  The 4^th of July was a communal dinner, with everyone cooking chicken and bringing a side dish.  Great food, great company, and a good time was had by all.

Chris, Deidra and the boys joined us on the 4^th of July—they have a large tent that can fit all 4 of them, and it was easily set up, after we warned them about the wind and they weighted the tent bottom with their things.  Lincoln was really enjoying himself, playing in the dirt, fishing with his Dad, and exploring with his mom and Parker.  Lincoln  had his first campfire marshmallow, and little Parker enjoyed watching his Grandma do up the dishes. 

Leaving Mendocino and At Goose Lake

The new house is mostly painted, with Tom returning in a couple of weeks to resume. Julie and Ruby were settled in as I prepared to leave—of course, Tom was leaving too, and the bear hit his trash cans overnight.  After gathering the trash which the bear had scattered, he searched for his ice chest (which had been empty), but it was long gone in the woods.  He took a couple of Styrofoam cases for fresh oysters that Scooter had wanted to take home.

 I was soon on the road toward the walnut ranch for my first rendezvous, and the little Roo pulled along as if it was not there.   Liz and I loaded it up with supplies on the following day (Thursday) and on Friday we headed to Laura’s for our second rendezvous.  We gassed up just before reaching her house, and Saturday morning, early, we hit the road toward Goose Lake, with Laura leading the way in her CRV. 

We went through the local roads to pick up Highway 80, heading toward Truckee, and managed to lose Laura twice at our exit,  as we went off on an early exit and Laura went off on the next one, then we tried to re-connect  through a couple of roundabouts, and it always ended up that we were going the opposite direction from Laura—Helen would say that the three Stooges were alive and well in the Roo, but we eventually coordinated our direction and headed toward our breakfast point in Sierraville.  We made a brief rest stop along the way, and spotted a large and beautiful red fox in a grassy field just as we were leaving the rest area to continue to Sierraville.

A gas station—the only one in town—was located just on the entry to Sierraville, so I filled up.  As it turns out, I probably could have made Hallelujah Junction, since my mileage up the Sierras dropped to about 7 mpg, but in the less steep area toward Sierraville, I often averaged 13 mpg.  Also, there was another gas station in the little town of Loyalton  just before Hallelujah Junction.

After refueling in Hallelujah Junction, plus buying propane, we continued on Hwy 395 north toward Alturas and the final rendezvous point of Goose Lake, where we were connecting with Erich in his camper along with Brad, Judy, and Emily in their camper.  We lunched at the old time burger place in Alturas (great!), looked for the Belligerent Duck sporting goods store (out of business—too bad, as I really wanted one of their T-shirts), and also re-fueled.  New Pine Creek and Goose Lake were only a short hop-and-a-skip away.

We rendezvoused with the others at the Goose Lake Campground, and then the three of us went in to Lakeview and purchased my Oregon fishing license.   The man who waited on me in the True Value Hardware Store was a look-a-like for my late cousin Russell, including his wispy white hair, genial smile, and gentle manner.  He found me in the Oregon fishing license computer, but had my old address, so he patiently updated all of the records, before selling me the license, a couple of containers of worms, and a bottle of floatant.  The hardware store has a little bit of everything, and everyone is friendly and helpful. That night, after a shared hot-dog dinner, our group went for a walk down to Goose Lake at [insert internet picture of Gooselake] sundown, and it was spectacular sunset.  The surrounding area was full of birdlife.  The campground is a very pretty place, and everyone enjoyed staying there.  I love the showers, plus water and electricity hookups along with a dump-station.

The next day was another departure day, and we had planned to leave early to head into the Fremont National Forest, but the day started out with a propane leak as my dual regulator apparently started leaking in the wee morning hours.  I smelled it immediately as I started to break camp.  The tanks are right under Liz’ cantilevered bed, and we were very lucky indeed that we did not have an explosion.

We quickly turned off the gas, and headed into Lakeville with the bad part to see what was available on a Sunday morning (it was 7:30 a.m.).  The first stop was at the gas station, but the two people working there had not a clue as to who might be open—recommending the Napa Auto Parts store, which opened at 10:00.  The TrueValue hardware store opened at 9:00, so we settled in to breakfast at the Dinner Bell Cafe, which featured home-made bread.  Our breakfast was delicious and leisurely, and by the time we got to the True Value hardware store, it was open.  The same Russell-look-alike helped  us find  a single regulator plus all of the connections.  Soon we were off back to Goose Lake.  In a jiffy, Laura had rigged the new propane setup   and we were on our way again.  Heading out N 4^th Street (aka “Splash Highway” as Goose Lake used to be so high as to nearly approach the road) toward the Thomas Creek road turnoff and our entryway into the Fremont National Forest.