A Little Gem in The Challis-Salmon National Forest

Leaving Goose lake took us across the desert, past the Abert rim, with Lake Abert below.  Even this saline lake is showing signs of retreat.

We traveled on to Juntura, but a Heat Wave has hit--Juntura was quite hot.  We had hoped that the Malheur River up canyon from Juntura would be cooler, but that was not the case. The Campground host campsite was un-manned, and another trailer was camped with no one in it either.  We camped into a nice back up site near the river, and noticed immediately that the grass was not being watered as much, and most faucetts did not work.  Still, it is a lovely setting, but hot and with dry camping, no A/C.  One other camper joined us by the evening.  By bedtime it has cooled to 80 degrees inside the
trailer with all windows/tent bed canvas open, and throughout the night I and my compatriots slept with few if any covers.  The temperature inside at 5:45 was 67 degrees, so it never really cooled off much.
We had a quick breakfast and hit the road, heading toward Vale and on to Idaho.  At Caldwell, Idaho, we stopped at a Sinclair oil truck stop, and bought Helen her birthday lunch at the Sage Cafe. The pulled pork sandwich was a mite spicy, but delicious, and we ate it all, ordering three pieces of home-made pie to go (strawberry rhubarb; raspberry peach; and sugarless apple). The sweet waitress brought us our pie cartoned all to-go with each container labeled and, knowing it was Helen's birthday, she did not charge for Helen's rhubarb pie.

We then pushed on, heading toward Lowman which was supposed to be only 88 today.  However, as we headed out of Boise the heat continued to raise and when we turned on the highway toward Lowman, forested and along a fork of the Payette River (stunningly beautiful), the temperature kept climbing, hitting 100.  Lowman was in the high nineties, and although it was after my typical "tie-up" time I wanted to push on, to gain elevation and hopefully lose heat. 

The temperature finally began to fall and reached 84 degrees. We decided to pull in to the infamous Bull Trout lake, where Bill, Liz, the kids and I had camped many decades ago.  We found the turn off on the left (north side) going down two miles on a gravel road to the lake. Now it apparently has drinking water, but when we reached the lake, all of the campsites had been taken over by a large group, so we turned around and kept going down the highway.  A good thing, because we turned in to Banner Creek campground (it only has three back-in sites right next to Banner Creek, and a very clean and fresh smelling pit toilet; no water. The campground is a few miles past Bull trout Lake and on the south side of the highway.  All three of us are delighted by it.  The temp was in the mid-80s, but it had been a long hot day, so we all sat in the creek and cooled off.  Beetle damage is present, and many trees have been taken out, with many more still drying or dead on the adjacent hillside, but by and large it looks lush and green. 

 

If the creek is fishable, it would be a great place to return and camp for several days while exploring the surrounding area.  Hopefully, we can return before the beetle kills everything. 

Tomorrow, we are going to have breakfast in Stanley and re-group our plans for the next two days. We have no internet access here and need to know the likely temperatures in both the uplands and on the Snake River plateau to make some decisions.  We may find a commercial campground near Idaho Falls where we can have power and thus A/C. We shall discuss our options for dealing with the heat tomorrow at breakfast, knowing we must rendezvous with others on the 18th in Jackson, Wyoming. As to the post-Yellowstone phase of this trip, it is too soon to tell our return route; it will depend on the heat wave and whether it is continuing.

 



The Yellowstone Adventure Begins

The above picture was taken of Goose Lake in 2012, and this campground will be the first camping stop on our 2013 trip.  See below for a picture of the changes...

The little Roo trailer traveled from Mendocino to the Walnut Ranch, where we went from lucious fog-draped forest to hot orchards and 100 degree plus heat.  Checking the week-ahead on the forecast, we saw that several of our planned stops enroute to Yellowstone would be in high heat, and so we re-routed to climb slightly into the Idaho high country for the peak of the heat wave (cools off at night onto the low 40s, even it reaching into the high 80s during the day).  The plan now is to arrive at Goose Lake where the daytime temps are in the mid-80s, staying for two nights, then crossing the Oregon eastern desert mid-way, stopping along the Malheur River by Juntura.  That will be a hot day, but the campground (BLM/no hookups) is in a canyon that typically has a breeze at night with grassy areas in trees for the camping, so we are hopeful it will cool off for sleeping.  Then, we will continue to cross the desrt the next day into Idaho, camping near Lowman if all goes well.  We will check the temps, and if tolerable, will go to Craters of the Moon for two nights as the forecast is for hot days and chilly nights. We should still arrive on schedule at Jackson in Wyoming.
On Thursday, we traveled ro Cameron Park (hot, too), overnighting at Laura's whose yard has been totally removed by the landscapers putting in the new design.  Early the next day, we travelled our only long day to Goose Lake.  It was in the mid-80s and breezy, so we were hopeful for a comfortable night. 

After setting up camop, we drove back into California a short ways to Davis Creek, an joined the local ramchers for a BBQ--as usual it terrific ribs (pork and beef), tritip and chicken with great cole slaw and delici0us beans.  The Friday night BBQ at Davis Creek is not to be missed if you are in the area.

Returning to camp, We then strolled down the trail to the lake--or that was our intent, but the lake was gone.  It has receeded hundreds of yards due to drought and increased diversions of water for ranch irrigation.

Despite the dirth of water, there are geese everywhere, and lots of other birds and wildlife.  A deer nestles down juist off our campsite, and all one can see is her ears.  The quail are calling, the dove softly singing, and the cattle are lowing in the evening and dawn.  in the night, I heard`two owls calling back and fort to each other.

Saturday afternoon, sitting under the spreading shade tree of our campsite, we had the wonderful experience of two twin fawns cavorting on the grass beside us, apparently fearless.  Of course, none of us had our cameras, but it is a great memory.

On Saturday we planned for a leisurely breakfast and sightseeing in Lakeview at the Schminck Museum and rose garden--a very interetsing place, and worth a stop for $3.00/senior.  Don't fgorget to try the Burger Queen for its delicious non-fast food hamburgers and shakes!

Yuba River Swimming Hole

We left our campsite in Grass Valley and drove less than half an hour to the Bridgeport Covered Bridge, then walked upstream along the Yuba River.  We had intended to take a self-guided walk along the same route as the weekly docent-lead wildflower walks along the river, but a sign advised us that the walks for the season had been cancelled because of the lack of rains and unseasonal warmth that had caused an early bloom.  Still, we decided that it was cool enough in the morning (about 10) to walk along the trail loop and explore a section of the river that we had not seen before.  As we walked along, Laura photographed flowers and insects she encountered:

The trail from the bridge paralleled the river, and had a few cobbles and uneven sections that made me happy I had brought my walking stick, but the grade was easy as we walked along.  We passed turbulent rapids, and expected that to continue as the canyon closed and narrowed up-river--we mostly expected to see white-water views of the river, like the picture below:

However, we rounded a corner, began to hear faint voices, and a section of quiet, blue green water came into view:

On the opposite side of the river we could see a family playing near the water, which was very clear--we had found a local swimming hole, and the far side of the river had a long beach area.  Our side of the river was more rocky with small strips of sandy beach between large boulders.  But the area was inviting, and so we rolled up our long pants, and went wading.

The people on the opposite shore left, and for awhile we were alone at this lovely spot, then a family arrived, followed by another then another--all on the opposite side, where it looked like you could almost drive to the swimming hole.  The rock pictured below had a deep pool on one side below its highest point, and we watched as people jumped/dove off the rock into the deep green waters over and over.

Laura waded then climbed out on the rocks on our side--these are the same rocks that are behind Liz in the picture above where she is wading:

As Laura came down of the rocks, and began exploring on the inside edge, she slipped and went in--the only electronic items she carried were her car keys which she quickly dug out of her dripping pocket and I put into the sun to dry (they still worked later).  Luckily, she didn't have her iPhone in her pocket like she usually does.  The dip didn't bother her, and she actually waded out into waist deep water, because the water was not too cold, and the sun was so warm.  We saw a huge trout through the clear water, and lots of small six-inchers, and tons of little one inch and less fish everywhere.

I also photographed a bumble bee near the waters edge on some blackberry vines:

Laura hiked out to our car and came back with our picnic lunch, which we ate beside the river--and by the time she got back, people had come to our side of the river as well.  There are probably six separate large and deep/calm swimming holes along this stretch of river. By noon, when we left, I counted over fifty people (and a dozen dogs) in different little groups dotted along this section of the river.   It is an absolutely beautiful swimming place, but plan to visit on a weekday or if on a weekend come at 9:00 and be prepared to leave by 12:00 noon.

We returned to Grass Valley where Laura packed up and left for home.  Liz and I organized/gathered our gear so we could easily leave early on Monday--we heard it would be in the nineties in Stockton.

Empire Mine & Gardens

We started the day with a walk to the duck pond, where we saw several young goslings with their parents.  We had bread and crackers, and they came quite close, as you can see in this video.  I did not know I was taking a video (thinking I was snapping individual pictures) until part way through--thus the beautiful shots of the grass at my feet and the finger over the lens...

We next went to the Empire mine state Park, set on the beautiful grounds designed and built by the same family that built Filoli.  Although well known for its heirloom rose garden, there are many lovely garden areas on the grounds.

Laura and I were busily snapping pictures of bees and other pollinators, since I needed to re-stock my pictures for use with the non-profit North Coast Resource Conservation & Development Council that supports pollinator habitat, among other things.

These flying insects are difficult to capture because by the time I manage to focus on them, they fly to another flower.  

Along the way we encountered other wildlife, including this frog and lizard:

The grounds were lovely, and among the loveliest was this tree which was highly scented, and covered with delicate cascades of white blossoms:

 

We did not tour the mine area today but on a prior year we enjoyed a wonderful time on Mother's Day when docents were in costume and portrayed characters of the time.

Next Stop Grass Valley

We returned from Brannan Island to the Walnut ranch, dined out at Pietro's in Lodi, then the next day Liz and I could attended the Diamond Foods walnut growers lunch in Modesto.  Excellent lunch, interesting perspective on the company, and my observations are that the walnut growers need to start thinking of succession planning, a common issue for farmers across California.  The average age in the ballroom where the meeting/lunch was held was well over sixty.

Afterwards, we headed up to Laura's place in Cameron Park, dining out again on Italian food--delicious.  The next morning (Friday) we headed out toward Grass Valley, and the picture above is an overview of the campground at the Nevada County Fairgrounds.  Lots of tall pines ring the park, and are dotted throughout the area where RVs have hookups.  A small pond is on the west side of the area, filled with geese and ducks who fully expect you to carry bread.

Tomorrow we plan to visit the Empire Mine and gardens, which were built by the same family as Filoli.

On to Brannan Island

We left the ranch and headed 45 minutes down Highway 12 to Highway 160, and then Brannan Island State Park.  Our campsite is very nice, right on the edge of the San Joaquin River just before it joins the Sacramento.  Just behind our RV is the above view, which I can see from my sleeping compartment.

The czmpground is pretty, and we re-named the two camping loops from Cottonwood and Willow to Squirrel Loop (ours) and Jack Rabbit Loop (the next one) due to the abundance of those critters.  A nice paved walking trail wanders through the park, passing by the visitor center (closed), which had the display below:

The next day we went to Suisun and searched Grizzly Island for a sign of the Tule Elk.  Although we say several very wary ducks in the wetlands, we saw no sign of the Elk, who apparently hang out in the uplands, and the roads to the uplands were all closed off.  It seems Grizzly Island Preserve is more a hunting area, and less multiple use for hikers.  Below are the closest things we saw to Elk:

After leaving the Grizzly Island area, we headed into Fairfield to tour the Jelly Belly factory. 

There, I ran into Tom Honer from Mendocino (small world!) who was going to a meeting.  Jennifer and Tim Bosma were with him.  After the very interesting tour, Lizzie and I shopped in the store and bought way more than we needed, but fulfilled Laura's order for particular jelly beans. Afterwards, we lunched there, having jelly bean shaped hamburgers.  Too cute.

We took several side roads on the way back, including the one toward the Shiloh Church--very pretty and located where no other buildings could be seen.  It was past the Church that we actually encountered the burros pictured above, who were next to a field of goats.

Joining the Human Race

On May 11, I joined the Human Race in Santa Rosa to walk for my non-profit, the North Coast Resource Conservation & Development Council.  It was foggy at the start, and nice and cool for the timed runners who took off first before us walkers.  I then followed, and am so very grateful to my family and friends for all of their donations--I raised more than $1600 in my walk, the best I've ever done! I have LOTS of thank-you notes to write!!!

Foot-sore but tired, I returned to the Santa Rosa Fairgrounds where I had camped the prior night.  My rig was all ready to hook-up and leave for the walnut ranch, so that is just what I did.

At the ranch, I found Laura, Chris, Deidra, Lincoln, and Parker all visiting Liz, so we had a nice visit before Chris & Deidra and the boys had to leave to go back to Santa Rosa for Mother's Day--we also got the bad news that Lisa, Deidra's mother, had fallen off her bike at Zion and broke her leg!  They were returning to California where they hoped she would get more pain meds and a complete evaluation.

Laura stayed the rest of the weekend, and streamed a movie from her tablet to the TV; we watched Hitchcock and Argo--good films. 

The next day, for Mother's Day we took a drive into the Hills -- the Starbucks where I bought the little ceramic fish made by the developmentally disabled no longer sells them, but we learned they are based in Sonora and called Watch, so we found where we can get them online.

We pushed on to check out Moaning Cavern, and decided that the steps might strain my sore knee, so after talking with the caged big white bird (parrot family) there, we photographed this fellow who was waiting to go zip-lining down the canyon:

Then, we found the trailhead to natural bridges, and walked downhill to the stream at the bottom, and the cool little oasis down there.  It was very hot, and getting quite crowded, as we hiked up.  I really felt the heat, and became a bit dehydrated.  Laura was so sweet that she moved the car up and met me as I emerged at the trailhead--my cold ice team ready at hand.  What a champ!