Beacroft Trail

Wednesday's hike was a cautionary tale:  exploring can put you on a short hike that seems like an eternity.  Six of us in two cars started well past Foresthill with the intention of going down to the American River Canyon, along the river, and then up to where we parked the first car in a gorgeous campground.  All went well as we started along a well marked old miners trail in the Tahoe National Forest.  This section had burned severely in a 2008 fire so we hiked among starkly ghostlike trees with a moderate post-fire undergrowth. 

Coral Bells garden

 

lunch time

 The undergrowth grew rapidly denser as we descended the hill.  Pretty soon we were unable to see our feet so we had to shuffle slowly as fallen timbers and holes were well hidden.  The way was so steep (often more than a 20% grade!) that we had to let ourselves down by clinging to the plants.  We were thankful that the undergrowth was mostly California lilacs, most of which were well over my head.  The view of the canyon had disappeared as supple limbs clung to our legs and arms and slapped our faces in our descent.  Our hands were sooty from grabbing trees as well and soot was all over our clothing among lilac petals and pollen.  An added insult was that the trail had largely disappeared.  We had been following orange plastic tape tied occasionally to something at "eye level" but that required a periscope to peer out of the brush.  Anyway, the tape pieces were getting cooked in the sun and were falling apart or gone.  From others I could hear calls: "ribbon" or  "poison oak on left" or "lost trail"...these calls became more frequent as we got lower and the poison oak was becoming more prevalent along with the blackberry and thistles tearing at our legs.  Unfortunately I had to add "camera gone" to the calls.  Frank and John emerged from the brush to help me find it back along the "trail".  Even staring down, we couldn't see it until John stepped on it.   Finally we decided to come together for a meeting.  This took some doing but we had had it...we called "uncle" and turned around.  It was 2 PM and we still had not found a decent place for lunch.  At last we found a log we could sit along.



best view of canyon


The return trek was arduous as we once again tried to regain our trail pushing through the steep brushy hill with it's fallen logs.  We pulled ourselves up with those lilacs.  Sweet smell but the immersion was a bit too much. 

 

Next week 3 of our six can't make it so we might be hiking with the 9 o'clock group.

 

 

 





The Rock Lakes

deep greens of early Spring

There were only two of us available from the 8:30 group.  We went up to Loney Meadow, hoping for flowers.  But the show is just beginniing as we were a few weeks early.  Some early ones were around:  Larkspur, Bleeding Heart, a few Lupine, Sierra Lewisia.  We hiked around the meadow and then up to the Rock Lakes.

Loney Meadow in many shades of green

 After eating lunch on the ridge between them, we explored the Upper Rock dam and stream/falls down toward Lower Rock Lake.  There was almost no snow at that elevation although some patches were at the higher elevations around us. Stickseed, Penstemon, and Phlox were in bloom in the high country.   It looked like an interesting hike might be to cross-country up to the mountain on the other side of the streams and then down to Culbertson Lake and Lindsey Lake, taking a forest road back to the Loney Meadow cabin remains.  It appears that the mountain has no name, which I doubt, but the name wasn't on the map.

We had hiked 10 miles with a good elevation gain.

Not much snow

Hopefully there will be hikers around for the 8:30 group next week. 






future exploration?



colder,wetter weather was closing in



Heavy pollen year

Dam at Upper Rock

Tribute Trail

Only three of us from the 8:30 group dared the weather but hiked locally this morning.  We were wondering if the 9 o'clock group went.   We did the Tribute Trail behind Nevada City which adds up to close to 9 easy miles.  There were some flowers (bladderwort, a purple aster,delphinium) and birds.  Most important, it didn't rain and we even sat on a damp bench for our picnic lunch. 

Second and Third Divides

lunch spot by Pauley Creeek

Seemed cold and windy at hike start
 

The 8:30 explorer group took its first hike of the season this week.  Following Frank's directions but without Frank (eye problems), we headed to Empire Ranch out of Downieville.  From there we hiked by Lavazolla Creek up third divide trail and over to the junction with second divide trail and on to Butcher Ranch trail, which follows Pauley Creek.  All the creeks were running fast, probably due to the warm weather melting what snow there is in the higher country.  Alder and dogwood were in their fresh spring stage, bathing the landscape in early green glow.  They were set off by the dark green of the giant fir, pine, and cedar trees.  Rushing creek water and distant rocky mountains completed the view.  It was a magical combination and we didn't want to turn around. 

OMG falls

Upstream from lunch site

The trail was quite steep in sections which was mostly up hill on the trip out and downhill on the return.  The elevation gain was about 3500 feet and we hiked about 14 miles.  These numbers were recalculated by Frank when he traced our route on the National Geographic map.  Our GPS's showed 13 miles and 3 thousand feet elevation gain.  This is the trail that the mountain bikers use in the summer.  They are bussed up the mountain from Downieville and careen down the trail to town.  Must be fun but we were sure glad that we didn't see any.  The only other people we saw were wildlife biologists heading in at dusk to check on owl and goshawk territories.  The woman even demonstrated the great gray owl call for us...sounded great and eery.



green rivulets joined trail down steep cliffs

found these characters still waiting

At the top of the trail there was a large, well-appointed campsite by the creek.  We looked downstream and realized the creek flowed quickly over a precipice.  Excited, we scrambled through downed logs and over steep rocks to place ourselves where we could see what we had guessed from the sounds we had heard on the way up.  Sure enough, we were treated to a spectacular set of waterfalls.  Since we couldn't stop saying, "oh my god", we named the falls OMG Falls.  We probably hit it on one of the best days.


mammoth tree

 It was a long hike and we didn't return until quite late, necessitating eating dinner on the way home. Guess we better remember to pack flashlights.  Remember, if you want to hike with us, we are an explorer group and don't necessarily stick to the announced itinerary.  We are often not familiar with the territory and quite happy to return to town at dusk.



confluence Butcher Ranch Creek and Pauley Creek

where does this creek go??

Next week we are thinking to going to Loney Meadow and over Banner Mountain on the way to upper Rock Lake.  We will be off trail part of the time.

Upper OMG falls





heading to precipice





OMG falls