Loney, Bowman, Rocks

Six of us hiked over 9 miles with a 1300 ft elevation gain to see what the condition of the snow, flowers, and lakes were. There were a few flowers: Bitter Root, wallflower, snow flower, lupine, phlox.  The corn lilies were about a foot high so Loney can wait another few weeks. We encountered no large snow banks. Although the Rock Lakes were full, Bowman was not. The weather was perfect and we ate lunch at our favorite seasonal lake below Bowman Mountain.   Some pictures are from Peter. 

Lunch lake

Lunch lake with Rondo. 

Snow play with Japanese visitor

Upper Rock Lake

Bitter Root 

Around Bowman Trail pix. 

Fall Creek Mountain. 

Pioneer Trail from Langs Crossing to Lake Spaulding

first sign of clouds

With many from the 8:30 group heading off to vacations, just two of us hiked today.  Thunderstorms were predicted so we didn't go too high and made a short hike.  Parking at Lang's Crossing, we headed up the Pioneer Trail.  We were entranced with the quality of the trail and felt like we had never been on it before.  That was only partly true as a few years ago we had started up and were turned around by the stream that was too high to cross.  This time we got to Spaulding just as the thunder started rumbling in the distance.  We ate a quick lunch and headed back down the trail.  6.5 miles with a 1400 ft. elevation gain. 

Driving home, we stopped at the Omega view point and took the 1/4 mile trail to view the diggings and the mountains beyond.  The clouds were low and dark but we could still see a great distance, to the Mendocino Mountains and the Sierra Buttes.  A large migrating geese flock was wheeling and turning as it headed up the Yuba River.  It didn't look like they were going to go high due to the storm.  I wonder where they rested. 

Harlequin lupine

On the way home we stopped at the Rock Creek Nature Trail for a lovely green one mile walk.  It sure didn't feel like California - lush green, dogwoods in bloom, birds singing.

Flowers in bloom:

dogwoods
naked star tulips
harlequin lupine
phlox
Douglas' violet
paintbrush
delphinium
pussy paws




Naked star tulip



A meadow, still green

Dogwood

Mule's ears



This is the stream which was in flood last time we tried to hike this trail

and then I had to roll under



Spaulding with storms brewing



Rock Creek Nature Trail

Canyon Creek in the American River watershed

Readers - the blog software I use seems barely compatible with my photos from the iPhone.  After losing all the camping information blog by going back and forth from an Apple platform to an IBM platform, my work disappeared.   Disgusted, I turned to Facebook and posted last week's hike there.  But I was completely dissatisfied with that interface so have returned to this one with a brief description of that hike.  Also I have re-written 3 blog postings about the campout.

Last Wednesday the 8:30 group decided to give the plank hike another go.  As usual we hiked over and between many hills of tailings.  The one distinctive feature is a large drain tunnel that even has a piece of petrified wood in it's ceiling.  As we neared Canyon Creek, we were fighting our way through poison oak which was overly-enthusiastic it's reach into and cross the "trail".  We persisted on, arriving at the notorious plank midday.  There, we ate lunch on some rocks by Canyon Creek.  As the water was pretty low, we devised a couple of new crossings, only to arrive on the other side and fighting poison oak once more.  We descended steeply down the creek towards the American River.  But we didn't get very far before the trail disappeared.  Also the rocks were crumbling  in places as we stepped.  So once again we retreated from this goal of great waterfalls, probably not to try that one again.  We had hiked about 7.5 miles with a 1200 ft elevation gain.  We did see some waterfalls and we heard even more.

San Simeon State Park

We left the Pinnacles and drove to Hearst San Simeon State Park.  They assign the campsites there and we were delighted to be placed next to each other on the lower loop.  We discovered it was a short walk to the beach which we took several times.  In the evening bats flew out from under the Highway One bridge while water birds dabbled in the slough getting their last tidbits for the night. 

The next day we drove up to San Simeon parking lot to catch one of the first buses to the castle.  Julia Morgan was the architect and Hearst was the money bags with an enthusiastic taste for Europe that left an ornate but tasteful complex.  It is amazingly popular as a Hollywood gawker attraction and soon the crowds of tour groups were overwhelming.  We were done with the gardens and sculptures and rode the bus back down the hill and returned to the campground for lunch.  We were then ready for a hike so we drove up to a parking lot billed as Elephant Seal Boardwalk.  Untold numbers of these large creatures - mostly females and young - were coating the beaches as far you could see.  The public was held back by a cyclone fence along the bluff.  I doubt that anyone would want to go down on the beach but I can remember back before Ana Nuevo was cordoned off as a State Park, that we would wander out on the beach and you could decide how close you were comfortable with.  Yes, people were killed as they tried to carve their initials on the sleeping behemoths.  We headed north along the coast, first on a boardwalk and then on a bluff hike all the way to the Piedras Blancas lighthouse.  Unfortunately it is closed except for weekly tours.  After returning to the campground we went on another beach stroll after supper and while exploring in the waning light, found an ailing sea lion on the beach. 

F&E drove home the next day so we started the day by going back to check on the sea lion.  It wasn't there but there was an amazing display of swallows going in and out of a hole on a large, guano-covered rock in the water. Then we found another beached, emaciated sea lion.  After poking around we walked south towards Cambria, passing a dead sea lion.  The theory is that these poor sea lions are not finding enough food in the warming ocean.  During the walk, we found a ranger who facilitated our calling Marine Mammal Center, a Morro Bay satellite of the Sausalito one.  They took down my information and we went back on our walk.  After lunch in Cambria, we headed back north on the beach and headlands, depending on the higher tide.  I noted some tire tracks of a small vehicle that seemed to go out from our campground area.  It went up to where I expected to find the sick sea lion.  Hopefully they picked up the still alive animal and it is in rehabilitation somewhere. 

Pinnacles National Park



I had read about the Pinnacles' High Peaks Trail in Backpacker Magazine and we were eager to try it.  On Wednesday we packed our lunches and headed to one of the two road ends.  We passed the caves, figuring we could do those later and headed up.  Towards the top, the scenery started getting quite spectacular.  The trail itself wandered up and down and around the rock extrusions.  Sometimes there were steps that had been blasted steeply into rock faces.  Sometimes  there were only toeholds and a firm rail to hang onto.  This amazing trail was built in the 30's by the CCC.  

Sharing a site

After returning to the car we went back up the trail a bit to do the caves hike.  These were talus caves and you definitely needed a flashlight.  Because its bat breeding season, parts of them are sealed off.  The trail is well marked but sometimes requires crawling a short distance. 

The next day we went to the other road end.  That trail is fairly level for a couple of miles, following Chalone Creek, with its carpets of wildflowers.  It then narrows dramatically and takes you through caves before continuing to a parking lot on the west side of the park.  From there, you turn and hike back up to the High Peaks Trail and down a long descent to where we left the car. 

Both days were long so we missed going to the Nature Center to learn the history of the park.  Pinnacles Campground is charming and was quite full.  There is a store, a swimming pool(!), and mounted high powered binoculars in a bird viewing area.  Our campsite was right next to that area and I did get to see a pair of condors (which is what everyone was looking for).   


Mariposa Lily (different variety from what we see in the Sierra)

Pinnacles Prelude

The first day of our trip, a freak snowstorm hit just as we were packing to go.  Our camper slid down our steep driveway, even going off the road.  Our hearts in our throats, we decided to postpone our trip until the predicted warmth, scheduled for the afternoon.  This Pinnacles trip seemed cursed already as originally there were to be 4 groups, a total of 7 of us.  We reserved a group spot only to find out it was for tents only.  So we forfeited the reservations and 2 couples decided to go with no reservations.  Little did we know that it was the Spring Break for Bay Area and LA schools  We were happy to see inclement weather predicted, figuring that it would cut the crowds.  Luckily the other couple got out in time and made it to the campground well before us.  They had  chosen a lovely site that we could share.

Camper waits in meadow for snow to melt from roads

Waiting...waiting

Drove through dramatic weather
 

Arctic Mine

Seven of us parked at Gold Quartz picnic area to admire the Yuba's beautiful green water and colorful rock face that plunges into the fairly still water. Will there be enough water there for swimming this summer?  Then we headed up the dirt road to the Arctic Mine ruins. As usual it was a bit tricky to cross the boulders in Canyon Creek. 

Pictures from Peter. 

From Frank we hiked 7.5 miles. More hikes are mapped here suggesting some exploring in our future.  Hobbit house was mentioned by the quad guy.  

Gold Quartz

Powerhouse at Arctic Mine

Inside powerhouse 

Brown bells?

Local color

His big, male pit bull was chewing up a large branch.