Chapman Creek Campgrounds and Trail

Yet another adventure off Highway 49, this time near the middle of October. We went passed Bassett's this time, continuing along the river for another twenty minutes or so till we reached Chapman Creek Campground. A clean, sheltered campsite that probably sees a lot more visitors during the warmer summer months. We arrived around ten AM and found the place empty, parking in a vacant site near the trailhead, which is located near the back of the grounds.

Much of the trail is similar in appearance to the above, winding one and a half miles up into the mountains beyond the campsite till it connects with a service road. It was already much colder there then we expected, and gloves would have been appreciated. The trial climbed off and on, a bit more grueling then other's ratings of "easy" had lead us to believe, I'd say it's moderately challenging, at least on the way in, while the way out is mostly downhill and much easier.

The High Sierra's had seen a bit more precipitation then we had in the valley, so mushrooms and fungus were beginning to appear here and there, especially around where the trail crossed the creek bed, which happened several times.

The creek itself was mostly overgrown, the trail moving above and alongside it, occasionally dipping down to cross over stones or small bridges

Continuing along the path we found two instances of Snow Flowers or Sarcodes, deciding to pop up in Autumn instead of Spring like we're used to. These wonderful members of the heath family attach mycelium to tree roots, gaining nutrients from the tree and in turn protecting the plant from pathogens will supplying minerals and water.

Further up the trail we went, feeling as though we had already gone three miles, the last stretch was the hardest, dipping down a short distance before climbing up and around the side of a hill till we reached the top. But it was worth it, as we found ourselves in a small, grassy clearing, Chapman Creek running cold and clear through it's center. Tired, we settled on a fallen log to watch the creek and it's baby rainbow trout. It was rather magical, settling into this place that few people probably visit. As we watched, several birds settled into the small trees around us, picking at the last seed pods and leaves.

We were tired, but curious how much further we had left, so after a short break we trekked on, finding ourselves only moments away from the end of the trail, where it empties out into a well used looking service road.

Back to the car we went, finding the trip out much easier and faster. No one had appeared in the campsite while we were away, so we used it's facilities and headed back down forty-nine.

Inclement weather has actually happened now, and with more snow in the forecast (Hooray) our trips up north may be limited, but Autumn is in full swing in the lower elevations and with a few more days of rain ahead of us, we'll hopefully be heading out for mushroom trips soon. We gave it a shot yesterday, but found almost nothing for our efforts. 

We're also planning a couple trips to the coast soon, a day trip later this month and another couple days in December/January. We'll be visiting our favorite place, Fort Bragg, California, and let me tell you, I am ready. 

The Sardine Lakes and The Sand Pond

Back into the mountains again, this time with considerably less traffic and incredible wind gusts. Our first stop was a return to the Sardine Lakes, where before we had been greeted by a confusion of cars and wandering families, we now saw only a few hikers. Though on the way out a intrepid older gentlemen greeted us with a "Roads rougher then I remember," as he trundled his way up the path in his truck. Apparently this is permitted, but I cannot recommend it, not only is it extremely narrow, but there are parts that are torn apart by the waters coming downhill, huge half buried rocks followed immediately by huge dips in the grounds. Also doing this kicks up dust for your fellow adventures and scares away any wildlife, take the walk, I say, it's good for you.

The hike can take you six miles up into the Buttes and is mostly uphill, though not steep. We're in relatively good shape so we were not tired by the time we reached Upper Sardine, but as we returned we encouraged a lagging couple whose wife was threatening to turn around, so I suppose if you aren't used to walking this would be a challenge. But we've hiked worse, and want to return to continue the climb up into the mountains, where, on Google Earth,  you can spy Young America Lake nestled in the mountainside.

Lower Sardine Lake, and a view of the Buttes.

September can be windy in California, and today was particularly fierce, with gusts at about twenty-five miles per hour, sometimes fiercer, pushing bodily at me and attempting to lift my tripod. We soldiered on, passing a few others making their way down the mountain.

The sound of tumbling water distracted us, and we found a clear, cool stream bubbling up from the mountainside below the path. The water practically glittered as the early afternoon sun filtered through the leaves, and I contorted myself into interesting shapes so that I could crouch my way into it's tiny path.

We reached Upper Sardine somewhere between half and hour and forty five minutes (with plenty of stops for picture) and found it empty, the winds scouring the basin it sat in. It was rocky and sparse, but the sight of the buttes disappearing into the lake was breathtaking. 

We stayed there for as long as it took for the next people to show up (which was awhile), taking pictures and testing to see just how cold the water was (very). 

Then back down the hillside we went, startling a flock of quail and looking forward to be amidst the sheltering forest once more.

Steller Jays are rarely shy, and are more interested in screaming at you angrily while you walk passed their trees. This one was busy foraging for pine nuts and gave us quiet the little show.

Onward we went, back down the hillside to return to the Sand Ponder Interpretive trail while we waited for Golden Hour to draw near. It was quiet now, no groups of screaming children or shouting fathers, and the light was becoming softer by the minute.

There's a .8 mile loop that you can walk, although we have yet to complete it. We had turned right and taken a path on the southern end of the pond before, which dead ended a few minutes walk down it. This time we turned left and it took us into the woodlands around the pond.

The ferns were all golden in the sunlight, and a small stream wound by to feed into the pond. Some wildflowers still blossomed, and while we didn't see any chipmunks on this particular trail, the forest was alive with the sound of them, scalding each other and hiding their caches for winter.

We continued this way for a little while before deciding the light was getting low enough for us to head over to the Aspen meadow, as we referred to it. I don't believe the area has any official name, and there's no trails out to it, just an old dirt road which you bump along until you can see the trees to you right. That is another set of photos that would make this post very long, so I'll wrap it up and my  next post will be about our windy adventures there. See you then!

Saying Goodbye to Summer

It's been awhile, between work on my novel, keeping up with my photography, and repeatedly subjecting myself to the restaurant industry, any free time I had was swept up trying to maintain personal relations. Spring and summer flew by in a blur, and with the first rains of the season last night, serious hiking weather is almost upon us. We've made many trips since my last post, and I'd like to share the highlights from those.

We started at Sand Pond Interpretive trail, off the Gold Lakes Highway, a quick little loop that we did not explore much due to the masses of children on one side. As we were there in July, many campers and tourists were there as well, but that didn't stop us from spotting this squirrel having at his pine cone, or some of the boldest frogs I've ever met.

From there, we continued our quest for a quiet adventure, stopping at Snag Lake to take in the sights and see how cold the water was.

The water was cold, too cold for me to be sure, although not everybody.

Finding little to keep us occupied here, we clambered back into the car and headed towards Big Bear and Little Bear lakes, for they have never disappointed us.

Clouds rolled in while we hiked the mile or so out towards towards Big Bear, where we were pleased to find only a few families, and only one child, whose splashes and yells echoed in a lonely way across the lake. A few drops of rain fell as we settled down to take in the view, relaxing upon boulders on the far side of the lake, watching fish snatch at hovering insects.

The hike out was easy and uneventful, possibly because of other hikers who didn't see a need to remain quiet in the woods. The Man and I agreed that it would best if we avoided the mountains during summer vacation. Despite the crowds, the time of year is beautiful, marked by summer showers and an abundance of wild flowers where lower elevations have lost theirs. 

We were also lucky enough to spot a rather grumpy looking Pacific Fisher, turning away from the freeway to trudge back into the woods, and although I didn't have time to grab my camera, I felt very blessed to see one. They are endangered, and it's been a struggle gaining protection for them. And of course, it wouldn't be a ride up into the mountains without at least one chipmunk sighting.

Well there you have it, a new post. There will probably be a flurry of activity before things settle down again, I'd like to make a post every Thursday, and hopefully time will allow. I'd like to begin work on a series inspired by the novel I'm working on, a fantasy adventure inspired by the Californian terrain. I'm also working with Sammie's Friends, a local non profit that provided animal rescue and services to our community. There may be some shelter cat posts, celebrating their new cat house and program. 

Hope you enjoyed! See you soon!

Empire Mine- Penn Gate Trail

This time around my husband and I took a hike very close to home, Penn Gate is located on East Empire Street and is a very popular shared trail for hikers, bikers, runners and horse back riders. There hasn't been a time we've been there alone, but everyone is very pleasant and there's usually some friendly canines to meet as well.

Things are a little dry and dusty up at the staging area but about a half a mile in or so you climb a hill then descend back down into cool, shaded forests.

The trails here are especially pretty in the fall, plenty of bright yellow foliage to contrast with dark tree limbs and green pines. And today was an especially nice day, after some surprisingly chilly ones.

The Man and I were here for a specific reason, mushroom hunting. We'd found a place off the beaten path earlier this year that had yielded some awesome variety, and with the rains last week we were eager to see what had bloomed since.

While the place had hoped to find riddled with fungus proved less then fruitful, the forest itself was literately covered with tiny mushrooms. I can't claim to know much about the names of the different types I'm showing here, but I'll do my best with Google to find out what they're called.

Bird Nest Fungus

Spiny Puffball

It's been about a week since it rained, but the mornings have been frosty and wet, and the forest was still surprisingly damp. We went towards the back of the park and explored what were probably game trails, getting scratched up by blackberries. But everywhere we looked were mushrooms, on the path, off the path, in the trees, under trees.

These little guys are from the mycena family (we believe) and were obviously enacting some hostile take over of the entire forest. There were areas where it was tricky to walk because there were so many underfoot. We trekked through the woods, exploring the creek bed and taking game trails here and there to see what we could see.

The weather was absolutely perfect, I think mid-fall and spring are the best times to visit Empire Mine, we found a couple seasonal stream beds that are probably gorgeous when there's actually water around. Not mush else to say about this hike, we were out and back in about two hours and saw multiple types of mushroom and fungus, too many to show here without turning this into nothing but a image post, but here are a few more I just had to share, because there are awesome.

We've got a full week ahead with family obligations and the like, though I'm hoping to squeeze in a trip to Gateway Park in Penn Valley and one more hike before Thanksgiving. The Man and I have a tradition of going on hikes after any major holiday spent with family, and Turkey Day may very well see us down at Bridgeport looking for Bald Eagles. Otherwise the next hike will most likely be Independence Trail or Upper Humbug, before the snows move in.

Frazier Falls

Back up to the mountains we go, once again with a gorgeous drive ahead of us. It had rained heavily the day before but we were not expecting much by way of mist or clouds, nevertheless about twenty minutes past North San Juan we were greeted by lowing hanging clouds that the morning sun had not chased away yet.

I'm guessing there's salmon and/or trout in this part of the Yuba because there were fly fishers all along this stretch of river. It took us an extra half an hour to get to our destination because we kept having to pull over and freak out over how beautiful everything was. Honestly, we grew up here- but it never gets old.

This is probably my favorite picture I've ever taken. When I saw this spot from the car I think I yelled and scared The Man quite a bit, but then he saw what I was yelling about and all was forgiven.

Frazier Falls is a handicap accessible trail in the Lakes Basic Recreation area, you can see the signs for it about eight or nine miles down the Gold Lake Highway. The road to it looks paved but almost immediately because gravel. The Accord we were in didn't have any problem really, although there were some pretty sizable puddles and potholes, they were easily avoided. You might not want to come out here in a sports car, but most other vehicles should be fine.

About a mile and a half down the road you get to the staging area. Which is paved... not the road, but this area is. Also, bathrooms- though there just holes in the ground, no running water. They were clean and didn't' smell, so no complaints here. Also some picnic tables and a few BBQ pits, though they looked like they hadn't been used since the late eighties.

This is the view you get just walking a hundred feet or so away from the parking lot, seriously. 

The trail is narrow, but well maintained. It looks like maintenance came in pretty recently.  There is almost no incline here, simply a twisting little path that takes you past amazing rocks and trees to a viewing platform across from the falls.

The falls were not very full at all, for obvious reasons, but we didn't mind. We're usually just happy to be out in the world, with the chipmunks and birds.

The falls from the viewing platform, and an awesome game to play while you're looking. You can see where we'll be standing from here. Those big flat rocks were too inviting to not explore. So back we went to take a look at the top of the falls, and little did we know, we were also about to complete a twenty year quest The Man had unknowingly embarked on as a wee lad.

Getting to the rocks was easy peasy and once there we found plenty of little pools to explore, you can walk right out to where the creek feeds into the falls.

So we got to the top of the falls and The Man stopped and stared, he admitted while he had never mentioned this to me, he had been thinking about this place off and on for some twenty years, wondering where it was and how to get back. And here we were, completely on accident. Level up!

We spent some time here, lying on the sun warmed rocks and exploring the creek, but we were starting to get hungry, so we made our way back to the car for a snack.

When we were driving out to the trail I'd noticed a stand of aspen off to our right, so we drove back to that, parked on the side of the road and wandered out to it. What we found is probably one of my new favorite places to be. A beautiful golden meadow surrounded by tall, ghostly aspen. Sadly they had already lost most of their leaves, but it was still a magical place.

There were also large, old birdhouses scattered among the trunks of the aspen. I'm guessing they are or were homes to owls of some kind, as this field seems like a perfect hunting ground. We spent a long time wandering the edges of the field. On one section of the aspen, people had carved their names and the year. One of the oldest ones (that we could make out) was from back in '81. But no one had been carving names there for some time, over a decade now, which is nice. While I liked seeing the old names and dates, I'm not a big fan of hurting trees.

At this point I was tired, I mean bone tired. But The Man had an interest in continuing, so we made our way back to the Bear Loop Trail. We trekked out to the first lake, and found out why we were really there. We approached the third intersection and were greeted by two ladies who were lost, lucky for them we had parked next to their vehicle at the staging area and were able to get them back in the right direction. If you're going to be hiking Bear Loop I cannot recommend enough getting on Google Earth and giving yourself a good mental map of the area. There are many, many side paths people have made while exploring, and if you don't have a good sense of direction, you can very easily get turned around.  Also, there is zero cell reception up there, so don't plan on relying on that.

Two miles out and I was beyond tired, so we took a short rest and talked with some chipmunks before we started our journey back.

All in all, great hike, Though we well certainly be returning in May for the snow melt and fields full of green. The next couple of hikes are going to be closer to home, I think. Those damn curvy mountain roads really take it out of me. 

Anyway, hope you enjoyed. This weeks adventures involve me taking my not quite two year old nephew to a local farm for apple picking and the pumpkin patch. Wish me luck!