Wanderlust

30 Years Ago This Month

cholmaneee@uia.net (Cyndi) — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 04:15:00 +0000

That's me on the left in the green vest, with two friends. We're just below Sierra Blanca ski resort (nowadays it's called Ski Apache) in New Mexico.

Forgotten Summer Post - North Lake and South Lake (Bishop Creek)

cholmaneee@uia.net (Cyndi) — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 04:06:00 +0000

I just discovered these still in my iPhoto files - I never put them on my blog.

After we left Crescent City, we had two long days of driving in order to make our way back across California. The first day, we had to go northeast back into Oregon - to Grants Pass - where we picked up the Interstate and came south to Redding. At Redding we went east to the Shingleton-Lassen KOA for one night, and then to the RV park at Topaz Lodge for another. Our next long-term stop was Parcher's Resort, on Bishop Creek just below South Lake. It's a very small campground, and we barely fit it. Don had a great week fishing Bishop Creek, North Lake and South Lake. We went to Lake Sabrina, but just to see what it looked like. It was a bit crowded that day and he preferred the other two.

South Lake

North Lake

Don fishing on North Lake

Crescent City-Redwoods KOA

cholmaneee@uia.net (Cyndi) — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 17:48:00 +0000

This was truly one of the nicest campgrounds we've ever been to. And we've been to a lot! We had a LARGE pull-through next to a Redwood. What is enchanting about this park is the grove - if you look behind our satellite dome you can see an area of "dark." That's one of the entrances to the grove. The campground has dozens of sites in a grove of Redwoods. We walked through it a couple of times, and I found it to be so beautiful in there. During the daytime it's like being in a cave (but a little lighter) and it's probably 15˚ cooler. The sites in the grove are mostly tent sites, but there are a few W/E.

(above 2 images borrowed from google)

Agness, Oregon - on the Rogue River

cholmaneee@uia.net (Cyndi) — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 17:18:00 +0000

When I was teaching at Yucaipa Junior High, I worked with a wonderful PE and Ed for Living teacher named Barb Holdorff. She retired about 5 years ago, and with her husband Harry, bought Agness RV Park on the Rogue River in Oregon. We planned our trip to make sure we spent a few days there. It's a beautiful park, 30+ miles up the Rogue from the coast, with huge sites, well-manicured grounds, and very clean, well-maintained facilities. We had a wonderful visit with Barb and Harry, and made friends with Hans and Sheryl in the next site.

While these two pictures look almost identical, the above one is looking downstream, and the one below is looking upstream from the bridge near the park.

One day Hans and Don decided to kayak-fish, so Sheryl and I drove them upriver about 9 miles.

Here are Hans and Don taking one of the rubber kayaks to the launching site. They took about 3 hours to get back to the RV park, and Don described his first experience as frightening but fun. He said he almost fell out several times, but managed to stay in. He also said that while the rapids may have looked mild from above, they looked huge when he was actually in them.

While the men were on the river, Sheryl and I went to the town of Agness - across the river from the RV park but a 6-mile drive upriver, across a bridge, and downriver again. Agness has a post office, two lodges, a grocery-gift store, and a landing strip. The photo above is of the overalls hanging on the line outside Lucas Lodge. Sheryl says they've been there a long time and are a little symbol of the lodge.

The airstrip looks like a field. Wait. It IS a field. If you look really close at the center of the picture, you can see one of the bridges across the Rogue - so planes coming in have to fly over the bridge to line up to land. There's also a road THROUGH the airstrip - I was standing in the middle of the airstrip on the road when I took the photo. There's a set of photos and newspapers in the Old Agness Store of an incident a few decades ago when an airplane collided with a car on that road.

I should have taken pictures of everyone. I forgot! But we had a great 4 days with them, including a dinner our last night where Barb cooked a turkey for the 6 of us. We've made some new friends in Hans and Sheryl, and hope to keep in touch.

Metolius River, Oregon

cholmaneee@uia.net (Cyndi) — Sat, 18 Jul 2009 22:50:00 +0000

About 3 miles from our campground in Camp Sherman, the Metolius flows out of the base of Black Butte.

("Down this path a full-sized river, the Metolius, flows ice cold from huge springs. The springs appear to originate from beneath Black Butte. However, geologists say this is misleading and believe the springs have thier origin in the Cascade Mountains to the West. The unusual fault which created Green Ridge is thought to have brought the springs to the surface, thus releasing the beautiful Melolius River. The land adjacent to the historic springs was donated to the U.S. Forest Servce by Sam and Becky Johnson for the development of the scenic viewpoint.")

The water seems to flow right out of the side of the mountain.

You can barely see Mount Jefferson to the northwest.

Crater Lake National Park, Oregon

cholmaneee@uia.net (Cyndi) — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 23:16:00 +0000

These photos are taken in order from the north entrance, going clockwise around the crater's rim.

Diamond Lake, Oregon

cholmaneee@uia.net (Cyndi) — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 23:06:00 +0000

This is my current stop - we were able to get into the RV campground here, so I have hookups and electricity for the sewing machine, air conditioner, and TV. Yeah, we're really roughing it. But the lake is beautiful, the fishing is so-so, and the weather is lovely. That's Mount Bailey on the other side of the lake.

Upper Klamath Lake, Oregon

cholmaneee@uia.net (Cyndi) — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 22:43:00 +0000

Rocky Point Resort is on the northwest corner of Upper Klamath Lake - we found it after looking in Trailer Life for an alternative to Eagle Lake. Don wanted to skip Eagle Lake after hearing about the poor fishing and hot weather there. We got lucky - this is a place we would come back to again and again. Not only was it a nice place (a bit rustic, but that's fine with us), the fishing was magnificent and there's a quilt shop only a mile away! Our campsite, number 14, was only 15 feet from the water. Yes, that meant we had to deal with mosquitos, but that's been a constant this trip.

For the 6 days we were here, Don spent most of each of them out here in his float tube. Most evenings he fished until dark. The first night, he caught at 6-pound rainbow - but topped that a few nights later with a 10-pounder. We learned they were common in this lake, but for Don, it was something extraordinary.

Haven Lake and Sierra Buttes

cholmaneee@uia.net (Cyndi) — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 02:30:00 +0000

Our next stop, for 6 nights, was Clio's River's Edge in the little town of Clio at the northern end of the Sierras. If you've never heard of it, it's near Graeagle, and fairly close to Portola and Quincy. The river that the campground is near is the Middle Fork of the Feather River. However, the river has been channelized here, so it looks more like a canal. We did find a 2-mile stretch near Portola that was great fishing, and spent one day there. Another day we drove up to the Lakes Basin, where I took the above picture of Haven Lake with the Sierra Buttes behind it. The Pacific Crest Trail goes right by these buttes. There are 10 or so lakes up in the basin, the largest of which is Gold Lake. Don spent two days on his float tube here. I found a quilt shop in Portola - and went there twice, of course.

Bridgeport, California

cholmaneee@uia.net (Cyndi) — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 22:20:00 +0000

Our next stop, for 3 days, was Paradise Shores RV Park on Bridgeport Reservoir. It's a fairly small park, but we love it and will definitely go back. Our campsite was in the corner, with our own little lawn and view of the lake. The owners are so friendly - we were helped into our site, given some extra blocks for levelling, and invited to the Fathers' Day breakfast. I want to say something about the bathrooms - not only were they sparkling clean, but they had these little extra touches that just made them special: red liquid soap dispensers, a rack in the shower for shampoo, razor, soap, and such, and floor mats that didn't hurt your feet. (Fellow RV'ers will know what I mean!) We stopped here mainly to do laundry and let Don fish the East Walker River. He did, and had a fabulous time, catching many fish (and putting them all back).

The morning we hooked up to leave, this was the view to the south over Twin Lakes basin.

Mono Lake

cholmaneee@uia.net (Cyndi) — Sun, 21 Jun 2009 00:04:00 +0000

Because we had time to "waste" before we could check into our campsite in Bridgeport, we decided to stop at the Mono Lake Visitor Center. We are so glad we did! We learned so much from the interesting displays, watched a fascinating 20-minute video, and did a little walking around on the nature trail.

Devil's Postpile National Monument

cholmaneee@uia.net (Cyndi) — Sat, 20 Jun 2009 23:46:00 +0000

To get to Devil's Postpile, you have park your car at Mammoth Mountain Lodge and catch the mandatory shuttle bus over Minaret Crest and down into the valley of the Middle Fork of the San Joaquin River. Several of the stops take you to trailheads or lakes, but we took the one at Devil's Postpile.

Back in 1990, we visited this monument, but I only took a couple of pictures of the kids. This time we even took the hike to the top. Geological features like this fascinate me - here, the lava cooled into hexagon-shaped columns, some of which bent and twisted as below.

Along the trail to the top is a slanted outcropping of the columns - they just stick out of the hillside.

The trail from the bus stop to the wall of columns goes along the San Joaquin River - and since we're on the west side of Minaret Crest (the Pacific Crest), this river flows south and then west into the Pacific Ocean.

Across the river was this enormous granite dome.

At another outcropping, one column had broken off neatly. See the hexagon shape?

At the top you can see where glaciers sheared off the tops of the columns, clearly showing their hexagonal shape.

The things you see in nature! This is the root system of a fallen tree along the trail.

Earthquake Fault (Fissure) near Mammoth Lakes

cholmaneee@uia.net (Cyndi) — Sat, 20 Jun 2009 23:31:00 +0000

The town of Mammoth Lakes is located within an ancient caldera, and signs of volcanic activity are everywhere - cinder cones, lava flows, hot springs, tuff, pumice, ryolite, and constant earthquake activity. On Minaret Road there's even a good-sized fissure in the earth. Geologists argue as to whether it's a fault or just a fissure - but either way, it's interesting to look at.

I thought this old snag looked pretty cool!

Hello again, Sierras!

cholmaneee@uia.net (Cyndi) — Sat, 20 Jun 2009 23:21:00 +0000

This was the view from our campsite at Oh! Ridge Campground on June Lake. This is one of our favorite places, because of the unlimited fishing possibilities, the views, and the nice spacious campground. We stayed here for 7 nights, and I'm now typing this from an RV park in Bridgeport (because now I have electricity and WiFi).

One of our day trips was up Tioga Pass towards Yosemite, where we intended to go to Saddlebag Lake. Once we got up there, though, we discovered that the road to the lake was closed because the lake is still frozen over. The creek here was not, so Don was able to put on his waders and go try a 2-mile stretch of it that runs between Saddlebag and Ellery Lakes.

I just put my chair out next to the truck, grabbed my stitching stuff, and had a wonderful day.

John Muir Wilderness

cholmaneee@uia.net (Cyndi) — Tue, 26 May 2009 23:52:00 +0000

Yesterday we hiked into the John Muir Wilderness. It's a fairly easy hike - only a few small hills and minor elevation gain. I was at the end of my cold, so I just walked slowly, rested often, and enjoyed sitting at the lakes where we stopped so Don could fish.

Hot Creek

cholmaneee@uia.net (Cyndi) — Tue, 26 May 2009 23:49:00 +0000

East of Mammoth Lakes is the Hot Creek Geological Area, along with a stretch of the creek that is considered trophy trout water. The first part of it is privately owned, but there's a one-mile stretch open to the public. Pretty, yes?

What a wonderful weekend

cholmaneee@uia.net (Cyndi) — Tue, 26 May 2009 23:45:00 +0000

We spent 5 nights in East Fork Campground on Rock Creek at 7800' in the eastern Sierras. Don fished the creek, Rock Creek Lake, and 4 small lakes in the John Muir Wilderness. I stitched, read, hiked, and had a totally relaxing time - except for the fact that I had a really bad cold the whole time. I still insisted on yesterday's hike - the elevation gain wasn't that much, and I knew I could walk slowly. I ended up with great pictures and sunburned legs!

Fishing the Lower Owens River

cholmaneee@uia.net (Cyndi) — Sat, 11 Apr 2009 02:17:00 +0000

For 95 years, the Owens River below Bishop was dry - the water was diverted into the Los Angeles Aqueduct. In 2006, the LADWP began letting water flow in the river channel again, and the Owens is slowly coming back to life. It is definitely fishable now - so Don and I went in search of places to give it a try. This spot on the right is below Tinnemaha Reservoir - nice clear water flowing out of the dam. Not much to catch, though.

This spot was east of Big Pine, and Don had better luck here. All three photos are the same area.

Lone Pine Campground

cholmaneee@uia.net (Cyndi) — Sat, 11 Apr 2009 02:08:00 +0000

In case you're not familiar with this iconic image, the peak in the middle of this shot is Mount Whitney - the highest mountain in the lower 48 states (14,495'). Believe it or not, this was the view from the front door of our trailer. We could look right up through Whitney Portal from our campground. The large window on the side of our trailer had a nice view as well - down past the Alabama Hills into the Owens Valley and across to the White Mountains. Really, it didn't matter which way you looked, it was all lovely.

These mountains are to the south of Mount Whitney - I just wanted to show our trailer and campsite.

The third day at Lone Pine we experienced high winds - I heard on the radio that gusts across the high ridges were up to 100 miles per hour.

Sierra Vista

cholmaneee@uia.net (Cyndi) — Sat, 11 Apr 2009 02:03:00 +0000

We thought we'd try to go up to the Bristlecone Pine Forest - the roads were clear up to 10,000 feet. However, there was a locked gate about 4 miles short of the grove and visitors' center, so we turned around and had a picnic lunch at the Sierra Vista viewpoint. These are shots looking west towards the High Sierras above Independence and Lone Pine.

Exploring Joshua Tree National Park - Desert Queen Mine

cholmaneee@uia.net (Cyndi) — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 05:33:00 +0000

The park has a great mining history, and numerous mines can be found-both accessible to the public and in areas that are closed to the public. One that is easily accessible is the Desert Queen Mine. A good dirt road goes about 2 miles to the trailhead, and then a very easy, short hike takes you to an overlook above a pretty deep canyon. Across the canyon is the mine - and you can see at least 3 of the mine shafts. This mine was worked as recently as the late 1960s.

Don is at the overlook, standing next to one of the old cyanide tanks.

A trail leads down to the canyon bottom and then up to the mine.

Don almost stepped on this tarantula, right in the middle of the trail! He (she?) was about 5 inches wide.

Just above the overlook are the ruins of what looked like a big winch for hauling ore and/or supplies up from the mine.

Don is walking down towards the remains of a rock cabin.

Exploring Joshua Tree National Park - Live Oak and Ivanpah Tank

cholmaneee@uia.net (Cyndi) — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 03:03:00 +0000

The desert DOES have water; and there are enough rains to support all kinds of vegetation. The early settlers figured out that if they dammed up the larger washes, they could hold enough water to support cattle or farming. This large tree is a live oak, which is a rare thing to find in a desert. It grows where it is because it gets enough water in the wash. As you hike downstream from the live oak, you come to the first little tank, which looked to be about the size of a backyard swimming pool, but only a few feet deep.

As we continued the hike downstream, Don noticed this little arch.

About a quarter mile below Live Oak Tank (which I forgot to photograph) we came to Ivanpah Tank. It had a dam that was much larger - perhaps 30 feet wide and about 10 feet high on this side. On the downstream side it was about 15 feet high. So the body of water that backed up behind it would have been probably 40 yards wide and up to 10 feet deep at its deepest. We saw evidence that it had held water recently - the datura plants were in abundance and there were some small damp mud flats.

One thing you can see in this photo is something we could never escape - the contrails of all the airplanes flying overhead to and from Los Angeles, Ontario, and San Diego.

Exploring Joshua Tree National Park - Arch Rock

cholmaneee@uia.net (Cyndi) — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 02:51:00 +0000

No, this isn't Arch Rock - it's a cool-looking rock on the Arch Rock trail. It's been weathered by wind and water and looks to me like a giant eye.

This is Arch Rock, visible from the mid-point of the trail.

Me!

I love these rocks.

Exploring Joshua Tree National Park - The Oasis of Mara

cholmaneee@uia.net (Cyndi) — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 02:45:00 +0000

Our next stop was the Visitors' Center near the North Entrance in 29 Palms. Behind the Visitors' Center is another nature trail that goes around the Oasis of Mara. Back in the late 1800s and early 1900s this was a lush oasis, with water gushing out hundreds of gallons a minute. Since most oases are along fault lines, this was no exception. The Pinto Mountain Fault runs underneath, and when it shifted, the water source was redirected. There's still some water, enough to support the fan palms, but it's all well under the ground.

Exploring Joshua Tree National Park - Indian Cove

cholmaneee@uia.net (Cyndi) — Sun, 30 Nov 2008 20:22:00 +0000

We took the trailer to Joshua Tree National Park this week, and camped at Black Canyon Campground. The campground is a really nice one - isolated from the town of Yucca Valley but close enough if you need to go into town for supplies. There are lots of roomy sites that are big enough for trailers and RVs, including 6 nice pull-throughs in the middle. We decided to try as many little hikes as we could to get some good exercise and to see the variety of sights in JTNP.

Our first hike was the nature trail at Indian Cove, which is surrounded by mountains made of granite boulders.

We saw quite a few of these odd features, and it was only after we stopped and looked closely that we saw thousands of ants coming to and from the center holes. We learned at the visitor center that the ants drag seeds down into the hole, and then take the empty husks back outside, making the mounds.