These shots were taken a few years after the (trail) was cut for access to the river. My first new car, a 1968.
The water was cold and clear. The granet pools were deep and a ball to jump into.
When I was discharged from the Army, I bought a 1957 V.W. bug. Along with working at the Navel Air Station in Alameda, I did as much camping in the mountains as I could find time for. One of the places I went was on Interstate 80 at the Eagle Lakes turn off. I would go as far as I could, then backpack in for the solitude.
On one such trip I found what may have been an old fire break, or even an old trail from the gold rush days. Everything was very overgrown, but with a little work and a few trips to accomplish the task, I cut my way through. It saved me about four or five miles of hiking. I named it, Secret Place. The trail I cut crossed the head waters of the Yuba River. If you stayed in the riffles you could ford the shallows and go another couple of miles. Real Private and quite.
About two years later I was in the Fire Department on the base and some of us on our days off would drive up for a couple of days. The area has granite water falls that end in deep clear pools. Real cold also, like snow melt. A wonderful place to go. It was 1967 and 1968 then.
In 1992 when Karson had his learners permit I had him drive Garian and I to Secret Place and spend a few days. The trail had been discovered and turned into a road. Fording the river was still the only way to get into the back country, tho. As Karson started the water crossing he gave it too much throttle and dug the rear wheels down and we were stuck. It was only maybe knee deep, so I used the bumper jack to lift each wheel and put river rocks back under the wheels. Whoosh and we were across.
When we got to the end of the trail, we found U.S. Forest tables and fire pits. So much for Secret Place! We set up camp and the kids went swimming. They caught a whole bunch of crawdads so we supplemented dinner with butter and garlic over crawdads. Garian wasn't sure about crawdads. She popped one in her mouth, swished it around and decided, nope, not this time. I saw mountain lion tracks over the top of bear tracks so we had some target practice for awhile. That would run the big ones over the next ridge for a day or two.
Two years later Garian had her drivers permit. Karson wasn't interested in another trip to secret place so Garian invited Regan DeVinney to come along. As Garian was crossing the Yuba river, in the riffles, just like she should, we lost air in the right rear tire. I went back into the river, up to my knees and changed the tire. We had sheered the valve stem off on a rock. When we arrived at the U.S. Forest service picnic area at the end of the trail, we set up camp. We did the target practice thing, just because. We went swimming in the granite pools and hiked around some. The trip had a few differences ,tho. We had campfire songs, we told scary stories, we french braided hair and every sound from the forest ended with a scream. A little different than scout camp. But lots of fun. The girls were real troupers. Girls camp had taught them all kinds of skills.
We haven't been back for some time. Its probably paved by now with a pay as you enter gate at the trail head.
On one such trip I found what may have been an old fire break, or even an old trail from the gold rush days. Everything was very overgrown, but with a little work and a few trips to accomplish the task, I cut my way through. It saved me about four or five miles of hiking. I named it, Secret Place. The trail I cut crossed the head waters of the Yuba River. If you stayed in the riffles you could ford the shallows and go another couple of miles. Real Private and quite.
About two years later I was in the Fire Department on the base and some of us on our days off would drive up for a couple of days. The area has granite water falls that end in deep clear pools. Real cold also, like snow melt. A wonderful place to go. It was 1967 and 1968 then.
In 1992 when Karson had his learners permit I had him drive Garian and I to Secret Place and spend a few days. The trail had been discovered and turned into a road. Fording the river was still the only way to get into the back country, tho. As Karson started the water crossing he gave it too much throttle and dug the rear wheels down and we were stuck. It was only maybe knee deep, so I used the bumper jack to lift each wheel and put river rocks back under the wheels. Whoosh and we were across.
When we got to the end of the trail, we found U.S. Forest tables and fire pits. So much for Secret Place! We set up camp and the kids went swimming. They caught a whole bunch of crawdads so we supplemented dinner with butter and garlic over crawdads. Garian wasn't sure about crawdads. She popped one in her mouth, swished it around and decided, nope, not this time. I saw mountain lion tracks over the top of bear tracks so we had some target practice for awhile. That would run the big ones over the next ridge for a day or two.
Two years later Garian had her drivers permit. Karson wasn't interested in another trip to secret place so Garian invited Regan DeVinney to come along. As Garian was crossing the Yuba river, in the riffles, just like she should, we lost air in the right rear tire. I went back into the river, up to my knees and changed the tire. We had sheered the valve stem off on a rock. When we arrived at the U.S. Forest service picnic area at the end of the trail, we set up camp. We did the target practice thing, just because. We went swimming in the granite pools and hiked around some. The trip had a few differences ,tho. We had campfire songs, we told scary stories, we french braided hair and every sound from the forest ended with a scream. A little different than scout camp. But lots of fun. The girls were real troupers. Girls camp had taught them all kinds of skills.
We haven't been back for some time. Its probably paved by now with a pay as you enter gate at the trail head.
No comments:
Post a Comment