Emerald Pools, Friday, 7/2/21

The 65-mile-long South Yuba River begins its journey in the northern Sierra Nevada Mtns.  Snow melt from the river cascades downhill, reaching several manmade lakes (reservoirs) in the foothills, before continuing on its path toward Englebright Lake (formed by a dam).  Not far from Emigrant Gap, CA are a cluster of these lakes, connected by flumes and the South Yuba River.  Today we'd hike near the river toward one of those lakes -- Lake Spaulding.  And we got more adventure than we bargained for!

Only 28 miles from our house, it was an easy drive, east on the always-scenic Hwy 20.  We took Smartie, assuming parking would be at a premium and Smartie can fit in anywhere.  She squeezed in a spot near the bridge, where I took this pic.  We've seen the river crazy high, and then so low, as above, where you can practically step-stone across it.

Standing at the edge of the parking lot, I noticed two former bridge abutments.  While both seem high above the river, a flood of snow melt/dumping rain can turn the So Yuba into a raging torrent, and perhaps the river took out one or both.  Obviously we crossed on the newest one! 😀

A short hike led us to one of the pools, which, on this hot day, already had people cooling off.  The water is still chilly, tho.  We know that because AllTrails showed that we were on the wrong side of the river to get to our destination:  "the Fast Food Wall," and it indicated we could cross to the right of where the girl, above, is standing.  No, we didn't get a photo, too precarious.  We had to boulder-hop to the middle of the river, crawl on our heinies toward the edge of a long rock projection, and then wade a few feet to the other side.  OK.  Jimmy took off his hikers and sox.  I was in sneakers and I didn't care if they got wet.  I slowly entered the water, saw how deep it was (mid-thigh), rolled up my shorts, wondered how slippery the rocks were, and then I looked behind me, at him.  Nope.  Not gonna happen.  We backed our way out.

Retracing our steps, we crossed the bridge, and started down the trail on the other side of the river, grateful for shade when we had it.  We followed the river and then Jordan Creek.  It's been so hot that few wildflowers are still alive, but these Barestem Buckwheat are managing.  Our elevation here is about 4600'.

Barely moving Jordan Creek, looking west.

Dumps into the So Yuba River.

Jordan Creek looking east.

In the woods, we found ourselves hiking beneath a rock wall.

Hope those dead trees don't fall!

This area seems to be favored by climbers.

I checked my AllTrails map again and discovered we'd missed a trail turnoff, so we backtracked till we saw a tiny arrow at ground level pointing up this-a-way.  We began climbing on a narrow track that was easy to lose, over and around boulders and rocks.  Dang, it felt like we were going in circles!

After a bit, we heard a guy higher up (who we couldn't see) yell, once, twice.  To me it didn't sound urgent or like a person in pain, but ....  We continued on, wondering where in the world we'd end up, and still we didn't find the "fast food wall."  Suddenly a helicopter hove into view, overhead, close. 

A CHP copter, above my head, looking for a place to land.  I ducked into the trees to get away from its wash.  Then, Jimmy and I watched the copter set down.

The rotors didn't stop, altho they look motionless.  Apparently the helicopter rescue guys searched and found the fellow who yelled and brought him to the copter, after which it took off.  Amazing how quiet the world got when it was gone!

While we waited for the copter to take care of business, Jimmy and I parked ourselves on a rock and ate a granola bar and drank Gatorade.  We speculated about the injured guy, hoping he'd be all right.  I was kinda entertained by this lizard playing peek-a-boo.

Two of the rescuers remained on the ground, and made their way down to where we were, hence to the road.  We'd decided we'd had enough fun for the day, never mind that alleged wall we were looking for (I think our trail would've led us to where the copter was), so we were turning around.  Between the unnerving water crossing and this, we were done.  It was hot, too.  One of the young men told us that the fellow they rescued had fallen and hurt himself (probably broken bone).  Don't know if he was a hiker or a climber.  Today's hike gave us pause, slippery wet rocks or climbing boulders, injuries are possible.  We try to be soooo careful where we put our feet (why we didn't cross the river) to avoid potential disasters.

Well, we only did a little over three miles, but it sure seemed longer!  Good grief, some days are like that.  We were ready to go home and cool off.  What a day!

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