Or the Little Big River. Either way, the 65-mile-long South Yuba River originates at Lake Angela in Nevada County just north of Donner Pass at 7,000+ ft, way up in the Sierra Nevada Mtns. Dozens of creeks empty into the river as it continues west (downhill) into the foothills, flowing into South Yuba River State Park where the covered bridge is, and it joins the (main) Yuba River at the upper end of Englebright Lake.
Shallow! December 15, Covered Bridge
We've seen this river so shallow you could wade across it and not get your knees wet, like above. We've also seen it after heavy rains, combined with snow melt, so fast and furious it takes your breath away. I'll show you both. Two different locations on the Yuba, but not far apart.
A few weeks ago, on December 15th, Jimmy and I hiked the Buttermilk Bend trail, which parallels the So Yuba River. The day was chilly and sunny, quite tolerable and good for getting in some steps before the "atmospheric rivers of rain" began, buckets and gallons of rain. Weeks of rain!
On January 5th, we drove to the Hwy 49 bridge to see how the river looked after tons o' rain This is upstream from our December hike, but not by much. Wild!
December 15
January 5
December 15
January 5
December 15
January 5 (Hi, Jimmy)
And a video, be sure to turn on the sound.
Toyon berries, orange lichen, 'shrooms, and a lethal pinecone
at Buttermilk Bend.
December 15. Jimmy wouldn't have been able to sit in this spot yesterday (Jan 5th). He would've been swept away and dumped into San Francisco Bay!
With the wet, we've had outstanding fungi samples,
in our yard! These were HUGE.
December 15
January 5
We didn't tarry on the bridge taking pics yesterday -- we were in between rain showers! The power of water is frightening to behold when it's like this. We're lucky that we're not impacted by floods at our house as you've seen on the news. Cabin fever is what we get.
That's it from here now. We had a hiatus from the rain today. Hooray! Tomorrow is another story. More rain forecast. Boooo
PS: No snow at our house this season ... yet.
