Walking on Water, Monday, 11/2/20

As crazy as it may seem for the first week in November, the days remain sunny and warm, as in 80° warm (whew, bordering on hot!).  We know sunny and warm won't last much longer ... Friday the temp will pivot on its tail and drop 30 degrees.  Knowing that, you can bet your bippy that Jimmy and I would find our way to a trail outside somewhere.  The high country would top out in the more-comfortable 70's, and this might be our last chance to enjoy the mountains before snow and ice keep us nearer to home. 

In the past couple of years, we'd talked about hiking the Lake Van Norden loop trail, off Soda Springs in the Sierras, but never got around to it.  We assumed skeeters would eat us alive in spring, and summer's blazing sun would toast us.  Well, now it's fall and a near-perfect time.  The trail is essentially flat with an elevation of 6750'.  Flat is good.

You've heard me talk of the South Yuba River in previous posts.  The river "flows" into Lake Van Norden before heading downhill.  Although not today.  In fact, we couldn't find any water.  We also couldn't find a trail, so we traipsed through the dry lake, our footsteps loud on the crunchy grasses.  No water.    

Jimmy's standing at the far edge of the spillway cut into the dam some years back.  Before the spillway was cut, the dam ran straight across.  Funny to see this dam with no water behind it!  I Googled Lake Van Norden and learned that the lake held a vast amount of water years ago, giving you some idea of how much water it used to store.  Then, it got complicated with changes of ownership (PG&E and Truckee Donner Land Trust). "The Land Trust wanted to sell the valley to the Forest Service which would not take the valley with any lake. The Land Trust did not entertain any other solutions and so opened the drain and completely drained the lake."

2019 was the last year that Lake Van Norden existed. Destroying Lake Van Norden seems an odd move for a state that seems to always be on the verge of a drought.  We knew none of this till after we came home this afternoon.

No river, just a muddy puddle.

You do see interesting sights in the area.  The spillway/dam is in the background behind Jimmy, but this wheel apparatus remains a mystery.

Is that a bony hand clasping the rock?

With every step we trod through grasses, some ankle high, others up to our knees, and I was grateful that I had on jeans!  The golden grasses were lovely amid autumn's earthy tones -- the ochres, siennas, and umbers -- all of which made the hike really pleasing on the eyes.

We came upon these two poles buried in the "lake," and I was reminded of goal posts.  You see we scored a touchdown!  Ah, look in the distance -- Castle Peak towers above my hands.  We smile when we see Castle Peak, appreciating our successful accomplishment:  We conquered the summit!

Old rusty stuff.

Such a stellar peak.

In the (mostly dry) riverbed, we found pockets of water.  Where the sun didn't reach, the water was still covered with ice!  So, while the days are warm, frigid nights in the 20's keep the shallow water frozen.

This little hut is the Merrill Family Hut.  Snow country is dotted with huts like these, where people can get warm, take a break from cross country skiing or snowshoeing, or just sit and rest.  Jimmy went in the hut, but it was too hot today to do more than open the door and back out.  We sat on the steps to rest a bit, eat our granola bars and slurp some water.

Our Prius is parked at the top red X.  We turned around at the hut where the lower red X is.  In effect, we walked down the left side of the lake to the hut, and up through the meadow on the right side, partially on Snoop's Loop, to return to the Prius.  Four-and-a-half miles R/T.  We crossed the dry river at one point.  We saw no trail signs till we were almost back to the car, when we saw the Snoop's Loop sign.

The lakebed landscape was dotted with colorful willow bushes, so pretty.

This would be the South Yuba River.  No water.

The dark areas are damp mud.  What a shame.

Below are two pictures I lifted from the Internet, both showing Lake Van Norden in earlier days!  Obviously.  Looks so inviting!  No walking on water in the first picture.

The pic below shows a before and after, taken from above, but I don't know the years.  If I could've taken a pic today from the same place, you would see instead, golden grasses and reeds and shrubs showing off their autumnal finery in those classic earth pigments.

Well, now we've done our Lake Van Norden hike, not quite the way we thought it might be, but a truly fine hike on a gorgeous day.  Plus, nobody fell in and got a soaker.  The only things to fall into as we strode across the uneven ground were gopher holes and we dodged plenty of them!

Pumpkin Patch -- Sat/Sun, 10-24/25, 2020

Oh goodie.  An Evie visit this weekend (Sat-Mon)!  It had been a few weeks since she'd come to visit and we were all happy to be together.  I'd hoped she could come before Halloween so we could take her to a local pumpkin patch to pick out The Perfect Punkin (rather than buy one at a store).  Saturday's sky was as blue as all the rest have been for the past six months, so off we went to Bierwagen's Pumpkin Patch Saturday afternoon.  Mind you, we'd never been there before.  After parking and getting a wagon, we trotted up a long slow hill.

Meanwhile, we rec'd notice from our electric provider Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E) that, due to an expected high-wind event combined with severely dry conditions and basically no humidity, our power would be shut off Sunday around 3pm.  Again.  They do this to make sure no falling trees or branches hitting their lines can spark a wildfire, or so they say.  If they'd maintained their grid for the past twenty years like they should have, instead of lining pockets and keeping the stockholders happy, I wouldn't be typing these words.  We prepared Evie as best we could, but how can you explain electricity to a three-and-a-half-year-old, much less that your power company is going to shut off your power?  When I was finished explaining, she looked at me and said, "why?"

Though it felt cool at our house, it felt nice and warm at Bierwagen's (lower elevation).  Quite a number of others had the same punkin patch thought.  Many wore masks, and we made sure to keep our distance.

Out of the wagon and into the field.

This is the one she picked.  (They all looked the same to me!)  Then she added several small ones to keep the big one company.  Never mind the sign in the wagon.  Whenever I have the camera aimed and tell her, "say cheese," she will say it ... while looking down, like you see above.  Ah well, no worries.

Posing with the pumpkins and scarecrow, but I guess he didn't make the cut.  We were waiting for our order of apple cider donuts at this point, having already bought a bag of apples.  Bierwagen's has extensive peach and apple orchards.  We'd also visited with the piggies and goats and turkeys and chickens, but not the moo cows as they were too far away.  I think she had a fun afternoon there.

When it was warm enough outside on Sunday to carve the pumpkin, we spread newspapers on the back deck table and commenced the process.  Actually Jimmy did the work, I manned the camera and Evie waited to add drawings and stickers to the finished product.

Look at all the stuff inside!

She wanted a "mad" face, and here it is!

After adding stickers and marking up the big guy, it was time to make faces on a couple of the little ones.  She did pretty good for her age!  Pop-pop monitored the marking pen so she didn't get any on her clothes.  You might notice it had cooled down enough for her to put on the beloved purple jacket.

BOO!

Jimmy!  Okay, we have a candle in mad-face and the friends are nearby.

She liked it when she saw it!

Per PG&Eeeek, power was shut off at 3pm Sunday.  We carried stuff and more stuff from the house to Tergel, which had been moved close to the garage.  We ate dinner in Tergel, and Evie played before bedtime.  She and I crawled in bed and we read her books, and then we spent the night in Tergel; it was our adventure.  Jimmy said three in that bed would be one too many, so he slept in the house.  If you've ever slept with a little kid, you know they sleep like wiggle worms!  But we did fine; she seemed to sleep well.

Heck, we didn't realize the night would be so cold!  Jimmy left our little propane catalytic heater on low, but it felt icy in Tergel when we got up around 7.  We bundled up and turned the heater on high.  Before Jimmy came in, he turned on the stand alone generator that keeps our fridge/freezers cold. Then we drank our coffee and ate breakfast.  About that time, that stand alone generator died.  Just died.  Trying to hook up Tergel's generator to take over the fridge/freezers didn't work (tho it had in the past).  It would power the garage freezer, but not the house fridge/freezer.  The only thing we could do was empty the house freezer into the garage freezer, and put as much fridge food/condiments in Tergel's fridge as we could.  What a mess.  Evie wanted to swing on the playground set we bought a while back.  It was a frustrating morning.  

As planned, I drove to Auburn at Noon to deliver Evie to her mommy and daddy, and then returned home to Tergel in the driveway.  Jimmy worked on the generator to see if he could get it working.  I'm grateful we have Tergel and can camp anywhere, but driveway camping is not my idea of a first-rate vacation.  We're doubly grateful that no wildfires broke out in our area.  We don't know if our fridge is broken or working, and we won't know till power is restored at 10pm on Tuesday.  So danged frustrating.  Our highest wind gust was 8mph.  I don't get it.  I don't like it.  Guess it's "to be continued" on the fridge.  I'll let you know.  At least we had fun with Evie and I know she had fun with us!

Addendum:  Power back by 7:30pm Tuesday and the FRIDGE WORKS!  Hallelujah!  And Jimmy ordered us a new Honda generator.

Autumn's in the air, Wed 10/7/20

It is October, after all.  In the high country, say 6000' and above, autumn can be foreshortened by an early winter storm.  We'd been eyeballing our local weather folks' predictions that called for a break in our summer weather (finally!), including possible showers here this weekend, possible snow in the mountains.  Thursday and Friday we had commitments.  Wednesday was free.  It was a now-or-never proposition -- head for leaf-peeping territory today before autumn's leaves were knocked to the ground.  And, this time we got an early start.  But, where to exactly?

The one tried and true spot we could count on for color was Sagehen Creek, a few miles north of the City of Truckee.  We've been here before and I'm sure we'll go again.  It has a peacefulness and beauty that remain constant no matter the season.  For that reason, we've shared this trail with friends and relatives so they, too, could appreciate this special quiet place.  And we got here in the nick of time -- the aspens were golden!

Regardless of how dry the year has been, little Sagehen Creek continues to flow toward Stampede Reservoir.  T'was very nice to be Out and About on a relatively flat trail instead of the steep climbs we've tackled lately.  Today we put in 5.5 miles R/T.  The morning was cool when we parked -- 55°, but still short-sleeve weather as we knew the temp would rise to the mid-70's.  A light smoky haze was a downer, but we can't seem to get away from it ... so, we just go on.

We had all day and took our time as we made our way along the trail, pausing for pics and to ooh and aah over some particularly dazzling sight.  

Ah, so nice to walk among the quaking aspens.

Some stands begged to be photographed.

The willows had morphed into their golden-yellows, and grasses, too, were changing, creating a colorful pattern creekside.  I kept looking for little fishies, but the water level was quite low and I saw no fishies.  It was very pleasant walking near the gurgling creek, and luckily this trail follows the creek off and on to the reservoir.  Sagehen Creek Trail also travels through aspens, conifers and dry slopes.

A spectacular wildflower show in spring bring crowds to Sagehen.  Today was not so busy, and we spent our time using our senses -- smell, sight, sound, touch.  In the forested areas, giant Jeffrey pines are the stars (IMO), and I always push my nose to the bark and sniff in their vanilla scent.  I give 'em an attaboy pat, too -- they're so boss!  At our house we see and hear the tin-horn toot of Rose-breasted nuthatches every day.  Above we spied (and heard a different song) a couple of White-breasted nuthatches looking for bugs on Jeffrey's bark ... kinda cool.  Somewhere along in this area, I turned to Jimmy and said I'd like to eat my Nonni's dark chocolate almond biscotti, so that brought in the fifth sense:  taste.  Yum.  Feeling grateful to be alive and aware!

In the meadow, the flowery Penstamons and Bistorts of spring are long gone.  California's dry golden grasses are in their stead.

We peered in the distance looking for the lake (reservoir), and couldn't find it.  We had to hike MUCH CLOSER to see any blue.  In fact, in the above photo, we're standing deep in the lake bed, squinting east to see water.  I guess NorCal has plunged into drought again, 'cause, while we've seen the lake level down, we've never seen it this low.  As we walked along, the grass crunched like potato chips under our feet.

The aspens near the old sheepherder's "cabin" were putting on a nice display!  We usually stop here, sitting on one of the low cement foundation walls to snack on granola bars.

I took this pic while standing in the lake bed and looking into the sun toward those colorful aspens.  Some kind of small reddish stick weed lent the photo the rusty color. 

Far behind Jimmy, and about where the evergreens come together in a vee, the meadow ends and the lake begins (roughly).  Walking down from the left toward where the creek should be, we were surprised to see water!  Little Sagehen Creek made its way, all the way, to the reservoir!  Oh, and in a spot where we have to "walk the plank" to cross the creek (further upstream), we spied two swimming kokanee salmon.  I wanted to get a pic, but they had other ideas.  No pic!

A lovely day altogether.  Sagehen Creek Trail didn't disappoint!  We hoofed it on our return; not sure why, but it was good aerobic exercise.  We paused both coming and going at the beaver pond, hoping to catch a glimpse of a beaver, but all was still.  On our return, even the little birds (chickadees, etc.) were silent.  Well, a warm afternoon is a good time to rest.

Our fingers are crossed for rain this weekend, but the outlook is dim for any appreciable amount.  When did we last have rain?  April?  May?  Too long ago.  It's been a very long, very hot and dry summer.  Hottest August on record in California!  September also the hottest ever on record!  Right now falling temps will be a plus.  Rain, a real blessing.  We're ready for a change ...  bring it on!

To: Summit Lake, Fri 10/2/20

2020:  The year that'll go down in history (as far as I'm concerned) as a catastrophe ... the entire year, even though we're only on October 2nd!  I quit asking "what next?" a long time ago, because I don't know if the world (or me) could handle much more.  Every morning when I awaken, I hope the air will be clear enough for me to want to go outside, and I'm disappointed most mornings these days.  Heat and smoke, the deadly duo.  Elsewhere, everywhere, with floods and hurricanes and wildfires, a pandemic -- sick and dying -- shuttered buildings, trips scrapped, no entertainment, job losses, this contentious election; well, sadly, you know what I'm talking about.  Not much to look forward to, except 2021, which we hope will be BETTER.

So, this morning it was with mega delight that I watched a big flock of silky-looking Cedar Waxwings gather on our Pacific Dogwood trees to gorge on the bright red berries (which they swallow whole).  I've never seen them here before.  I call the waxwings "bandits" because of their black eye mask.  They're fast, don't light long on any branch, and can make a tree shake!  They pop those berries down their gullets like they're candy.  A right cheery distraction just outside our dining room window.

Our Nevada City AQI was in the unhealthful range again.  I don't remember what it was, just that it was bad.  Walking and hiking help keep Jimmy and me sorta sane as the world unravels around us.  I checked to see what the AQ was in Truckee and it was much better, so (with a bit of a late start), we packed granola bars, waters and took off for higher elevations.

Summit Lake reflections

BTW, Summit Lake was not our original destination, just altitude with clear air.  We almost hiked to Summit Lake the end of August, except we turned left to Castle Peak rather than right to the lake.  This time, we parked at the Johnson Canyon trailhead to reach the lake from the opposite direction.  In other words, many of the trails up here intersect.  This hike would be all new to us.  As usual, by not paying attention, we put in a couple extra miles -- much of it in the blazing sun -- but that part of the hike was pretty, too, and hey! we survived!  We ended up doing seven miles on a loop trail, with lots of elevation gain/loss, like 1200', and peaked out at 7400+ ft.

That's part of our trail on yonder mountain; we'd already crossed over the canyon and were headed for the lake.  Does the mountaintop look hazy, the sky kind of grayish?  Yes, the smoke filtered in, but we couldn't smell it and the air "seemed" okay.  Photos looking toward the south had gray sky.  Those aimed northward showed blue sky.  It almost seemed like I-80 was a dividing line. 

Our route took us on and off this fire road, which wasn't too bad, but a winding single track is really much nicer.  Trees provided a place for us to rest and drink and hide from the sun.  I believe Truckee topped out in the high 80's today and, of course, there we were, hiking in it!  One of these days .... 

We were within earshot of the freeway for much of the distance, but (except for one brief section) the noise was muted and unimportant white noise, like the whirring of a fan.  In some places, the sound disappeared.  Ideally, we prefer to follow paths that only echo birdsong or the sighing wind.

Autumn is in the air and the colors were changing.  In another week, those Aspens near Jimmy will be completely yellow, though you can already see some gold mixed with the green.  The ferns were a smattering of yellow, brown and green, but brown was winning.  It's very dry up here.  The high country didn't get its usual number of summer (monsoon) thunderstorms this year, and our trail was so dusty that our noses recoiled and we sneezed and blew, sneezed and blew.  Every footfall exploded into a mini-dust-bomb.  Trailside, low-growing Mahala Mat's evergreen leaves were thick with dust.

These intersecting trails are tops with mountain bikers.  How they navigate the narrow trails w/o killing themselves is a mystery to me, but that's okay.  We encountered a couple of groups, and each was polite and friendly.  But, boy howdy, could they kick up the dust?  Whoooooee!

As we wrapped around the mountain, sometimes we were lucky and a nice breeze would hit us full in the face.  That was a bit o' heaven!  When we neared the dried-up Woolly mules ears (above), the wind would stir up a cracklin' and rattlin' of the leaves, perfect for a Halloween night!  

The last bit to reach the lake was a tiresome uphill slog on the fire road.  We wondered if we'd ever see the durned thing!  Finally, at picturesque Summit Lake, bordered by dark pines and firs, we sat down.  No, I didn't take off my shoes 'n sox to soak my feet -- I didn't want to sink my toes in black sludge to get to the water -- yuck!  We were content to sit for a few.  Mountain Chickadees flitted about, collecting seeds from cones.

A lone female Common Merganser swam across the lake.

Serenity.

The only flower in evidence this time of year was Rubber Rabbitbrush.  With the afternoon waning, we turned around at 2:30 and began our descent on the steep fire road, cutting off a a mile or two.  We won't do this again -- too steep and not much fun.  But it got us to the car around 4:00pm.  And overall, we enjoyed being Out and About in the high country.

The aspens here are mostly still green, but it won't be long ....

I took this pic roughly at the halfway descent point, showing Donner Lake and the distant mountains obscured by smoke.  The white ribbon is the freeway, near where our Prius is waiting.  As we progressed down the mountain toward home, the haze grew into an acrid blanket that threatened to engulf us.  At home, we scurried into the house, closing the garage door behind us ASAP.  We have new filters in our home and cars, and the AC keeps us cool and filters out the dirty air.  Jimmy ordered an air purification machine on Sept 12th; maybe it'll arrive before the snow flies.  Our harvest moon looked like a big orange pumpkin.  Maybe it'll rain ....