Tales & Trails of a Traveling Wiseguy

Two weekends ago we drove to northern California to enjoy hiking in the Trinity Wilderness northwest of Mt. Shasta. As I've written in several blogs recently, we had to contend with smoke from the enormous Park Fire blazing near Chico— plus smoke drifting down from fires in southern Oregon. 🥵 The latter caused us to cancel our plans to hike in the Trinity Alps Sunday, even after we hiked there comfortably on Saturday, so instead we picked a pair of shorter hikes further south.... in between the clouds of smoke from the various fires.

One of those hikes was a short walk to an old favorite, Hedge Creek Falls. It's just off I-5 in Dunsmuir, a tiny town between Mt. Shasta and Shasta Lake. In the past when we've visited it's been a hidden gem. Typically we shared the trail with just a few other groups. But on this particular Sunday two weeks ago there were more than 20 cars parked at the trailhead.



The crowds don't make the falls less pretty. Well, not until over-visitation by careless people trashes the place. 🙄 Thankfully that hasn't happened here... yet.



We stayed at the falls for a while, at least twice as long as any of the other visits. We watched two or three sets cycle in and out. I had fun making slow-exposure photos with my nice camera and tripod— even though I'd lost one of my lenses in an Alpine swamp the day before. You can see two of the motion blur pictures above. Here's a short video I made:



In beauty I walk.

Last Saturday we hiked to East Boulder Lake in the Trinity Alps wilderness west of Mt. Shasta. As I shared in part 1 of this trip, the climb up to the lake was steep in places but full of views.



Once we got to East Boulder Lake we walked around the left side of it to sit under one of those large trees (the distant one) you can see in the photo above. Why the left? Well, because One, there was a tree there to sit under, and Two, there was another small group of hikers laying out in the tall grass around the right side of the lake. We figured why crowd each other.

We rested our muscles and ate a bit of a pack lunch while enjoying views at the lake. We also discussed whether to go farther. The hike up to the lake was strenuous enough, and the lake was pretty enough, to call it a full day's activity. But it wasn't a full day, especially with us getting a head start after Friday Night Halfway knocked out 4+ hours of driving. There was definitely time on Saturday to do more. The only question was whether we had the energy to do more.

After resting up a bit at the lake we decided we did have the energy to do more. Upper Boulder Lake wouldn't be that tough of an add-on to the trek. Reading our topographic map showed it would be maybe an extra mile round trip and not more than another 150' of elevation gain. Looking at it visually, it was just a matter of walking around to the back of East Boulder Lake and up a marshy draw to the next lip below the far ridges.



So that's what we did. We walked around the left side of the main lake, up the marshy draw at the back, and angled up to the foot of the far ridge. We explored the area a bit as we went, investigating a spot that was off trail according to our map but looked like it might have a small pond in it. It turned out instead of a pond it was another wet meadow. Then we trekked cross-country to get over to Upper Boulder Lake, shown above. Our cross-country route was fun because it gave us this nice view of the lake from atop a small lip.

We didn't stay long at Upper Boulder Lake. By that time we were already calculating times: how long it'd take us to hike back down to the trailhead; how long it'd take us to drive to Yreka, where we were staying for the night; and when we might eat dinner.



We took a slightly different route down from the upper lake to the main lake. There wasn't really a marked trail the whole way— or at least we couldn't see one past the bit of trampled-down grass you see in the photo above. The trail went indistinct as it crossed the marsh area. That's not too surprising.

I mentioned in a previous blog that I accidentally my camera on this hike. One of the reasons I picked this photo is that this (where I'm standing) is near where I lost my other lens.

"If you remember where you lost it, why didn't you go back to get it?" you might ask.

Well, like I said, this is near where I lost it. I think it actually dropped out of my pack in the marsh. By the time I'd gotten down to the far side of the main lake I did not feel like going back to the marsh and trying to retrace my steps through the waist-high grass and ankle-deep (or deeper) muck to find a lens.

This past weekend we headed up to far northern California. Friday night we drove to Redding and stayed there. Saturday morning we saw a lot of smoke to the east from the Park Fire, but then we drove almost two hours northwest toward the Trinity Alps. By the time we reached the trailhead for East Boulder Lake an hour west of Mt. Shasta there was no longer any sign of smoke in the air.



We got to the trailhead at 5,700' elevation with no problem. A combination of AllTrails user comments and Google Maps were our guides. Even the 6 miles of dirt road, which we took our 4x4 to make sure we could conquer, were mild enough that we probably could have driven them in our convertible. Still, it's better to have the certainty of a real 4x4 in case there's an obstacle on the vehicle trail.



The foot trail climbed steadily through the forest at first before leveling out and opening up a bit as it crossed the boundary into the Trinity Alps wilderness. Somehow it just seemed that everything was greener once we crossed the invisible line into the wilderness.



Soon enough the trail started climbing more steeply again. First it was a steep climb through forest, then we broke out onto grassy hillside with a view of a waterfall ahead of us.

From here on up the trail was frequently wet. The outflows from East Boulder Lake and other lakes up above all pour down through this area, and the trail is often the path of least resistance for the water.

The trail climbing up above this falls was steep and often slow-going. I didn't mind the huffing and puffing and knee twisting because there was so much to look at. In beauty I walk.



Soon enough we were at the last bit before the lake. How could we tell? Just reading the terrain. There's obvious a huge flat spot up above us. That's where the lake is going to be.



And, yup, that's where East Boulder Lake is. 6,680' elevation. In beauty I walk.

To be continued....

Update: Keep reading in part 2 of this hike!

Last night I booked a trip to go hiking in the mountains this weekend. Shortly after writing that blog this morning I checked my news feed and...



It's on fire.

Overnight the Park Fire near Chico, California exploded in size (Sacramento Bee article via Yahoo! News, 25 Jul 2024), growing from under 6,500 acres to over 45,000 acres by morning and 71,000 acres by midday. The fire was just 3% contained at last update in that article. That means it's burning out of control and growing in every direction simultaneously.

When smoke from a fire affected our day of hiking in the Sierras a few weeks ago I wrote that maybe we'll have to check not just the weather forecast but also the fire forecast before we travel. I wrote that as grim humor, not as a literal prediction! Alas my grim humor is the emerging grim reality. Summer in California is becoming fire season. Anywhere in the state may be burning or choking on smoke from a fire.

Fortunately the effects of the Park Fire are currently only indirect on where we planned to go hiking this weekend. Like the fire near Fresno a few weeks ago there will be dozens of miles and some pretty high mountains between it and us. But like then the smoke could be an issue. Already the smoke is definitely an issue in Redding, where we're stopping on our Friday Night Halfway. And it might be an issue up in the Shasta-Trinity mountains if the wind shifts strongly to the northwest (though that seems unlikely).

Incidentally this Park Fire is not far from Paradise, California, where the 2018 Camp Fire killed 85 people. (A note about naming fires: "Camp Fire" does not mean it was a campfire that got out of control. It was given that name because it started near a local road named Camp Creek Road.)

Update: this afternoon I saw news that authorities have arrested a man on suspicion of arson in deliberately starting the Park Fire! Example coverage: KCRA News Sacramento article, San Francisco Chronicle article. Witnesses say the suspect pushed a burning vehicle into a gully. So maybe it wasn't his intention to start a massive forest fire destroying numerous homes and requiring thousands of people to evacuate the area, but that's been the result so far of his deliberate actions.

Update 2: As of midday Friday, the fire has grown to 178,000 acres and is now rated as 0% contained.

Update 3: As of Friday evening, the fire has burned 239,000 acres. That's 373 square miles. 1,600 firefighters are working on it... and it's still 0% contained.

Update 4: As of Sunday morning, the fire has grown to over 350,000 acres. Cooler weather on Saturday slowed its spread and enabled firefighters to establish some containment lines, otherwise it could be even worse. Miraculously there are no deaths reported from this huge fire. Thousands of people have had to evacuate. To their credit and authorities' credit, people got moved to safety quickly. I'm sure plenty of people living in the area remember what happened in Paradise in 2018 when a half day of "wait and see" delays before evacuation orders came caused pandemonium and dozens of deaths.

Update 5: Tuesday check-in.

A magnitude 6.4 earthquake struck California's north coast region early morning. The epicenter was a few miles offshore from the town of Ferndale, population 3,500. Scattered damage was caused to roads and buildings. Thousands of residents in the remote area lost power or water. Two deaths occurred shortly after the earthquake. Authorities say that the deaths weren't caused by the shaking of the earthquake but by the inability of victims to summon help.

Google Maps: Ferndale, CA

One point of interest about this earthquake is that millions of people received early warning of it, 10 seconds before it struck. In a partnership between the state and Google, the warnings are sent automatically to all Android phones in the region. There's also an app available for other phones.

We didn't feel the earthquake here in Silicon Valley. Partly that's because it occurred at 2:34am Tuesday. It wasn't strong enough to wake us up. And partly that's because we're 250 miles away. A 6.4 earthquake isn't strong enough to shake things up 250 miles away.

Distance, though, doesn't stop some of our well-meaning relatives from reaching out to us breathlessly, "OMG I heard there's an earthquake in California are you okaaaaay?!?!" We always gently remind them that California is a huge state, almost 800 miles north to south. When you hear that something happens "in California", whether it's an earthquake or a fire or a crime spree, you need to check the geography to determine where it's actually relevant.

The SF Bay Area and much of Northern California have been getting soaked with rain this weekend. There are a variety of names used to describe the weather phenomena at play: La Niña, Atmospheric River, and Bomb Cycle. What's in a name?



So, all three of these are happening at the same time in California right now, bringing us heavy rain and high winds. While we desperately need rain to replenish drought stricken reservoirs and groundwater tables the amount of rain we're getting all at once has oversaturated the ground, causing flash floods and slides. And the wind's a hazard, too.

Near where I live the weather has been relatively mild. We've had 1-2 inches of rain in the past 24 hours plus occasionally gusty winds. Elsewhere in the Bay Area rainfall has been 4 inches, 5 inches, up to 10+ inches in some places. And winds have been fierce enough to topple trees, knock out power lines, and flip over trucks on highways.

Update: I posted an explainer on how atmospheric rivers work.

North Coast Roadtrip travelog #7
Back home - Mon, 29 Mar 2021. 11pm.

We wrapped up our three-day weekend road trip to California's north coast today, driving some 440 miles home. Along the way we managed a handful of stops— including one to drop off some rocks, a few for attempts at lunch, and one for a serious hike on the Mendocino coast.

Had we gone "straight" home via the shortest possible route it still would have been a long day, with just over 400 miles of driving. We added to that by dodging out to the Mendocino coast, through the towns of Fort Bragg and Mendocino, to visit Russian Gulch State Park and hike 5+ miles to a waterfall there. That's what pushed us to 440 miles of driving. Door to door, it has been a 14.5 hour travel day.

Beer O'clock?

Traveling through Fort Bragg meant picking up some beer. I mean, it's always beer o'clock somewhere, right? The town is home to the North Coast Brewery, which makes several beers of which I'm a fan. On past trips through I've ordered beer samplers with afternoon snacks. But since it was only lunch time and there were still many miles to hike— and drive— I merely bought some beer to enjoy later.

"We've got a few specials right now," the beertender at the beer shop informed me, "Including a make-your-own-6-pack special. Combine any 6 individual bottles you want for $10."

"I didn't come this far to buy loosies," I snarled playfully. We both enjoyed a laugh.

Five minutes and two six-packs later I was back on the road. It's not the 44-bottle armada I bought last time I passed through town. Many of those from that previous trip I can buy locally. This time I grabbed six-packs of a stout and a dark lager that aren't carried by distributors.

A Hike and Car Trouble

Car trouble cropped up as we entered Russian Gulch State Park. After we stopped at the kiosk to pay our entry fee, the car didn't want to shift into forward gear. The gear selector physically wouldn't move to the "D" (drive) slot. On the third try it did, but only barely. It slipped out of gear occasionally. As I nursed the car down the hill to the trailhead parking area I wondered if we'd have to call AAA after our hike.

We managed not to think too much about the car trouble while hiking. We enjoyed the trek. At first I didn't think we'd done this hike before, but toward the end of the way in I remembered it. It was pouring rain last time, so lots of things looked different today with not-shitty weather.

As I've done with other hiking treks this trip, I'm skipping pictures for now because they take time to prepare. I'll follow up with them in a few days in separate blog posts.

Sweating the Drive Home... And the Next Repair Bill

We got back to the car around 5:30pm. "Maybe it will have magically fixed itself," we agreed, both of us knowing the chances of that were remote. And we were right. The car hadn't magically fixed itself; the transmission was still struggling to engage "Drive" mode.

I was already mulling what the nature of the problem could be... and what it would cost to fix. Car trouble— and the cost of repair— is/are a sore point for me right now. It's just ten days after getting the car back from the shop, with a $1,400 repair bill. The problem is different enough that I don't suspect the shop of screwing anything up, but it's still galling to face downtime and expense— not to mention the possibility of being stranded by a breakdown 200 miles from home— so soon again.

Well, the fact that I wrote "Back home" in the byline at the top of this blog tells you that we didn't get stranded. The car behaved just enough for us to get home.

And that's where we are now. Home. We arrived sometime after 10 this evening and unpacked the car. I took a shower to clean up from the long day and help unwind before going to bed. It's late already, and tomorrow's a work day.

North Coast Roadtrip travelog #5 
Crescent City, CA - Sun, 28 Mar 2021. 8pm.

We've had a busy day out here on the far northwestern coast of California. But busy in a good way: less driving to places and more doing stuff once there. Today we've taken short hikes to a few waterfalls, walked through old growth forest among huge redwood trees, and driven miles on the beach to collect rocks.

In between all that we did drive, of course. The odometer shows 120 miles for the day. But that's way less than yesterday's 305 miles and even Friday night's 155 miles. Not having to drive so much is the benefit of staying in one place on a trip. Tonight we're staying at the same oceanfront hotel in Crescent City as last night. Tomorrow, though, it's time to head home, and the miles will pile up again. We'll drive at least 400 miles tomorrow; maybe more if we take a side trip out to the Mendocino coast.

Where's the Pics?

Waterfalls, redwoods, and sand dunes sound great; So where are the pictures? you might ask. It takes time to review them, select the right ones to share, and clean them up. Doing that is the main reason why my travel blogs tend to fall days behind, even for short trips. [Already this blog is 36 hours behind - Ed.] I'm blogging the outline of the trip now; I'll come back with pictures and details later. Stay tuned!

North Coast Roadtrip travelog #3
Leggett, CA - Sat, 27 Mar 2021. 10am.

When we stopped at a roadside convenience store outside tiny Leggett, CA, for snacks this morning we found something unexpected: a new hawk!



Yes, in this historic old house in the middle of nowhere, tucked between the touristy bigfoot paraphernalia, fresh baked cookies and brownies, and racks cheap fake jewelry, was a stuffed hawk of a model we haven't seen before.

It turns out this hawk is an updated pattern of a toy we already have. Both are made by Wild Republic. ...At least, we're presuming the new pattern has replaced the old, as it seems unlikely the manufacturer would make two different kinds of red-tailed hawk. Curiously this model doesn't come with the informative and slightly amusing back-story of the older one.




We still own the older pattern of Wild Republic's hawk. We bought several of them years ago. 😂 Here's the new hawk, which we named "Peg" (we bought her at the Peg House) socializing with "Winter" in the car as we get back on the road.

We've headed out of town this evening... and it's not just to get a shot 105 miles away from home. It's a legit, leisure road trip!

Friday Night Halfway

Tonight we're bedded down in Ukiah, CA, 155 miles from home. It was a not-hard trek up to here, well north of San Francisco along US-101. We left home at 6:45 after work and a quick supper of leftovers and arrived 3 hours later, having made a 30 minute stop for snacks and stretching our legs halfway here.

Even here is but a halfway point, too. Partly that's because there's little about Ukiah to recommend it as a destination... even though we have stayed in Ukiah a few times before! But mostly it's because Ukiah is a convenient way-station, a Friday Night Halfway stopover. Tomorrow we'll continue onward to Crescent City, on the far north coast of California, another 240 miles away.

Time for a "Vaccication"?

A lot of people right now are planning or taking "vaccications"— vacations to celebrate their vaccination. I've also seen the concept called "revenge travel". It's still too early to take revenge on Coronavirus; Hawk is fully vaccinated but I've had just 1 of 2 shots. Thus we've kept our plans for this trip cautious.

1) We are planning to travel around 1,000 miles total, but it will all be in our own car. We're not traveling via planes or trains, or transiting through airports or train stations. This cuts the risk way down.

2) We're planning outdoors, uncrowded activities; we're going hiking in remote areas! We're not visiting people indoors or even going to crowded outdoors places. This also cuts the risk way down.

3) Finally, we're planning to eat meals by buying groceries and takeout. We're not going to eat inside restaurants, or even in hotel common rooms, just because we're away from the conveniences of home. This, too, cuts the risk way down.

When will we take bigger trips again? Basically, a) after we've both had full vaccinations and ideally b) as nationwide infection rates drop from their current plateau. We did start booking an east coast trip for June earlier this week. With luck we'll see a clear path to take a flying trip before then, too; perhaps by Memorial Day.

About This Weekend...

But enough about what might happen weeks from now; let's talk about our plans for the next few days.

Saturday we'll drive up 101 out along the coast, stopping by Redwood National Park. There's a tall-trees hike there we were thwarted from being able to trek when we visited last October. We've got a permit now for it, so we'll hike it on Saturday. (Okay, so maybe there is an element of revenge travel to this trip!) After that we'll head up to Crescent City for the next two nights.

Sunday we'll visit a few waterfalls in the redwood forests around Crescent City. We've got a book of waterfall hikes with several ideas marked; really a lot more that we can do in this short trip. We'll finalize our picks in the morning based on weather and energy levels.

Monday we've taken the day off to stretch this trip out to a 3-day weekend. We've got another waterfall hike marked; this one along the coast instead of in the redwoods. We'll also visit Agate Beach at Patrick's Point State Park again as Hawk so thoroughly enjoyed picking up shells and rocks there last time. Shortly after laying out her collection of spoils, in fact, she started talking about when we could go back.