Posted by Karen on 26-Jul-2009
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I joined Tamara and the The Roseville-Rocklin Hikers Meetup Group for a hike to Pilot Creek Falls, also commonly known as University Falls. The falls are located in the area of Quintette, which is nothing more than an town sign on the main road, although I’m sure there are house back there somewhere. The trail down is mostly a fire road, running next to a water flume and is nicely shaded. Even though the trail is posted against vehicles, along the way I saw several cars and trucks crashed off the side and could only think, this is what happens when you try to 4WD beyond your abilities. The falls are three smooth rock dropoffs that allow you to slide down them and drop into a nice deep cool pool at the bottom. After a nice lunch at the falls, I headed back up slowly in the heat of the day; even with shade, 100?F is pretty warm hiking.
GPS Stats: • Odometer: 5.98 miles • Total Time: 4:58 • Moving Time: 2:00 • Moving Average: 3.0 mph • Overall Average: 1.2 mph
Posted by Karen on 23-Jul-2009
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Candace and I went exploring today and learned maps may show a road that really isn’t there. I found what looked like a nice trail on my National Geographics topographical software and cross checked it with Google maps and with my Garmin GPS maps, so I felt pretty confident that there was a trail there and a road to the trailhead. We head up Highway 50 and took the Peavine Ridge Road exit, as the trailhead should just be a short jaunt off the highway. Well, we see the sign that says “road ends in 3/4 mile, no turn around” and think, hmmm. Then we see the big boulders and the narrow dirt road and the steep dropoff and decide, let’s just walk from here to the trailhead. So, we backup and park at a safe spot and start walking down the dirt road. And then, as the big satellite installation truck passes us on the narrow road, again we think, hmmm. A bit later as the truck is coming back up the road, he he lets us know the road ends at the river and he shares the same frustration we had, “the GPS said the road goes through here”. Down to the river we went and a pretty river it is, but it is not one that is easily crossed without taking a swim. We decide against the swim and think maybe there is a way to cross down the other dirt road we saw. Back we go, but that road only leads to a nice camping spot a short ways away, not to a way to cross the river. Since we’re exploring, we decide to go back to the river again and crawl down the rocks and walk upstream a bit and look for a crossing there. Well, we found no crossing, but we did discover a very nice swimming hole. We then drove over to Icehouse Road to try and find the other end of the trail, but we had no luck there either. So, we picked a fire road and hiked down it for a bit. Not the hike next to the river that I’d thought I’d found on the map, but a nice hike anyways.
GPS Stats 1: • Odometer: 2.61 miles • Total Time: 2:23 • Moving Time: 0:57 • Moving Average: 2.7 mph • Overall Average: 1.1 mph
GPS Stats 2: • Odometer: 2.50 miles • Total Time: 2:02 • Moving Time: 0:59 • Moving Average: 2.5 mph • Overall Average: 1.2 mph
Posted by Karen on 21-Jun-2009
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I asked the hotel staff what should I go see in the Bridgeport area, as I’d always just passed through the and never stopped and explored. They suggested Twin Lakes and I headed towards there. Along the way, I saw a sign for Buckeye Historic Hot Spring and took a side road to check it out. I didn’t find the hot spring, but I did find a nice campground and I’m sure the hot spring is around there somewhere. Twin Lakes is beautiful and there is a large RV campground at the west end of the lakes. In the town, I checked out a few of the history markers, but the museum was closed. Time to head towards home, taking the long way around of course. South past Mono Lake, I travel Tioga Pass through Yosemite National Park. Tioga Pass has so many beautiful lakes and views, it’s a very enjoyable drive back through the Sierra mountains.
Posted by Karen on 29-May-2009
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Today Candace and I took the hike over to Shingle Falls, which is located in the Spenceville Wildlife Area outside of Marysville. It’s a nice pleasant hike to the waterfall and while we didn’t scramble down to the bottom of the falls, it sure did look inviting. We saw a huge black snake with rings and he and I scared each other equally I think. On the way back, we stopped along the river and Candace dipped her tootsies for a bit.
GPS Stats: • Odometer: 6.29 miles • Total Time: 4:04 • Moving Time: 2.21 • Moving Average: 2.7 mph • Overall Average: 1.5 mph
