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2023 Rambler Hikes
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2023 Page 1
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Sycamore
Wildlife Area
Ahwahnee Hills
Lewis Creek
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Sycamore Wildlife Area
After
two attempts (one with the Ramblers and one without), we finally got
to hike at the Sycamore Wildlife Area by Pine
Flat Reservoir on April 17. This location consists of three
former campgrounds which have been closed for decades. The reason
was reportedly hantavirus found in rodents there, but that is
obviously long gone, since hiking in the properties is encouraged.
So I ask, every time I go there, why not re-open the campgrounds? Our
party consisted of Wes Thiessen, Ardyss Webster, Bruce and Susan
Vasquez, and me (Dick Estel). It was a first time experience for
Bruce and Susan, and a much anticipated return to a favorite spot
for the rest of us. The
old camp roads are still there, complete with parking spurs, making
for pleasant and easy walking. The pavement is mostly intact, with
cracks everywhere and some of it crumbling away at the edges. The
paving is nearly gone in much of the third location. There are
always flowers, many of them growing up through the cracks in the
asphalt, and this year was no exception. We
usually walk through two of the facilities, and this time we started
with the first one. Despite copious rain, the wildflowers are a
little bit fewer in number than we had hoped. But the variety is as
good as ever. Flowers that bloom early are still in evidence, and we
saw a few species that had not yet appeared during our earlier
outings. The new grass throughout the foothills was as bright green
as ever, and a little creek that had not flowed during the last few
years had become a classic "babbling brook." About
half way around the campground loop, we spotted a very large bull
standing about 15 feet from the road, virtually motionless. Everyone
else turned back, even though the two men were once country boys.
Having hiked, camped and lived around range cattle all my life, I
continued on, giving the beast a wary glance now and then. From
experience, I know that cattle will usually do one of three things:
Ignore you completely, watch you as you pass by, or drift away (and
sometimes run) as you get close. When
I started to pass Mr. Bull, he briefly turned his head to the left a
few inches, then as I walked by, he turned to the right. Otherwise
he remained still. Both of us understood the old rule, "Don't
bother me and I won't bother you." When we finished our hike
and drove up the road, we saw that he had laid down where he had
been standing. We hiked some more and had lunch, and he was still in
the same spot when we drove past on the way home at least two hours
later. We
did not keep a count of the flower species we saw, but they included
filaree, fiddleneck, popcorn flowers, bird's eye gilia,
yellow-throated gilia, dove lupine, tall ground lupines, buck brush,
blue dicks, and fiesta flowers. Along
Trimmer Springs Road, the bush lupines were still having a banner
year, and we also observed foothill gilia, Chinese houses,
farewell-to-spring, elderberry, and an unidentified flowering tree.
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The
Ramblers at Sycamore: Bruce, Ardyss, Susan, Dick, Wes |
Green
grass and blue oaks dominate this area |
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Baby
blue eyes thrive next to the old pavement |
It's a
good season for yellow brodiaea |
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When
we finished our walk around the first campground, we drove the short
distance to number three. This was officially a picnic ground only,
but I camped there back in the day without any problems. This is
also the location where there is an eagle's nest, and where we have
seen bald eagles several times. We
started our walk in silence, to avoid disturbing the birds, although
we acknowledged that they surely knew we were there as soon as we
opened the car doors. It's probably about 300 to 400 yards to where
we could see the nest tree, and the eagle was perched on a branch
above the nest. He (or she) put up with us observing for 30 to 40
seconds, then flew off, and was not seen again. Looking
at a close-up photo of the nest, we could see that there was grass
growing in it. Heavy rain, organic material, and wind-blown seeds
often result in plants growing in unexpected places. We could only
wonder if this situation had made the nest unusable. There were
certainly no visible birds in the nest.
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Bald
eagle stands guard over what appears to be an empty nest |
There's
no landscape artist finer than Mother Nature |
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This
facility is situated on a ridge that is actually the divide between
Sycamore Creek and the main channel of the Kings River and lake.
Where the camp road loops back around a hill, the ridge narrows, and
there is an overgrown path out to the end, where the land drops off
steeply down to the lake. We walked this trail, enjoying views of
the lake on both sides of us, and taking note of the various flowers
along the way.
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Where the
campground ridge drops down to the lake |
Fiesta
flowers and fiddlenecks make a nice color combination |
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Bird's
eye gilia are thick everywhere in the foothills |
Dove
lupines and popcorn flowers |
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As
we have done on most of our visits to this place, we drove up the
road a few more miles to where Big Creek runs into the lake. We
usually go a few hundred yards up the dirt road that parallels the
creek to a nice flat spot where we can set up our chairs. Not
surprisingly, this road was closed and we could see a slide that
covered half the road just a few feet from the paved route.
We
drove across the bridge and parked by the road. Just below the road
was a nice flat spot with views of the creek and everything else
around, and we carefully walked down the rough track and established
our lunch site there.
This
spot is about 30 or 40 feet above the creek, with a trail leading
down, so Wes and Bruce made their way down to where they had a nice
look at the bridge and the creek above it.
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That's
the Sycamore Creek branch of the lake on the right |
Wes poses
by the Big Creek bridge |
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On
the way home we made a stop where the road descends from the level
of the lake's high water line to the river level below the dam.
Along part of this route, where the descent starts, we are looking
down into the valley of Hughes Creek and it's along this section
that we usually see one of the more interesting spring wildflowers,
Chinese houses.
We
were not disappointed, getting some good photos of a large stand of
this intricate flower, growing as they often do on the road bank. We
also found some variety of clover and the common madea, which lives
up to its name by appearing in large numbers in a number of places
along Trimmer Springs Road. |
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Looking
down into the valley of Hughes Creek |
Intricate
and beautiful - Chinese houses |
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These
colorful clover blossoms can be found in many foothill locations |
Common
madea are common every spring |
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One
final special event awaited us - during our drive home, we saw young
bobcat run across the road and down the bank. This is at least the
second, and maybe the third bobcat we've seen during Rambler hikes.
Although
our group was small, our enjoyment of the magnificence of the Sierra
foothills was immense, and we all hoped we could make another visit
to this area before the summer heat sets in, the grass turns brown,
and the flowers go to seed.
--Dick
Estel, April 2023
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Ahwahnee
Hills
With
spring weather drawing to a close, the Ramblers went once again to
the Ahwahnee
Hills Regional Park, a little above
the 2,000 foot elevation level. It's a little higher than our usual
spring hike locations, and the wildflowers bloom a little later. Our
timing was close to perfect, with fluffy clouds in the sky and just
enough breeze to make a light jacket comfortable.
It
was the fourth visit for the Ramblers, although I have hiked there
several other times with family. The Ramblers' last visit was in March
of 2022, and the difference caused by this year's heavy rains
was stark - the pond had been nearly dry that time, and the grass
was drying out. In 2023, everything was brilliant green, the pond
was full to the brim, and the little creek had a good, strong flow.
Below one of the bridges the sand glittered with specs of mica,
sometimes called Fool's Gold.
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The pond
is full to overflowing |
This
little creek was still alive with spring runoff |
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We
were a small but select group. Sue Wirt and I drove up from the
valley, while Susan and Andy Crandall of Mariposa met us at the
park. They join us whenever our destination is in their general
direction, and they have hiked with us on three of our four hikes at
Ahwahnee. |
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Susan on
the trail |
Dick and
Sue take advantage of one of many
resting benches while Andy works his phone |
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The
wildflowers were not particularly thick, but there were some nice
patches of what we believe were monkey flower, and some popcorn
flowers, lupines, and even a few poppies. One interesting discovery
was a few bachelor buttons. We suspect they had been planted when
the area was a TB
sanitarium, and had gone wild.
The
most common "plants" were the beautiful valley oaks which
dominate the eastern side of the park and tower above the thick
green grass near the creek. |
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Monkey
flower |
Bachelor
button, once domestic, now wild |
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Stately
valley oak at the edge of a meadow |
More
oaks, shading an area thick with tall grass |
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After
our hike, we finished the day enjoying lunch at the Hitchin' Post, a
nice restaurant about a quarter of a mile from the park entrance. I
believe it's not only Ahwahnee's best, but Ahwahnee's only dining
location.
Although
it was nice and cool that day, the forecast and the normal
progression of spring to summer tells us we need to start looking
for higher elevations for our next hike.
--Dick
Estel, May 2023
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Lewis
Creek
When
hiking, even if you can't go where you planned, you can still go
somewhere. This was the fate of the Ramblers on May 24 with our
planned outing on the Lewis
Creek Trail. This trail goes from Cedar Valley, about a mile
from Highway 41 above Oakhurst, to Sugar Pine, about a mile from
Highway 41 farther up the road. However, most people go in at a
trailhead right off the highway about seven miles past Oakhurst. A
few hundred yards down the trail you can take the right fork, which
goes down to a viewing platform below Corlieu
Falls and beyond to Cedar Valley, or left to a bridge across
Lewis Creek, then upstream along the creek to Red
Rock Falls and Sugar Pine.
OK,
now convert everything I just said to past tense, and you will know
about our hike. We were a lucky group of seven - Jackie, Don, Wes,
Bruce, Susan, Dick and Ardyss. We planned to hike upstream, but the
bridge had washed out and the creek is much too strong for sensible
people to try to cross on a log or rocks. (Read about the strange
history of this bridge here,
here
and here.)
No
problem, we'll just go downstream and see the magnificent display of
Corlieu
Falls. This part of the trail becomes very steep, but we were
sort of undaunted - until we arrived at a place where there was a
washout in the trail ten feet across and shoulder deep. Wes, Bruce
and Susan decided to brave the gap, either climbing down into it, or
going above it, both options too difficult for Jackie, Ardyss and
me. Don does not actually hike, but went on the first part of our
exploration to the missing bridge, then relaxed at the parking
lot. |
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Corlieu
Falls drops in a series of cascades |
Bruce
& Susan brave the big washout |
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What's
left of the viewing platform |
Wes,
Bruce, Dick, Jackie, Ardyss, Don, Susan |
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When
they made their way down to the falls, our intrepid explorers
discovered that falling trees had destroyed the viewing platform.
They got some nice photos anyway, and went down to where the trail
levels out. They also found that the trail was in even worse
condition near the bottom.
Meanwhile
Jackie, Ardyss and I made our way slowly back up, stopping to
photograph some of the nice mountain wildflowers that decorated the
trail. The record rain this winter has been good for the flowers and
grass, but soil has washed out around rocks in the trail, making it
difficult most of the way and dangerous in a few spot. |
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Bruce at
the base of the falls |
Bruce
& Susan resting in a big canyon live oak |
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Indian
pink |
Bee in a
bear clover blossom |
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Wild iris |
These
unknown blossoms are less than an inch across |
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Despite
the problems, we enjoyed the day. The weather was comfortable, we
enjoyed the advantages of forest
bathing, and finished the day with a great Mexican lunch at El
Cid in Oakhurst. Join us in person or virtually for our next
hike, which we promise will be on much flatter ground.
--Dick
Estel, May 2023
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