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Roundup 2013 |
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Photos
Related Links
More
Travel Reports |
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Kings
River Bluegrass Festival
Buena Vista Trail Hike
Hensley Lake Camp
North Fork Mono Museum
White Rock Road
Hockey in Denver |
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What
is a Roundup? Some of my long-time readers have received several
of these "roundup reports" in the past - which is
what I call it when I combine two or more trips into a single
report, because the individual outings are usually short in distance
and duration. Since the first trip involves nothing but bluegrass,
readers who are not interested in the music may want to skip down to
the next section. But what you really should do is listen to the You
Tube videos linked below and get with the
program.
Kings
River Bluegrass Festival 2013:
The location
of the Kings River
Bluegrass Festival is about 20 miles from my house, so I have
been making it a one-day event with no motor home the last two
years. Most of the groups I really want to see play on Saturday, and
it makes for a much more relaxed event - none of the hassle of
getting the motor home ready, loading and unloading. Since there is
no electrical service at this festival, I would have to use the
generator, which requires setting up an exhaust pipe to carry the
smoke above and away from the vehicle.
So on
September 28 I loaded a small ice chest, my lawn chair, and extra
layers for the cool evening into my Honda, and took the short trip
to The Grove (formerly Hobbs Grove), getting there a half hour
before the music started.
All of the
groups on the program are from California, mostly the central
valley, central coast, or Bay Area, and I've seen quite a few of
them in the past. I'm always looking for a group that stands out and
is also one I have not heard before. There wasn't really any band
that met this criteria, but a number of them did offer some
individual aspect that was above average.
For
example, the Poor Valley
Band, from the Turlock area, included one
OK singer and one very good female singer, who goes by the handle
"Little Annie," when she does a bluegrass show on the Cal
State Stanislaus station, KCSS (available on line at http://www.kcss.net/).
She sang an outstanding version of that old bluegrass standard, Summertime,
written by the Bill Monroe of Broadway, George Gershwin.
One
of our local groups that I've seen many times, Grassfire,
impressed me with good harmony, and two pretty good singers.
Overall they are a solid mid-level band vocally and instrumentally,
but did an excellent job on a modern day cowboy song, Night
Rider's Lament, which I believe is a Jerry Jeff Walker
composition.
The
final band of the morning displayed the best energy level yet. Dim
Lights is essentially a family band, consisting of Avram
Frankel, his wife Vicki, and 14 year-old daughter Dana, plus two
others. The young lady is very good on the fiddle, not bad vocally
but still has that "young kid" sound. She sounded
exceptionally good harmonizing with her father. Frankel has played in other bands in
the Bay area, and I saw this group at the Good Old Fashioned
festival in Hollister in August.
The
next group, Sagebrush, put the blue back in bluegrass, with some
excellent work on a resonator slide guitar (like what is commonly called
a National steel, but
a different brand). This instrument rings out with a loud; powerful
sound. I thought this band overall was better instrumentally than
vocally.
The Valley
Oak Band consists of three Fresno area musicians, Kent and Jack
Kinney and Charlotte Allen (Jack and Charlotte both being 17). Her
father is the promoter of the festival, and both kids have been
playing for a number of years. Jack has become very good on banjo,
mandolin, and fiddle, while Charlotte plays bass. Kent Kinney is a
good vocalist. The teens still have a bit of the "kid
sound" in their vocals, but are developing their talents.
Perhaps the hottest guitar player in the valley, Eric Antrim of Snap
Jackson's group, joined the band for a couple of numbers.
Next
up was a northern California fixture that I've seen many times, Bean
Creek
from the central coast. They had a substitute
banjo player since the regular man on that job has some family
issues to deal with, but the heart of the band are Pete Hicks and
Billy Petrone, both long-time musicians who sing and play at a
highly professional level. A special treat was Jim Minton on Dobro;
whether he has joined the band or was a temporary substitute was not
made clear.
We
had a lunch break and a dinner break, foolishly scheduled only three
hours apart. At lunch time I put an extra lawn chair behind my car,
and had a little "tailgate" party as I snacked on cheese,
crackers, and vegetables. With the sun low in the south, there was
just enough shade for me and my chair.
I
was not hungry at the dinner break, so I got my evening cool weather
clothes and brought them to my chair, along with a few snack items
which I ate later while watching the show.
The
evening program finished out the day with three up and coming bands
and one California institution. First was a band mostly from Fresno,
the Grasskickers.
Lead vocalist Bob Garcia has a nice soft voice, pitched in
traditional bluegrass "high lonesome" register. Banjo man
Tom Naiman has a unique singing style that fits very well with the
songs he sings, including Merle Haggard's Working Man Blues.
Dan Stein sings and plays guitar, and is very good; and Bearrr Murray
fills out the group on the U-base, an electric bass ukulele. Eric
Antrim joined the group for one song.
Next up was Red Dog Ash
from Turlock, a band that's played at the free Bluegrass in the Park
series in Clovis for several years, and which has been steadily
improving and getting more attention and more bookings. They did
their usual good job, playing a number of songs from their two CDs,
a nice mix of originals and standard bluegrass songs.
The stage
was brightened up considerably the the next band, Central
Valley Boys, who are known for their brightly colored matching
suits Check the You Tube video for their most subdued look, and my photo
for the super red look they presented at Kings River. Their forte is
traditional bluegrass, and they are quite good at it. The members
are from various locations in California, with mandolinist John
Cogdell a Sanger resident and lead singer Youseff Tucker a former
valley resident from Caruthers.
The festival
headliner, Laurie Lewis & the
Right Hands, finished out the evening, and were scheduled to
appear again the next day. Laurie was a pioneer of the Bay Area
bluegrass scene back in the 1970s and has won national acclaim and
recognition. She's been a favorite of mine since I first saw her in
the late 1990s at the Mariposa festival. Her current band includes
her singing partner of nearly 30 years, Tom Rozum, and one of the
state's finest banjo players, Patrick Sauber, who also plays with Loafer's Glory
and other bands. Patrick provided the banjo music
heard in the movie A
Mighty Wind.
In addition
to her bluegrass recordings and performances, Laurie and Tom perform
as a duo, doing more folk oriented material. I have two of her
bluegrass CDs, one Tom & Laurie CD, and a whole passel of
downloads, and I can recommend everything she does.
Although she is a noted fiddler, lately she has mostly played guitar
in performance, turning the fiddle duties over to another very
excellent player.
The final
set ended around 10 p.m., so I was on the road in a few minutes and
back home by 10:30. In some ways I enjoyed this one-day event as
much or more than some of the full three-day festivals. Eating was a
little less convenient, and I had to use the porta-potties rather
than the civilized full bathroom facilities of the motor home. On
the other hand, I did not have to pick up the motor and load stuff in
and out. And of course, I had only a 20-mile drive and was home
sleeping in my regular bed when it was over.
Kings
River Bluegrass Photos
--Dick
Estel, October 2013 |
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Buena Vista Trail Hike:
This hike in Giant
Sequoia National Monument was originally scheduled for October
1, but was postponed due to
the government shut-down. At the time I wrote, "Hopefully it can be rescheduled before the
snows fly." Well,
that didn't quite happen. A small storm came through our area
October 28. It sprinkled a few times here in Clovis, maybe two
tenths of an inch of rain. But throughout the Sierra it left a layer
of snow, with about an inch at 5,000 feet. Although I could
have easily checked on line, I had the idea that our destination was
not over 6,000, so the snow should be nearly all melted a week
later. It was not. Around
9 a.m. on November 3, I picked up my friend and former co-worker
Carolyn Amicone, and we drove east toward King Canyon and Sequoia
National Parks. We were actually headed for a place that lies
between the two parks, along the Generals
Highway in the Giant
Sequoia National Monument. At one point, just a few miles from the
entrance to Kings Canyon, there is an overlook which provides an
excellent view into the canyon of the South Fork of the Kings River,
and the peaks above it. On the opposite side of the road a trail
leads up to the top of Buena Vista Peak. Information
in the brochure and map given to visitors explained that this one
mile trail takes you to the rocky summit at 7,600 feet, where you
have a 360 degree view. I stopped here and briefly considered taking
this trail when I visited Sequoia Park in
early September. However, there was a fire making everything
very hazy, so I decided to wait for a time when the view would be
better. The
day we chose was indeed that time, with clear, blue skies and
excellent views anywhere we stopped. The weather was predicted to be
about 50 degrees, with 11-mile winds, so we brought several layers,
but it turned out we were rarely exposed to the wind, which was
much lighter than expected. The main weather obstacle turned out to
be snow. We started seeing patches along the road around the 5,000
foot level, and on the trail we were walking through snow about half
the time. It was not deep,
and was fairly easy to walk through, but we appreciated each time
that we came to a stretch of trail that was just
dirt. These sections were damp but not muddy except for a couple
of very short spots. In some places the snow was packed down and a
few spots were icy and slippery, but we could walk in the softer
snow beside the trail in these places, and that made for relatively
easy, and much safer, walking. The elevation change is 420 feet in
one mile, so the trail is mostly uphill, but rarely steep. We were
very careful when we came to the bad spots, and of course, we were
in no hurry. With careful
hiking, and stops to rest, take pictures, or just enjoy the
surroundings, we took a little over 90 minutes to get to the
top. The trail goes through forested land for a while, then comes
out into an open area where you are walking on granite. Of course,
the open areas were welcome because the snow had melted there. After
that section, the trail again enters the forest, and throughout the
hike there are huge sugar pine, Jeffrey
pine and fir trees. At various places and of course on top, you
can see 10,000 foot Spanish Mountain to the north, where it forms a
steep cliff that plunges over a mile to the Kings River below. To
the east and much closer is Buck
Rock, a thimble-like granite dome with a fire lookout on top. South
of Buena Vista Peak is Big
Baldy Ridge, which ends in a granite dome slightly higher than
Buena Vista, and accessible by a two mile trail that starts a few
miles further down the Generals Highway. The land drops off sharply
to the west, where you are looking down on Redwood Mountain,
location of the largest Sequoia grove in existence. The
top of the peak is actually more like a dome, with plenty of room to
walk around. To reach the very top, you have to climb up on one of
two large boulders, neither of which looked inviting to people of
retirement age, so we contented ourselves with a slightly lower and
smaller boulder and took
photos to commemorate the event. There was a strong, cool breeze
blowing from the west, so we found some fairly flat rocks where we
could sit out of the wind, and had a snack of apple and orange
slices. We probably spent
at least a half hour on top, enjoying the
views in all directions and congratulating ourselves on our safe
arrival. We knew that going down would not be a fast trip,
considering the many slippery spots that required careful foot
placement, but we made it down in about 45 minutes, very glad to
change out of our boots to tennis shoes and sit down in the comfort
of my Honda. We had
considered going to Panoramic
Point, which would require a short quarter mile hike, but by the
time we got settled in the car, we realized the only walking we
wanted to do after that was from car to house. I
didn't take as many pictures as I would have liked - it took all my
energy to keep from falling. There is a batch of excellent photos at
the bottom of the trail
web site. For those
who like connections, the first two parts of this roundup fit together in
this way: The day after the Kings River Bluegrass Festival
(September 30), performers Laurie Lewis and Tom Rozum hiked at
Redwood Mountain, beating the government shutdown by one day. Buena Vista Trail
Photos
--Dick Estel, November
2013 |
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Hensley
Lake Camp: I've reported on this location so many times that I'm
not sure I have anything new to say. I was tempted to just list the
links to previous reports, but that would be the easy way.
The Hensley
Lake recreation area has several attractions for me. First, it's less than 40
miles from home. It's low in elevation, making it a good winter
camping spot. When we have good rainfall, it's nice and green by
January, sometimes even by mid-November. It has a nice one-mile loop
trail that goes up and down over ridges and through low spots, just
right for my kind of hiking. And of course, for those who are
interested, there is a lake and fish.
When I
started to make my reservation a few days ahead, I realized it was
the end of a three-day weekend, so for a few moments I was concerned
about the park maybe being very busy. However, my favorite spot was
available for as long a I wanted it and more. Then I saw a notice
that the boat ramps are closed, and I immediately suspected that
there would be very few people there.
This
proved to be the case. Unfortunately, we have had two years of below
average rainfall, leaving the foothills brown and dry, and the lake
at such a low level that there is more dirt than
water. I left home
about 11 a.m. on November 11, and when I arrived at the lake, there
was just one other party camped there. Reservation signs still in
place at several sites showed that three or four other parties
had left that morning. Although there were a few day
visitors there during the time I was there, I was the only one to
spend the night Monday and Tuesday.
There is a day use
area/vista point on the opposite side of the lake from the
campground, so before turning on to the road that crosses the river
below the dam, I continued on the additional two miles to check out this
spot, where I had not been for maybe eight years. There is a nice
view of the lake from the parking area, and it was immediately clear
that our two years of low rainfall have taken their toll. The water
was anywhere from 100 to 500 feet below the bottom of the various
boat ramps. I also learned that there were greater than usual water
releases, to aid farmers impacted by the drought.
After
a short time at the vista point, I drove back to the junction, then
continued on to the camp ground. Camping at this location was also
an opportunity to get in some extra exercise, so shortly after I get
set up I went for the first of several walks. The campground has
three fairly big loop roads, and I went around the two that were
farthest from my camp site, taking about 40 minutes.
Along
the way I checked for occupied sites, with the following
results: One site is set aside for the Campground Host (this person
left for an extended absence the next day); one site is set aside
for the Campground Volunteer, and one site was occupied, but was
vacated later that day.
The
campground has 52 numbered sites, but this figure is somewhat
misleading. The host and volunteer sites are not available to the
public, and at least one site is subdivided into a, b, c, and d
(these are all small tent sites). Most of the sites have electrical
and water hook-ups, with up to 50 amp service available. My motor
home requires 30 amps, but the giant motor homes and 5th wheel trailers use 50. Most
campers carry adapters so they can use 20 amp if necessary, but this
will not run an air conditioner and may have other limits. I also
have an adapter for the 50-amp outlet, since a few campgrounds only
offer this.
If
you're ever considering camping at Hensley, you can make
reservations on line here.
The system allows you to enter the number from your senior pass if
you have one and get a 50% discount. For the first time, I got an
email asking me to do an on-line pre-registration form, which I
could print out and bring to speed things up at the gate. Since no
one was on duty, this worked exceptionally well - I just barely
slowed down at the gate. A ranger always comes around and checks,
but they apparently had information in the computer, and didn't ask
to see the form.
Well, that's probably
more than you wanted to know about the Federal Recreation
Reservation System, so let's move on to the weather report. The
forecast was for highs near 80, lows in the 40s, and a very slight
chance of rain Tuesday. Monday it was cloudy and hazy much of the
time, but very nice. At night there was an elliptical formation of
broken clouds all across the sky, with the moon in the middle. As I
watched, the clouds drifted nearly off the moon. Later the clouds coalesced
and covered most of the sky, but the moon was still visible, and
still later there was a huge ring around the moon, followed by more
broken clouds.
The
second night there were scattered clouds which gradually broke up,
with almost complete clearing toward morning, and it was very cold,
probably in the 40s. Orion rose in the sky, and at various times
Venus was extremely bright in the west, then Jupiter high in the
sky.
In the
daytime it was perfect weather for sitting, and just a little bit
warm for hiking. Tuesday I took a brief morning walk, followed by my
official camping Bloody Mary and breakfast. I may have fitted in a
nap also, because it was close to 1 p.m. by the time I started my
"big hike," the allegedly one-mile Pohonichi Trail.
Actually I think this is a mile of uphill, plus a little downhill.
Whatever the actual trail mileage, it is a pretty good walk from the
camp to the trailhead. There is a road which I have taken when I had
my bike, but on foot it was easier to just take a cross-country route. This
probably added an additional half mile to the total trip. Some of
this walk was through dry grass, but there are narrow game trails
all over this country, and I was able to follow one of these through
the thickest part.
This
is a nice hike, with plenty of up and down, through open blue oak
woodland, but of course, it's a little nicer when it's green. The
only green grass I saw was next to a large rock formation, where I
think water running off the boulders provided enough extra moisture
to get about three square feet of grass started.
My doctor recently told
me I need to exercise more, so I've been keeping track of my daily
walk time. The trail hike was about 85 minutes, after deducting rest
stops, but probably still counting brief stops to take pictures. As
I mentioned, although it was around 75 degrees, walking warmed me
up quickly. I
started with a long sleeve T-Shirt and a sweat shirt, but the latter
came off before I was half way.
During
my various walks, as well as along the roads, I saw many, many
ground squirrels. At times there were three or four in view at once.
I also saw another common foothill dweller: Not far from my camp is
large rock formation, with brush all around it, which I have named
Rabbit Rock. As I walked around it, a rabbit ran out and around to a
presumably safer spot, something that had happened several times
before at that location. I saw the rabbit at least three times during
my visit (or maybe three separate rabbits).
Coming
back from one of my walks, I saw a hawk in a dead tree on the hill
above camp. I quietly asked him to stay there while I got my camera,
and he obliged, but flew as soon as I took the first picture. I got
several shots of him flying, only one of which was worth keeping.
Completing
the wildlife report, when I went out to look at the stars Tuesday
night, I heard an owl, maybe two of them, since the second hoot
seemed to be deeper and/or farther away. I heard him again just
before dawn.
Wednesday
morning I walked all the loops, which still took me only about 40
minutes. Since it was morning I probably walked a little faster.
Along the way I stopped and chatted for about ten minutes with the
volunteer, who was trimming some tree branches that hung down into
the fish cleaning area. When I got back to the motor home, I
had breakfast, washed the dishes, and got ready to leave. The
campground has a dump station, so I took care of that chore and got
on the road around 11 a.m. and was home in less than an hour.
Hensley
Lake Photos
--Dick
Estel, November 2013
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North
Fork and Mono Museum: This was a short day trip to a place I've
been wanting to visit for a number of years. The Mono people of
North Fork incorporated in 1966 to form the Sierra
Mono Indian Museum, which was opened to the
public in 1971. I have a clipping about the museum from The Fresno
Bee dated 1978. I don't think I saved it from that time myself, I
believe it was in the many newspaper clippings and other things my
mother saved, so I probably first read it in late 2007. Among other
changes since the article was written, the museum is now open
Tuesday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.
Better
late then never, I set off on November 16 with friends Janell and
Ken, driving north on State Highway 41 to the junction with Madera
County Road 200, also known as the North Fork Road. The route goes
east through the community of O'Neals, which has an elementary
school and not much else. North
Fork itself is a small town of about 3,000, at the 2,600 foot
elevation. For many decades it was the site of a large sawmill, but
this closed in 1996. Since then the town has been reinventing itself
as a tourist destination. Going east out of town you will be on the Sierra
Vista Scenic Byway, which goes many miles into the mountains,
with some spectacular views of Mammoth
Pool Reservoir on the San Joaquin River, and the domes and other
granite formations seen from Mile High Lookout.
The museum is a few
hundred feet off the main road, and we found it after going a
quarter mile down the wrong way. There is no required admission fee,
but a donation of $7 is suggested, and it's well worth it. There are
probably a thousand or more baskets, covering not only the Mono
culture, but many other Indian groups. Many of these are of recent
vintage, but made by native people using traditional materials and
techniques.
There are also hundreds
of arrow and spear points, many of them in very fine condition, as
well as mortars, pestles, cradle boards and numerous other
artifacts. There are also several dozen stuffed animals or mounted
heads, representing all the major animals of the area, as well as
some from other locations. Some of these are displayed in small
dioramas.
The exhibits are not well
organized, and many of them are not labeled, but this does not
detract from the enjoyment of the amazing craftwork and beautiful
designs. Although photos are not permitted within
the museum, there are some very nice pictures here, which I trust were taken
with permission. Disclaimer: Some have nothing to do with the Mono
Museum.
We spent about an hour at
the museum, then went into "downtown" North Fork and
stopped briefly at the visitor center. We asked about places to eat,
and were given the names of four or five restaurants, only one of
which could be considered a "chain." The Pizza Factory is
really a bunch of locally owned franchise restaurants, mostly in
smaller towns and cities, and always very good. However, we walked
about 50 feet down the road to Slim's, which proved to be a good
choice. We had the meathead sandwich, was a very large meal, with
lots of meat, cheese and green goodies, in a triple layer like a
club.
We said our farewell to
North Fork and drove back toward State 41, but about a mile before
reaching the highway, we turned left and took the "back
roads," including Roads 210, 211, 145 and 206, crossing the San
Joaquin River at the town of Friant.
This town is located right below Friant
Dam, which forms Millerton
Lake on the river. From here we headed back into the metro area on
Friant Road and Willow Avenue, which goes into Clovis a mile west of
my house.
North Fork
Photos
--Dick Estel, November
2013 |
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White
Rock Road: Some time in late November, 2013, someone posted a photo of
the Lewis School on the
"You
Know You're From Mariposa" Facebook page. I had never heard
of this school, so I asked where it was, and learned that it was
"back off the White Rock road heading toward Le Grand, down past the Cemetery."
My friend Susan Crandall chimed in with the fact that the Lewis
families were thick in the White Rock area at one time (her mother
was a Lewis).
I
realized that although I grew up in Mariposa County and have been
back there a couple hundred times, I did not know where the White
Rock Road was, so I looked it up on the map. I immediately decided
that next time I went to Mariposa (which is rare these days), I
would take that road.
Then
Sunday night, December 1, I was looking at my schedule for the week
and saw that I had nothing till Friday. I felt like I should take
advantage of the situation and do something or go somewhere. With our parents' house sold and the undeveloped land
parcel taking care of itself, I no longer have any reason to go to
Mariposa, but a
realization hit me - since I have no reason to go to Mariposa,
I could go there Monday for no reason, and explore the White Rock
Road.
I sent
an Email to Susan asking if she and Andy (her husband) would like to get
together for lunch, although I was not optimistic, due to the late
notice and the fact that she is a very busy person. It turned out that she
was available, although Andy was starting a project and he
could not get away. We agreed that I would call her when I got close
to Mariposa and we'd decide where to meet and eat.
The
next morning I threw some water and an apple in a small ice chest and
got on the road about 9 a.m. To get to the White Rock Road I would
have to go up Highway 99 past Madera, then take county roads through
northern Madera County into Merced County, where I would be on Santa
Fe Avenue, which parallels the railroad tracks and goes through the
small town of Le
Grand. A ways south of Le Grand White Rock crosses the tracks
and Santa Fe, and here I turned north. The first mile or so was
terribly bumpy, with the car bouncing around even at 40 MPH, but I
was certain it would get better, and very soon it did, about where
it crosses Le Grand Avenue, which runs east out of the town. Not far
past this
point White Rock turns directly east toward the
foothills.
Off to
the right as you leave the valley floor are some table-top
hills,
similar to those along the San Joaquin River between Fresno and
Madera County, but lower and smaller. In this area the road
approached and briefly paralleled Mariposa Creek before rising away
from it.
Then
the country became a bit more hilly and the road started to follow
creeks and go through narrow canyons. There are not a lot of trees
in this area, mainly valley oaks along the waterways. It is cattle
country all the way, but cows are fairly scattered, probably because
of two dry years. This has given ranchers the tough choice of paying
high prices for hay or reducing their herds, and the latter is
usually the most economically viable.
After
a few miles of this fairly open country, the road comes out into
what I would describe as a large, semi-level rolling bench, with
open oak woodland being the most common sight. This is the most
scenic part of the drive, with some nice rock
formations, but the
road soon rises again into steep country
where there is not a single tree or bush on the hills.
Once
you get on the White Rock Road, there are few opportunities to get
off. After Le Grand Road, the first road junction is West Westfall
Road, which leads toward the town of Raymond. This is in the area
just before the climb into bare hills.
After
another good climb up a canyon, the road goes over a ridge, and the
contrast in vegetation is dramatic. The northern slopes get more
moisture, and there is once again a thick growth of trees, mostly
blue oak and live oak, with a few bull pines. This stretch was also
the location of a few miles of dirt road, but it was well graded,
and I could go up to 40 MPH when the curves permitted. A long down
hill stretch here takes you down to and across Mariposa Creek, then up again.
Before
I reached this point I observed a small burial ground, the White
Rock Cemetery. I stopped to see if there were any familiar
names, and found a couple of Lewis family graves, as well as several
in the Gann family, which was widespread in Mariposa County in my
youth. There were a couple of other names that sounded familiar, but
most interesting was a very new headstone, but not a new burial, of
a civil war
soldier.
About
the time I crossed Mariposa Creek I remembered that my "pay as
you go" dumb phone does not work on Verizon's extended network,
which is what you get in Mariposa County. The iPad will work
sometimes, so I stopped and tried to send an email to Susan to
arrange a meeting, but I didn't have any service in that area, so I
realized I would have to find a phone in Mariposa after I arrived.
Throughout
the trip from Santa Fe Avenue to Old
Highway, a distance of about 25
slow, winding miles, I met only two
vehicles. This
road is one of the most remote and lonesome roads I have been on -
the "backest" of the backcountry. In the San Joaquin
valley it passes two or three ranches. Once it enters the foothills,
signs of human activity are few and far between.
Finally,
I turned on to Old
Highway, one of several stretches of the original
Highway 140 alignment that are still in use, and was immediately
back in civilization. This is a fairly well-traveled road, with
houses visible almost all the time. It joins Highway 49 half way
between town and the fairgrounds, and I've driven this route a
number of times. At the other end it runs into Highway 140 at
Cathey's Valley.
Wanting to travel
another road I had never been on, I soon
turned left on Yaqui Gulch Road, which runs across to Highway 140 a
few miles west of town. This road did not exist when I was a kid, or
if it did, it was a dirt track, but it is now the best road I had
driven on all day. The distance across was not very long, and soon I
was heading into Mariposa on the "all year highway" that
runs from Merced to Yosemite.
Phone
booths are a rarity these days; I don't know where one is in
Mariposa, and I usually don't carry change. So I headed for a familiar location, the Senior Center, where my
parents ate lunch for many years, and where I often went with them.
There was no one I knew on duty, but they were very willing to let
me use the phone, and I arranged to meet Susan at Castillo's, an
excellent Mexican restaurant on 5th Street, in about 15 minutes.
I
refer to Susan as my "unrelated cousin" - our families have been
friends since the early 1900's, and one of her dad's cousins is
married to one of my mother's cousins (all being originally from the
same area of northwest Ohio). Susan and Andy had driven the White
Rock Road a time or two recently and had also stopped at the
cemetery, so we discussed the road, the isolation of the area, and
lots of other things.
After
a good dinner and conversation, we
said our goodbyes, and I set out to do a couple of other things.
First was to visit Leroy
Radanovich, who has documented the history
of the county in words and photographs for a number of years. He
lives just a block up the hill from the restaurant, and as I drove
up there, it felt like I might have a low tire. I parked next to his
house and got out, and sure enough the right front tire was
obviously in trouble.
I knocked on the door,
planning to ask Leroy for help, but he was not home. I took a look at the
spare, one of those emergency spares that you are not supposed to
drive over 50 MPH on, and decided that my tire changing days are
over. Since my cell phone would not work, I could not call my
roadside service, and I did not have the slightest idea where to go
for tire service.
A quick check on my iPad for auto repair in Mariposa produced no
results, which I knew was not possible, so I considered wandering
through town looking for a shop, and realized my best bet was to go
back to the restaurant and seek help.
Holly, our waitress and
also the owner of the cafe suggested Mariposa Tire, looked up the
phone number, and let me use their phone to call them. They came
over within ten minutes with a compressor, and got the tire aired up
enough that I could drive to their shop. Despite a missing wheel
lock socket, which was in a tool box that I had removed from the
trunk a few months ago, they got the tire off, fixed it, and I was on my way within a
half hour. This type of service and the helpfulness of folks in
Mariposa is typical of what I have found in small towns around the
country, and something that others in difficulty have written to the
local newspaper about in the past. I never thought I would be in
such a position, but I was not surprised at the kindness that
helped me get on my way with a minimum of hassle.
I had planned to do a
couple more things in Mariposa, but by this time I was not up
to any more adventures in the hills, so I headed south out of town
on Highway 49 to Oakhurst, then down Highway 41 to Fresno, Clovis
and home.
Map Notes: If you
look at the map of Mariposa County, you will see that
White
Rock Road roughly parallels state Highway 140 about four miles to
the southeast. On some maps, you may also discover that White Rock
extends south a ways from the point where I joined it off Santa Fe.
It goes about a mile or two to the Merced-Madera county line, where
it becomes Madera County Road 19. Several sources state that it was
a major trail used by Native Americans in trading and migrating
between the Sierra and the San Joaquin Valley.
If you ask someone in
Mariposa how to get to the Old Highway, they will probably ask,
"which one?" There is a short section of the old route
still in use on the northeast side of Mariposa, running from near
the high school out to Highway 140 about a mile outside of town.
This was the "go to" place for teenagers to park back in
the 1950s (or so I've heard), but it would not be very satisfactory
for that use now, since a number of houses have been built along the
road.
Highway 140 was completed from Merced to Mariposa in
the 1920s, extending to Yosemite Valley by 1926. It was first known
as the "All Year Highway." Other routes into the
park pass through much higher elevations, and usually experience
some snow closures during the winter. Highway 120 from the east,
from Lee Vining on US 395 over 9,400 foot Tioga Pass, is closed roughly from
Thanksgiving to Memorial Day.
The "all year"
designation may have been a bit optimistic, since there were several
lengthy closures from the opening of the Merced river route through
the 1960s due to floods that washed out sections of the roadway. But
for the most part, the highest point, 3,000 foot Midpines Summit,
gets moderate snow and is quickly plowed, making this the road of
choice for winter visits.
I looked at several old
Mariposa County maps that my parents had, and found that Yaqui Gulch
Road was once known as Hogan Road. Since the Hogans are a long-time
Mariposa family, I wondered how they were displaced by an Indian
tribe located in Arizona and Mexico. The road does not appear at all
on some of the old maps, and on others it looks like it was probably a dirt road.
Further research has disclosed that a group of Yaqui Indians
prospected in the area during early gold rush days.
Mining: I assumed
"white rock" referred to quartz,
the silica based rock that makes up much of the gold-bearing
formations in the Mother
Lode gold country. It turns out that the original white rock was
indeed a quartz formation that rose 100 feet above the surrounding
terrain. The mining was not for gold but for the silica itself, for
use in aluminum production. The Kaiser Aluminum operation basically
turned the outcrop into a hole in the ground, but small formations
still exist. More information can be found here.
I also noticed on my old
map the site of the Granite
King Mine, near where the Old Highway meets Yaqui Gulch and Ben
Hur Roads. This was one of two gold mines where my father worked
briefly in the 1940s. The other was the Pine
Tree Mine, near the top of Bagby
Grade a short distance north of Bear
Valley.
My research into mining
in the area also revealed that there were a number of copper mines,
information that was new to me. Most of these were off White Rock
near West Westfall
Road.
White
Rock Road Photos
---Dick Estel, December
2013
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Hockey
in Denver: My 16-year old grandson, Mikie, started attending
hockey games while still in the womb. In his early years, he went to
minor pro Fresno Falcons games, and enjoyed watching his
older brother, Johnny, in his youth hockey activities. Eventually
Mikie followed in Johnny's skate marks, and having gone through the
various levels, now plays on the Fresno Monsters youth hockey team
at the oldest level, Midgets (ages 15 through 18).
He
really got interested in watching pro National Hockey League games
on TV during the 2001 playoffs, when the Colorado Avalanche
won their second Stanley
Cup. He's remained a fan of the team
through their many ups and downs, including a dismal season last
year when they finished next to last in the league.
He has
seen the team live a couple of times, playing in San Jose against my
favorites, the Sharks, but he's always wanted to see a game in
Denver. In 2013, his wish came true with a special Christmas present
from Grandpa Dick - a plane ride to Colorado and tickets to the Avs
game against the Winnipeg Jets on December 29.
It is a good year for the Avs - they started the season with six
straight wins, and have held a playoff position throughout the
season, now at the halfway mark.
In
keeping with established rules, attempting to fly anywhere from
Fresno is punishable by inflated ticket prices, inconvenient flight
times, and long layovers. Actually our Fresno to Denver flight was
not that bad, leaving at 7:30 a.m. and getting us there in a little
under two and a half hours.
We had
some great views flying over the Sierra, including rugged rock
mountains, snow, and ice-covered lakes. I had been watching the
Denver weather forecast for several days, and the final prediction
was for light snow showers during the night, ending before we even
left home. This proved to be accurate, so we had more scenic views
over the Rockies, and as we landed we could see a long stretch of
the range, brilliantly covered in new snow with the skyscrapers of
downtown Denver between us and the mountains.
I had
already decided to rely on local transportation rather than renting
a car, since I am thankfully not used to driving in snowy
conditions. It was actually sunny and the roads were clear, with
about a one inch layer of snow along the road during our 25-minute
cab ride.
We got
checked in to the Hilton Garden Inn in downtown not long after noon,
and I tried to take a short nap, since we had got up at 6 a.m. I
couldn't manage to fall asleep, and having skipped breakfast, we decided to go out for lunch. I
had looked up nearby restaurants on the Internet, and we chose the Yard House, about four blocks away, but also
planned to be open
minded if we saw a place that sounded good on the way. After the
first block we noticed a large indoor mall with many shops and
restaurants. We came to the directory, and decided on the Hard Rock
Cafe. It was just upstairs from us, but when we got there it was
closed.
None
of the other restaurants in the mall sounded right, so we went out
and down a different way to the street. After we crossed the street
heading in the direction of the Yard House Mikie said, "There's
another Hard Rock right there. It looks open." It was indeed,
so we went in. We had some very good hamburgers, and enjoyed looking
at the guitars, costumes and other memorabilia on the walls. The
waiter informed us that all the items displayed were used at
concerts in the local area, many of them at Red Rocks
Amphitheater.
Although
the chain is quite familiar to both of us, neither Mikie nor I had
ever eaten at a Hard Rock, but we decided to add it to our list of
good places to go.
After
lunch we walked around downtown for a short time. One of
the more intriguing and certainly unique sights in downtown Denver
was the 40-foot high sculpture of a big blue bear, standing on his
hind legs, and peering into the glass-walled Colorado Convention
Center. A Google search for "giant
blue bear sculpture Denver" will bring up a lot of
information and photos. One of the best pictures is found here.
When
we got back to the hotel we had about two hours before time to leave
for the arena. Mikie watched football, while I read and tried to
nap. The game was at six, so we left the hotel at five, planning to
walk the mile or so to the Pepsi
Center. After about two blocks we saw a pedi-cab, so we took
that the rest of the way.
Mikie
was very happy and excited to be in the Pepsi Center once again. We
visited there in the summer during our cross-country trip
in 2004, but of course, there was no ice and no hockey then. The
arena was close to sold-out, and the visiting Winnipeg Jets had a
lot of fans present.
It was
a close, intense game, with no scoring in the first two periods. A
little more than half way through the final period, the Jets got the
first goal of the game, but the Avalanche answered 30 seconds later.
Regulation play ended in a tie, leading to a 5-minute overtime.
There were chances for both teams, but Winnipeg put in a goal with
two seconds left to take the win. Due to the regulation tie, the
Avalanche got one point in the standings, but of course, a loss
still feels like a loss.
We had
hoped to get a cab back to the hotel, but we didn't see any outside
the rink. We walked a couple of blocks to an intersection so we
could give our location and called a cab company. We stood on the
cold, windy street corner at least five minutes waiting for the
"next available operator," then started walking toward the
hotel. About this time the operator answered, but when I learned it
would be 20 minutes before they could get a cab there, I decided it
would be much warmer, and nearly as fast, to walk.
We had
come out of the rink through a different entrance than we went in,
and we were going more or less parallel to the route we should have
taken. I had asked Mikie to download the Google Maps app to his
smart phone before we left home, so we opened that and got our
directions right, and made it safely back to the hotel, although we
probably went two or three extra blocks before we started using the
map. In any case, it was a good walk, making up for the fact that I
could not do my usual morning walk that day.
We got
a snack at the front desk - ice cream for me and chips and Gatorade
for Mikie, and relaxed in the room for a short while before getting
to bed. We had to get up at 4 a.m. (3 a.m. Pacific time), so it was
a short night, and I didn't sleep very well.
There
was a taxi stand across the street from the hotel, and the cab
driver we rode in from the airport with assured us there were always
cabs there, which proved to be the case, so we were soon on our way
back to the airport, about a 25-minute ride. We had received
boarding passes for the home flight in Fresno, so we went directly
to the security line, which was long but moving fairly fast. We were
diverted to a quicker line where we did not have to take off our
shoes, although the heavy metal clips on my suspenders set off the
alarm, and I had to take them off.
By the
time we got through security and made the LONG trip (by tram and
foot) to our gate, it was time to board for our 5:50 a.m. flight, so
we had no idle time there. The homeward flight went through Los
Angeles, and there is apparently a rule that any trip through LAX
requires at least a 90-minute layover. We spent much of that time
dozing or reading, but the time went fairly quickly and we had a
very nice flight in to Fresno. Once we got over the San Joaquin
Valley we had a sensational view of the snow covered high
Sierra, probably a stretch of 80 miles or more.
We
arrived in Fresno around 10 a.m., and with no checked baggage, we
were soon on our way out of the airport. We went to one of our
favorite burger places, the Colorado
Grill (very fitting) about a mile from my house. Once we got
back to my place, we said our goodbyes and Mikie hopped in his
pickup for the drive back home on the opposite side of Fresno.
Despite the result of the game, he was happy with the hockey and the
trip, and I was delighted that the weather cooperated and made it a
smooth and enjoyable trip.
Hockey
in Denver Photos
--Dick
Estel, January 2013
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Photos
(Click to enlarge; pictures open in new window) |
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Kings
River Bluegrass
Buena Vista Trail Hike
Hensley
Lake Camp North
Fork Area White
Rock Road Hockey
in Denver |
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Kings
River Bluegrass |
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Poor Valley Band |
Grassfire |
The Dim Lights |
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Sagebrush |
Valley Oak Band |
Valley Oak with Eric Antrim |
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Bean Creek |
Grasskickers |
Red Dog Ash (RDA Photo) |
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Central Valley Boys |
Laurie Lewis & the Right Hands |
Festival program cover |
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The old barn (2009 photo) |
Wall made from field lug boxes at The
Grove |
View east of camping area
(2009 photo) |
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Buena Vista Peak Hike |
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Carolyn on the trail |
Dick enjoys a snow-free section of the
trail |
Nature does some fantastic landscaping |
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Buck Rock with fire lookout on top |
A typical scene along the trail |
Big sugar pine, loaded with cones |
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This tree has adapted to a pole
probably nailed to it decades ago |
Jeffrey Pine shows clearly
which way
the wind blows |
Tree near top of peak survives
despite
harsh conditions |
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Looking southeast from the top |
Carolyn enjoys a well-earned rest |
Dick surveys the scene |
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Kings Canyon and the rugged peaks above
it |
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Hensley Lake Camp |
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Campground entrance |
New islands |
Almost like a lake |
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Boat ramp to nowhere |
Hillside sentinel |
Waiting for the next ground squirrel |
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Airborne |
Rabbit hiding in the brush |
Where he really hides |
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One mile my aching back! |
A sheltered growing spot |
The biggest spot of green in the whole
area |
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Abandoned artifact |
Game trail |
A snaky plant |
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North Fork Area |
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View from Mile High Vista |
Fuller Buttes and Balloon Dome |
The Eagle Beaks |
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Mammoth Pool Reservoir (Susan Crandall
photo) |
The museum in the 1970s |
Fresno Bee article about the museum
from 1978 |
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White Rock
Road |
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Windmill and shed don't
make
the road seem less isolated |
Another windmill with the
barn |
Basalt topped hills
southeast of the
road as it heads up from the valley |
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The long, lonesome road |
Valley oak along Mariposa
Creek |
Is this the original
white rock? |
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Another typical stretch
of the road |
Trees and rock formations
make
this the most scenic area of the drive |
Nature's landscaping |
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Old rock walls are common
in
the Mariposa County foothills |
Looking back where
the road
climbs to its upper reaches |
A Mariposa County
landmark, Signal Peak
from White Rock & Old Highway intersection |
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The White Rock Cemetery |
Weathered stone marks
site of
first burial in the cemetery |
Not a new burial, but a
new stone to honor a soldier |
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White Rock Road through
southern Mariposa County |
Section showing White
Rock-Old
Highway Junction and Hogan
Road (now Yaqui Gulch Road) |
Mariposa town map,
Old
Highway North in upper right |
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Hockey in
Denver
(All photos by Mikie Liddle) |
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Flying in to Denver over
the Rockies |
The street in front of our
hotel |
A fresh bowl of snow |
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The Avs' Stanley Cup Banners |
Avalanche warm-up |
The sunny, snowy Sierra |
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Related Links |
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Bluegrass You Tube Links |
Dim
Lights |
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Valley
Oak Band |
Bean
Creek |
Grasskickers |
Red
Dog Ash |
Central
Valley Boys |
Laurie
Lewis |
Laurie and Tom |
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Bluegrass Band Links |
Bean
Creek
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Grassfire |
Grasskickers |
Red Dog Ash |
Central
Valley Boys |
Laurie Lewis |
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Other Links |
Kings River |
Northern California Bluegrass
Society |
Bluegrass Info
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California Bluegrass
Association |
Central
Valley Bluegrass |
Dick's
Bluegrass T-Shirt Photos |
Dick's
Bluegrass Odyssey |
Fresno Folklore
Society |
International Bluegrass
Association |
Buena
Vista Trail |
Giant
Sequoia National Monument |
Generals
Highway |
Big
Baldy Trail |
Big
Baldy Photos |
More
Buena Vista Photos |
The
Mono People |
North
Fork Rancheria |
Sierra
Mono Indian Museum |
Museum
Photos |
Town
of North Fork |
Mammoth
Pool Reservoir |
North
Fork |
Sierra
Vista Scenic Byway |
Friant
Dam |
O'Neals |
Millerton
Lake |
Hensley
Lake |
E.
Howe's White Rock Photos |
Another
striking photo by Howe |
Le
Grand |
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White
Rock Silica Mine |
Highway
140 |
Castillo's |
Leroy
Radanovich |
Cathey's Valley |
Colorado Avalanche |
Stanley
Cup |
Hard Rock
Cafe |
Denver,
Colorado |
The
Big Blue Bear |
Colorado
Grill |
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