August 3, 2006: It seems as if this camping program is wimping out. This year only
four of us will spend a night in the woods above Dinkey Creek, a
mile off the
Rock Creek Road, in the big flat area I call Stargazer Rock.
I guess
it’s just hard to find a date that works for everyone. Kenny and
Leslie are on a cruise to
Alaska. Jennifer is busy getting her classroom and curriculum ready for
school, which starts next week. Teri has chosen not to spend the
night, but will bring Mikie up after his hockey game Saturday
morning. Tim and Johnny will spend Friday night at Courtright
Reservoir for some fishing, then come here for Saturday night.
So
right now I’m here all alone, which makes for a much needed,
peaceful period of rest after a hectic week, which included a trip
to
Las Vegas last Friday through Monday; a trip to Mariposa Tuesday and
Wednesday, and getting ready for camping last night. That’s three
trips with no full day at home, something a retired person should
never have to deal with.
When I
returned from our trip to
Oregon in early July, I backed the trailer into my yard, something I
hadn’t done for ten years, since the gate is narrow and there are
usually cars parked in my way in the street. One gate post had
broken off so I took advantage of the wider space to see if I could
get in, and I was successful after a bit of maneuvering. It made
getting ready for this trip much easier, since I can’t park the
trailer on the street longer than 72 hours, and I was gone six days
before this trip. I had some stuff ready before I left for Vegas,
although there are still quite a few things that have to wait till
the last minute.
I got
started a little before ten, and arrived here around noon. There were a lot of people along
Dinkey Creek Road – camping, unloading off-highway vehicles, etc., and I was afraid
there might be people in the two good spots here, but there was not
a soul, so I have my favorite spot, which is under the trees and
shady most of the day except morning. The heat wave has moved east
so it has only been in the mid-90s in
Fresno, which means about 70 degrees here at 7,200 feet. Actually I would
like it a tiny bit warmer, but I have been OK in shorts and a
T-shirt all day. Of course, it will get pretty cold tonight; I
predict low 40s.
I
haven’t done much but eat lunch and read, which is my idea of an
ideal camping activity. People ask if I go fishing. I explain that I
don’t like to eat fish, certainly don’t care to clean fish, so
there’s not much point in catching fish.
I
walked down to Rock Creek, about a quarter mile down hill. It has
more water than I’ve ever seen during our campouts here, although
I think we’ve been here a little later in August sometimes.
However, we had a very wet winter, so higher stream flows are to be
expected.
The
rock structure around the creek and throughout this country appears
to be of the same type that forms domes in Yosemite
and elsewhere. On large, exposed granite masses, the rock flakes off
in layers or shells, eventually rounding off angular bodies to a
dome. This process is known as exfoliation. There are lots of rock layers around the creek, and there are
a number of outcroppings that have formed more or less into domes.
The cause, at least as explained in a book I am reading, is
expansion of the internal rock due to relief from pressure as older
material wears away.
I
highly recommend this book, The Incomparable Valley, by
Francois Matthes. It is a geological explanation of the development
of the Yosemite Valley
, as well as similar features throughout the Sierra. It was first
published in 1950, and I read it when I was in high school. That
copy disappeared, so I bought one on Amazon a few months ago, and am
making it my primary “read” on this trip.
August
4: The temperature got down to 44 last night, but was around 60 when
I emerged from my trailer-cocoon at 9:30
or so. There was no breeze at all at that time, but it’s now 70
degrees and quite breezy – feels cooler than this morning.
I drove
down to the “phone booth,” an open area along the road about a
mile from here where we’ve been able to use our cell phones in the
past, but could not complete a call. I then went down a rough road
near camp where there are a couple of fallen trees. We’ve gathered
broken limbs for firewood there before, but the pickings are getting
slim. I always check all the other campsites in the area for wood
left behind, but previous campers were not kind to me this time.
This area is not an official campground, but has obviously been used
for many years. There are several substantial fire rings, and a
dozen or more small, somewhat temporary ones.
The
first neighbors arrived about 3 p.m.
today, a motor home pulling a trailer with a four-wheel drive truck.
It appears to be just one man and his dog. So far he’s been quiet
and well behaved. We rarely have noisy or annoying neighbors here.
The neighbors turned out to include two motor homes, three
four-wheel drive vehicles, and a tent, but they were still quiet and
unobtrusive throughout the weekend.
I rode
my bike up the road and walked into a wet meadow area to take some
photos a while ago. There are shooting stars, which make their
appearance in the foothills in February, but bloom much later at
higher elevations. I have seen them in September at 9,000 feet.
Other
than that I have spent the day loafing, napping and reading. I’m
looking forward to Teri and Mikie’s arrival tomorrow. I don’t
like camping alone as much as I used to, although a day or two of
solitude is nice.
August
5: A lot more activity today – Teri and Mikie arrived around 11.
She stayed for about an hour and a half. We went for a short walk,
but mostly sat around and visited. We also set up Mikie’s tent. He
wanted to sleep out on Stargazer Rock, a good hundred yards or more
from here. I doubt if he would stay there by himself, but even if he
could handle it, I couldn’t. In fact, it turned out that he slept
in the trailer with me both nights.
Tim and
Johnny arrived about a half hour after Teri left. They had good luck
fishing this morning. The ground was damp when they arrived at
Courtright Friday evening, but they did not have any rain. Yesterday afternoon it
was quite cloudy here, although never completely overcast, and
looked as if there could be rain clouds farther up in the mountains.
They
got their tent set up and mattresses inflated and unloaded the
4Runner, then went with Mikie down to the creek to do some more
fishing. Mikie loves it and has had some good success in the past.
They drove down a 4-wheel drive road that heads south back of the
camp, and meets the creek about a half mile in. They caught one
small fish which they released, and Mikie took a fall and hurt his
ankle. It does not appear to be serious, however.
I
walked about a mile this morning before breakfast, the first time
I’ve really walked in a few weeks. I also did some bike riding,
with and without Mikie, loafed, read, and got paper and kindling
ready for the fire. I rarely have a fire when I’m by myself, but
it’s always fun with a group.
It’s
quite cool again, still around 70, but with a breeze that sent most
of us looking for our long-sleeve shirts. It’s been in the low to
mid 90’s in
Fresno, so quite an improvement from the 110 plus we had before I started
this series of trips.
August
6: We had a good campfire last night, but everyone headed in fairly
early. Tim and Johnny had got up at six to fish at Courtright. Mikie
and I watched a little TV in the trailer. I have to run the
generator every night to keep the trailer batteries charged, so we
might as well take advantage of having electricity. It also serves
to re-charge the laptop. I do my writing during the day, on battery
power, and usually have about a half hour to work.
In
between TV shows Mikie and I walked over to Stargazer Rock and lay
down to watch the stars. We didn’t see any meteors, but we did
hear coyotes howling, which made the walk worth while.
Last
night it got down to 41, the coolest so far. We got up fairly early,
since Johnny had to go to work at noon, and they wanted to leave by nine. Tim cooked some bacon and
sausage for breakfast, and I turned on the generator long enough to
make toast.
After
the guys left, Mikie and I went down to the creek to try a little
fishing. We went to the area close to the camp, where the water was
too shallow for fish (according to Mikie); however, he did get one
bite, which took his only bait, an artificial worm.
We also
took a ride down the back road that eventually leads to
Bald Mountain. The first few miles are OK for 2-wheel drive. We hiked around the
rocks a little. It was much cooler there – probably a little
higher, but also much more open to the wind.
We also
did some bike riding, played hockey, played the hockey player name
game, and fixed grilled ham and cheese sandwiches for lunch. I’ve
gathered up a few things, poured water on the fire, taken down the
flag, and we’re winding down the day. We’ll take another bike
ride, and probably head inside by 7 (20 minutes from now). We’ll
leave when we get around to it, probably not long after breakfast,
which we’ll fix whenever we get around to it. Mikie starts school
Wednesday, so he’ll have a day and a half at home to finish out
his summer vacation.
August
7: We got up about 8:45
this morning and had a quick, light breakfast. Even so, we didn’t
leave till almost 11. I had to wash dishes, and pack and load all
the stuff that had been scattered around camp – chairs, tables, a
big mat that goes in front of the door; take down the awning, hitch
up the trailer, etc.
We got
back in the valley about 12:15
, to a temperature of 82 – a lot better than the 100 to 110 plus
temperatures in July. I again successfully backed the trailer into
my yard, scraping some tree branches so I’ll know which ones need
to be trimmed. With the trailer right next to my house, there is no
hurry to unload, except for items that are needed immediately.
We all
agreed that we need to try to schedule this event earlier in the
summer, so more people might have a chance to join us.
--Dick Estel, August 2006
|