And we're off! Officially roadtripping ramblers. Day 1: FromPlacerville, CA to Owens Valley Warm Springs

Our first day! With all of our belongings packed into the truck we filled our cooler and hit the road. We left Placerville toward Lake Tahoe, but not without stopping in Camino to pick some fresh blueberries for the ride.

In South Lake Tahoe we ran into the Wagon Train! They had a long road ahead of them too.

 

On our way through Tahoe, near the turnoff for highway 28 we spotted a huge bear! Neither of us had ever seen a bear in the wild so it made for a pretty exciting start to our trip.

We stopped for a few hours at Secret Harbor on the east shore of Lake Tahoe and hiked down the steep hill to the water. The beach there is gorgeous! The trail in gets a bit hairy in some spots, so it was fairly private- we saw a handful of people (mostly enjoying the privacy and declaring the area their own nude beach, but oh well). We walked a bit further and found a rocky area to hop around at, which you can see here. The water (and air so early in the morning) was a bit too cold to swim in, but it didn’t stop Nate from jumping in for a second. He can’t say no to the opportunity for an underwater picture that clear water brings.

 

 

This morning Highway 28 was full of vehement bike riders participating in a race around the lake. On our way in and on our way out we saw hundreds of people riding from teams all over the world. (I have to say I was pretty happy to be in a car going up the long hill). We cheered them on as we passed.

We left Tahoe for highway 395 to head toward Mammoth area. We took a slight detour to go through Tioga Pass, the drive is beautiful and finally open after the winter. We had lunch by the partially frozen Tioga Lake.

Further south we went to Devil’s Postpile, which is on the other side of Mammoth mountain. Driving through the Mammoth ski resort we saw how little snow is left (which is wild, because we were in Mammoth a few weeks ago and it was still covered).

Devil’s Postpile was really neat, one of nature’s wonders. We walked less than a mile on a nice trail to the bottom, you can see those pics here:

And then hiked up a staircase around to the top, and you can see those pictures here:

The top was our favorite part. The tall stones have cracked into hexagons, so the top looked like a sheet of natural pavers.

We left Mammoth and headed farther south to find some hot springs. There is a group of hot springs just outside of Mammoth off of Benton road that are fairly easy to find. We’ve been to a few before like Wild Willy’s hotspring and Hilltop hotspring, but we wanted to see some new ones so we went to look for Shepard hotspring, the ‘crab cooker’ , and the ‘hot tub’ (all are within a mile or so of each other). We planned to find one and camp there but didn’t have much luck. Shepard’s wasn’t filling up with water, and the crab cooker and hot tub were both full of people. So, we decided to go another route.

Outside of Bishop we passed these very large satellites at the Owen’s Valley Radio Observatory. Four sat out surrounded by many more small ones. If you look at the picture you can see a jeep to the left of the building that you can use for reference for the size of the satellite-these things were giant!

We found a place to camp beside Owen’s Valley hot spring, but unfortunately we found it pretty late so we set up camp and called it a night without any soaking. The camp spot was an awesome one though!

CHECK OUT our road map for the next 45 days! :)  STOKED!

Barney Riley May 3, 2014

Been on a great Adventure tear!  Mammoth last weekend; Hiked horsetail falls on Thursday and now we are geared up and ready to go tackle a 4X4 Trail with Nate’s Friends.

We had actually heard about the hotsprings on the East Carson River via instagram on a picture that someone had posted with the geo location being quite close.  Nate did some research and found out access to the hotsprings was limited to rafting the river or a high clearance four wheel drive trail..  Well that was all he had to find out – next thing he was on the phone with his offroad buddies talking about how we HAD to go out and find these hotsprings. 

With a little bit of planning we were set to head out at 4pm on Saturday afternoon to the trailhead by markleeville, California.  The trailhead was only about 1 hour and 15 minutes away, but we tried heading up Morman Emigrant Trail to pass through and were stumped by deep snow in the last mile before the locked gate.  After and hour of inching our way closer we decided to turn back and head up highway 50.  Although we could have made it, it was not worth the lost daylight while we fought for ground up through the snow covered road on Iron Mtn.

We took a slight detour down Light Canyon Road connecting over to the Kyburz Campground on Highway 50.  Although the gate was locked the Camp hosts were present and nice enough to unlock the gate for us to get out.   So on we went!  

 

After passing Markleeville, we turned left to stay on Highway 89 like we were going over monitor pass, but turned left  about 4 miles in on Loop Canyon Road.  This is where it gets tricky.  There are a ton of Forest Service Roads,  all very well marked, but our directions were vague to say the least.  After a couple hours of getting turned around and ending up in Nevada by 395, we found the correct trail and stayed on it for about 1 hour before we found the East Carson River.  It wasn’t the exact location of the hotsprings, but we were ready to set up camp. Unfortunately for us, all of the turn arounds and backtracking had made the 2.5 hour drive into a 6 hour journey that wore on everyone.  All we wanted to do was go to sleep.  And sleep we did!  

 

 The next day we woke up and found out that all of our Eggs had broken.  Bummer! Nate was looking forward to a big Chilaquiles breakfast!  Too bad we made do with other snacks and food and even blended up some Strawberry smoothies.  Nate went on a short hike down river to search for the hotsprings as they were still about ¼ of a mile down river, but the trail that we had followed crossed directly into the river – which was much higher than we had expected.  Nate came back to report that he had found the hotsprings and the looks of a trail leading to their location.  But he was a little hesitant before saying there was still one major obstacle.  The hotsprings were located directly across the river.  Keep in mind this is the beginning of May.  Snow is melting off of the Sierra Nevada’s directly into this river that we needed to cross.  It was FRIGID.

Well after shooting some guns and doing a little bit of target practice we loaded up the trucks again and headed onto the new trail to get closer to the hotsprings.  It was much more enjoyable in the light and being able to take in the views.  Although these trails were not very technical, there were a few hill climbs and tight spots that would require some 4X4 knowledge.  We parked across the river and started scanning for low places in the river to cross.   After some brief discussion we decided the best course of action would be to walk across the river as it was very muddy and impossible to tell depth without actually walking through it.  After a couple half hearted attempts and walking into the icy water Nate managed to cross all of the way without falling and being carried downriver.  It was deep enough that the water came up to his hips in the deepest part. About 3.5 ft deep; Way too deep for the trucks to make it through safely.   He had barely made it without falling in so there was not much hope for the girls Kate and Michelle (Shane’s girlfriend) to try and cross.  This was confirmed about 20 minutes later when Chance tried to make the crossing, but fell and decided to turn back.

Eventually Nate crossed back over and started scanning farther up at the river for another point to cross over.   We found a diagonal path that all three trucks were able to navigate across.  Although it was a little sketchy as the backs of the trucks were getting squirrely in the deep fast moving water. 

   We were all able to enjoy the riverside hotsprings over a few beers.  Mission accomplished!

Our first trip to hot springs, Bodie State Historic Park/ghost town, and snow-going.. I mean slow-going.. in the car. January 11, 2014

We’re becoming quite the hot springs hunters now, but the first time we went is still one of my favorites. We left Placerville toward Bodie which is on the eastern border of California, just north of Mono Lake, a few hours away from home. Bodie is an abandoned mining town from a long time ago. Apparently the town is virtually untouched, other than tourists who come by. The houses are pretty well sealed off however, so the insides are pretty safe from visiting people. The long dirt road leading up to the town is a tool I think to let anticipation build as you approach. Some of the structures are weathered and falling apart pretty badly but  are still full of furniture and items that the families probably used to use (sewing machine, old newspapers, carriage, etc). There are also tools around that were used for mining like elevators, carts, machine parts and such. The town has a beautiful eerie feeling to it. When we went it was lightly snowing and freezing cold so there weren’t many others around and the quiet was overwhelming. 

Perfect for exploring.  

After we left the town we were both ready to warm up. Just down the road is Travertine Hot Springs. Travertine has three adjacent pools large enough for a whole group of people, each decreasing slightly in temperature. The water is grey and the bottom is a sort of muddy clay. We were covered in it and it felt great! If you hike a little ways over the hill that the pools are on there is another tub that was amazing. Its perfect size for two people, hot water, and has this epic view. We spent most of our time in this pool alone taking in our surroundings.

Mud Bath

The second lower pool at Travertine

Jumping around. Check out that view!

We left Travertine and headed toward Buckeye Hot Springs, maybe a half an hour away. They are on the other side of 395 outside of Bridgeport, CA. The road to get to the springs is also long and dirt but was enjoyable. When we arrived it was already dark, so it was fun trying to find the spot where the pools actually lie. Unfortunately this also means that we didn’t get any photos from this spot, but it was great! The hot spring flows down a hillside into a river, and where you sit in is in separated by the river with a row of rocks. The water falls down over you while you sit. We met some people here who were camping at a nearby campground and had also just come from Travertine. This one also had a few pools, Nate and I laid flat in a shallow one, the cool air made the warm water feel amazing. We stayed and visited for a little while and then decided to head home.

Us at Buckeye Hot Springs! Just kidding.

To get home we decided to take Hwy 89 into Meyers near South Lake Tahoe where we ran into a surprise snowstorm. We had to sneak around chain control, but we made it home in one piece. ❄ ❆

Day Trip to Yosemite November 17, 2013

Here are some pics from our day trip to Yosemite, which is about three and a half hours from home. Kate had never been so we decided to go check it out! We took our time driving through Jackson, Angels Camp and Sonora before we arrived.

Kate’s sidenote:  Stories in Stone in Angels Camp is an old firehouse that has been transformed into a big shop where a man and his wife show off many of the things they have collected throughout their life. They have tons of pictures of themselves in different locations, lots of fossils and bones (even a complete standing bear skeleton), geodes and various stones. There is a separate room dedicated to elements where the man gives lectures or tells stories. Last time we were there he told us about silicon and its uses in Silicon Valley among other things.  He has a few great periodic tables and elements in different forms (yeah, so what if I’m a science nerd?) Oh, and the room is lined with shark jaws! I could spend hours in there. Some people may say I am overenthusiastic about it (ahem, Nate), but I highly recommend it if you’re going through Angels Camp. End sidenote, back to Yosemite.

We got to the park from highway 120, off of highway 49. We parked on the side of Southside Dr., near the Bridal Veil Falls trail. The hike is very short and simple, but the trail has some great views. The trail ends at the base of the fall at some large rocks that we hopped around for a while. We went during winter, so the falls wasn't flowing very heavy but it was still great to see.

After we left the falls, we turned off the road once more to the left of Southside Dr and walked over a bridge to a big open meadow where we watched the sun start to set. 

When we left, it was pretty dark and we drove through Tioga Pass to 395. Tioga Pass at night is one of my favorite night drives ever. Its hard to tell exactly what you're looking at with the tall mountains and the deep ravines. We popped out on 395 near Mono Lake and headed back home.

♥

Fabricating the Custom Front Bumper

The Strawberry trail excursion had left enough battle scars to get Nate motivated about designing a steel plate front bumper.  I’d like to say that a lot of careful planning, measuring and designing went into the creation, but in reality, a couple of solid weekends and several six packs later the bumper was born.  A huge thanks to Chance for all of his help: tools, know-how, welding abilities and encouragement. Couldn’t have done it without him.