We are seeing some very hot weather this week at Emigrant Gap. Another example of global climate change I guess. Over the last couple of weeks, Jim and I have done some exploring here on the slope. We returned from our vacation at the Rogue River a bit early (due to the heat and forest fire smoke up there) and decided to spend some "glamping" time at the lodge. No work - just fun.
There are many places that I have wanted to explore in the nearby sierra, but never seem to have the time to do. We started with a map search of the summit and the lakes in that area. I had heard that a few of the lakes up by Royal Gorge Ski Area are open to the public. A few years ago, we visited Kidd Lake (which is a PGE lake that offers group camping so semi-public) on the Royal Gorge Road. At that time we wanted to visit the lakes further down the dirt road there, but did not have the time to explore. It turns out only one lake beyond Kidd is "public". To get there, you drive to the end of a very rutted and rocky dirt road, then hike about 3/4 of a mile up the Pallisades Creek trail. You get to cross both Cascade lakes at the dam. Cascade lakes' water is owned by PG&E but the shoreline is privately owned.
Long Lake, our destination, is above is often visited by short backpack groups and folks from the summit and Truckee, It is a natural lake and it beautiful (photo below). The water is clear and the boulders around the lake provide a great lounging area and "jump off" rocks into the cool water below. Behind the lake is Devils Peak, a gorgeous volcanic mountain with faceted uplift rock (Like Rainbow Falls near Mamouth) and bubble out volcanic rock on it's side. We visited on a pretty busy day - but still were able to get in a refreshing swim. Totally worth the ugly dirt road drive from Serene Lakes area. I would recommend those without high clearance vehicles to avoid driving to the end of the trail. It is pretty rutted and full of big rocks.
Pallisades Creek trail goes on to additional smaller ponds and finally ends at the American River somewhere near the Royal Gorge. We were hoping other lakes would be accessible, but most in the area are under private ownership or part of .orgs.
The following day we decided to drive to Bowman Lake following the road that goes through Graniteville. I had read that Graniteville was a bit of a ghost town and had wanted to see it for years We started our drive down highway 20 toward Grass Valley. Google maps showed us a short cut through Harmony Ridge Road at Harmony Ridge and we decided to take it. It turned into a pretty steep dirt road heading down to the Yuba River and Edwards Crossing Bridge (an old steel bridge with a wood plank top).
We continued up to North Bloomfield Road, a dirt road that took us to the ghost town of North Bloomfield and Malakoff Diggins Park. There we saw some pretty cool buildings and a really interesting cemetery. Malakoff Diggins was a hydraulic mining site that caused a lot of sediment to be floated down the Yuba River at the tail end of the California Gold Rush.
And. . . . we probably should have stopped there, but I was really wanting to see Graniteville and see if we could actually make it to Bowman Lake. So onward we drove on the dirt North Bloomfield Road. We finally got to Graniteville and unfortunately it was not really a ghost town. It is a cluster of historic homes and cabins, built along the creek and road. No restaurant, no services, nada. But it was a pretty little town on a dirt road and worth the drive.
And. . . . we probably should have stopped there. But we decided to trek on - toward Bowman Lake. The road to Bowman was OK for a while until we turned onto Meadow Lake Road. As we could see Bowman Lake off in the distance, the road got steeper and steeper and rockier and rockier and harder and harder to drive - even with our high clearance 4 wheel truck.
We drove downhill toward the dam and I was silently white knuckling it as Jim used some quiet profanities. I kept reminding him of another adventure ride I took us on in the Canadian Rockies that had ended in a disappointing end (just to keep him laughing). When we finally got to the dam, we discovered that the ugly rock road only went on the north side of the lake to the campground - an adventure we decided to leave behind, and down to the bottom of the dam to get out to Bowman Road and home.
We did hike down and take a dip in the way to big lake and sit and look at the glorious view before we decided which path to take out - neither seemed like a great option. And we were hungry. We had no food in the car, only altoids. Since we already knew just how bad Meadow Lake Road was, we decided to try Bowman Lake Road (also known as BAD ROAD). I can not say which road was worse, since they were equally rutted, rocked, steep and ugly. But Bowman had the added fun of cars trying to come into the lake on the narrow, steep and winding road as we were trying to get out. We climbed down the road to the base of the dam and back up at about 2 -3 MPH.
After a lot more white knuckle and words, we finally reached the somewhat paved road and we breathed a huge sigh of relief. We did get to see an amazing water canal that went right into into the side of a rock mountain along the way with an interesting sign showing a stick figure person drowning in the canal cave. I think the Goonies movie had at sometime got people thinking they could ride the canal through the blown out mountain - not a good idea apparently. Oh - and there was a cage across the opening.
We finally reached the turn off for Lindsey and Carr Lakes in the Grouse Lakes Region and knew we were safely out of the "breakdown without hope of help" area. I am beginning to think we need to take the road from Faucherie Lake into Bowman next time (not).
Since then, Jim has been working on the backside of the cabin, and I have had the opportunity to interview Mary, one of our Fulda Creek neighbors, about her time here in Emigrant Gap (see Stories from the Slope tab).
As have also been conversing with our friends at Emigrant Gap on Signal, about future hikes, history and wild animals in the area. There has been much discussion about the Lost Locomotive called out on Russell Towle's website.
Just over a week ago we hosted our annual Cal Friends get together. It started with a trip for 5 of us and two dogs back to Long Lake (our new favorite small lake). Unfortunately, just before the event, one of our long time friends went into the hospital with a serious infection. Since he was in Reno, everyone had decided to each take a day to go for a hospital visit (a possible challenge since COVID is still surging). After the arrival of two more friends and one more dog and a nice and lively dinner and night trip up to Blue Canyon airport to look through the telescopes there, we found out that our dear friend had surprisingly passed away. That ended our get together since we had all become too sad to continue our annual celebration.
Since then, one of our visiting fur babies also passed away. So it has been a sad time at the Gap.
We returned back home to the bay area for a week (first Cal Football game), and are now back at the lodge for our friends memorial service. Jim is still plugging away at the back of the lodge, working on the siding and the fire escape repair. I am getting ready to do some chair upholstery today. Wednesday is the memorial. I will be taking my driver's license driving text on Thursday (they finally found out from Kaiser that I am blind in one eye). Wish me luck.
Though we love summer hikes, driving adventures, exploring and swimming, we are beginning to feel ready for the cooler days of autumn.
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