Northern California Family Adventures

CA State Parks Closure Mini Documentary-The Fight for Parks

When you get a break in your day check this out, I came across this today.

Ca State Parks Closure Mini Documentary

 

 

New Brighton Beach State Park, Capitola

    Hello fellow Adventurers! It's been a while since we posted a new adventure and it feels good to be back in the swing of things. We've been sitting on this trip since the middle of October. On this trip Camping Girl and I hit the coast around Santa Cruz, just because we could. So here we go!

    It all started when Camping Girl had a couple of days free from work during the middle of the week. We packed up the Forester with Camping Girls new 4 season tent and our normal gear and headed towards Santa Cruz. We normally go to to Sunset Beach Campground, but Camping Girl has camped at New Brighton Beach many times and I'm always one to go to new places. As I always say "getting here is easy".  From Sacramento the drive is around 150 miles, for us it it's around 170. Take Hwy 80 west towards San Francisco then take the Hwy 680 South exit towards Benicia. Follow 680 south toward San Jose. As you come down the grade into Silicon Valley you will stay on 680, as you come into San Jose 680 turns into Hwy 280. Continue on Hwy 280 until you reach Hwy 880 south (which is actually Hwy 17). Once on Hwy 17  south continue through the twisty Hwy for approximately 23 miles until you come to California Hwy 1 south exit towards Monterey/Watsonville. Once on Hwy 1 south go almost 5 miles and then exit onto Park Avenue. Make a right onto Park drive and then take your first left onto McGregor Drive. Go around the bend and you will see the entrance for New Brighton State Park on your right.

Google map of our New Brighton SB adventure

    Normally we drive up to the park entrance and let the ranger know we will be staying the night and then they let us drive though the campgrounds to pick our site. After we scope the place out and pick our site we come back and pay for our stay. Not here not on this day, and as we found out this is now longer an option at this campground. Apparently they have changed their protocol and we were told we would have to park our car and walk in a 1/4 mile to pick our site. In all of Camping Girls stays here at this campground this was abnormal and from what we encountered this will now be the norm.

    Because we arrived in the middle of the week and off-season there were plenty of sites to choose from. We chose site 23. Due to the removal of trees the only sites that were available were sites 1-34. We liked our site because it was close to the beach so we could hear the waves crashing instead of the highway traffic. And as we found out later, our site was also the racoon on-ramp to the campground. We set up C.G's new tent for the first time in the outdoors. It was pretty easy and next time it will go up in a flash.  After our site was situated we jumped in the Subie and went to get a snack and some refreshments at Safeway. Camping Girl as usual knew where to find good eats. She took me to this pizza place called Showtime Pizza located at 98 Rancho Del Mar, Aptos.  I must say the pizza was awesome! It was just like the pizza in NYC. thin crust and all. After our bellies were happy and our shopping done we headed back to the campground. We introduced ourselves to our neighbor Pavel who was staying for the night just like us. 

    I preped the firepit for later that night while C.G. finished setting up our gear in the tent. Afterwards we headed off towards Capitola. The walk to Capitola is only a 20+minute walk from the campgound and "getting there is easy". From the campground walk down the stairs to the beach. At the beach there's a bathroom and a day use area that has firepits. From the beach head towards the right up to the day use parking lot. When you get to the parking lot look for the trail that goes up towards the train tracks. Once at the train tracks follow them to the left all the way to Monterey Avenue,  where you  go left down the hill into downtown Capitola. There are many boutique shops and restaurants to enjoy as you stroll through town.

 

    When we got back from Capitola I put my backpack that had a bag of Flaming Hot Cheeto's in it  on the table while we pulled the cooking gear and cooler from the car. When I came back to the picnic table my backpack was now open and the Cheetoh's were in the paws of a few clever racoons. Dam racoons!  We were looking forward to snacking on those bad boys after dinner. After the theives left I put on the Sharks Hockey game on our little battery powered speakers while we cooked up some dogs & beans on our Coleman Stove. I lit the fire and minutes later we were eating fireside. After dinner we envited Pavel over to listen to the game and hang out with us to share an evening of racoon meyhem. Low and behold after just a few minutes a hoard of racoons came up from the gully that was between us and the beach. Holly mackerel were there a lot, there must have been over 20 of them and they showed no fear. They came right up to the picnic table and fire like it was just another day at the office. And at once point in time there was also a skunk but he seemed more interested in Pavel's campsite. Hee, hee. We eventually gave up the fight trying to scare them off and went to bed.

    The following morning we were pleasantly awoken by the subtle sounds of chainsaws. Apparently they start at 7am.  Since sleeping was no longer an option I climbed out of the tent and made myself a cup of espresso/Swiss Miss and watched the crews fell trees from a distance. We decided after breakfast we would walk down to the park entrance and pay for our site for another night. On our way there the tree crew had blocked the parking area near the dump station so that they could fall a pretty big tree. I decided to take some pictures so I positioned myself to the right of the tractor blocking the road and the dump station. Not the best idea I found out. Apparently the tree crew thought that the tree was going to fall short of the powerlines I was standing under. Not so much. If you look at the last couple of pictures I took of the tree falling you will see the powerline starting to whip after being yanked from the transformer that was behind me. Luckily when I heard the whipping sound I moved to the right and as I did the power line whipped past me and landed on the ground approximately 40' in front of me catching the grass on fire. All you could hear was loud buzzing of the live line and the crew shouting profanities. Needless to say we quickly turned around and found another way out to the park entrance.

    When we made it to the park kiosk to pay for another night the Ranger on duty had no idea that there was any problem in the park. But she did point across the parking lot over to where just a few minutes before a car had driven off the road.If it weren't for a small tree the car would have fallen over the concrete retaining wall and blocked the road just before you go under the railroad tracks.

 

    When we got back to our campsite we loaded up our backpacks and headed down to the beach, made a left and continued south down New Brighton Beach towards Seacliff. On our way down the beach we passed the Seacliff RV Campground. There we saw several emergency vehicles by the restrooms. We found out later when we got home that a surfer had been attacked by a shark a few beaches down and that a Great White was spotted a 1/4 mile off the beach here at Seacliffe while we were there. 

 

      Past the fire trucks and the Seacliff RV campground we came to the Concrete Ship "Palo Alto". The Palo Alto was built in Oakland in 1919. She was built using concrete due to steel shortages created by WW1. After the Palo Alto was constructed she remained in Oakland until 1929 when she was purchased by the Seacliff Amusement Company with the idea of making her into an amusement and fishing ship. After she arrived at her current location they opened her seacocks and she settled to the ocean floor. After months of construction the pier was finished, the ship revamped and was ready by the summer of 1930. Only after two seasons financial difficulties forced the Seacliff Amusement Company to close the Palo Alto. Her decks were stripped and since then she was only used for fishing. The ship cracked and came apart just a year after she was closed due to heavy winter storms and she continues to slowly give a little of herself back to the ocean every day.

 

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 Following the sand a little furter south we came to Rio Del Mar. We didn't go down to the beach here because our stomachs we're steering us inland towards the Pixie Deli. Our stomachs ROCK! This little seaside deli should definately should be on your list of places visit. If you check the deli out through Yelp you will only see great reviews. The food and service are awesome! Our food was delish and I should tell you what we had, but I won't because anything you order I'm sure you'll love. We sat on the patio enjoying our food and soaked up the sun. After enjoying our luch we hiked back up the beach to our campsite, packed our day packs and drove accross Hwy 1 to Nisene Marks SP.  Download Pixie Deli Menu

 

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     Nisene Marks SP is one of my favorite stops whenever we camp down here. From most of the beach campgrounds we stay at this redwood forest is only a 20minute drive away. Like most redwood forests in california we can enjoy them today due to the foresight and gifts of many people. I want to thank the many families and individuals who have either granted land or given their time so that we Californian's can hop in our cars and drive only a few hours no matter where we live in the state and stand beneath these wonders of nature. I'm smitten with them, can you tell? Here you can hike for miles enjoying ferns, old redwood growth,  89' Loma Prieta Earthquake Epicenter, if you look close enough you willt see many redwood stumps that are remnants of the logging days. These stumps will have slots cut out for the boards the loggers used to stand on while sawing the tree's down by hand. Our goal was the find the earthquake epicenter.We kept on hiking thinking it was just right around the next corner, but we came up empty. We found out later that to take Aptos Creek Trail to the epicenter you must cross the little creek. We ended up hiking much further up the main trail, almost 1.5 miles past where we should have crossed the creek. By the time we decided to turn around it was about 15 minutes until sunset so we didn't continue exploring. I must say we did have an enjoyable stroll through the forest.

  Download Forest of Nisene Marks pdf

 

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     We woke up the next morning, made coffee, packed up camp and headed up towards Santa Cruz to see the sights. We passed the Boardwalk and continued up Cliff Drive to try our luck with butterflies.  Natural Bridges SB is just a short ways past Lighthouse Field SB. Here at Natural Bridges you can see Monarch Butterflies in their winter habitat. They normally arrive in October and can be seen as late as March. The Monarchs have chosen this spot because the Eucalyptus Tree flowers in winter and is a good food source. The canyon also provides shelter from the elements. If you get here early enough you can see the butterflies in large groups  among the eucalyptus trees, they do this to stay warm until the temperature rises above 60 deg. By the visitors center you can also enjoy a demonstration milkweed patch where you can see Monarch eggs, caterpillars and chrysalides. There is also a nice beach area with tidepools to view if your feeling so inclined. The parks hours are from 8am-Sunset.

 

 

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    We left the Monarchs and drove back down to Lighthouse Field State Beach. On our way to the butterflies we saw that there was a surfing contest going on here and I had never watched one in person, pretty cool I must say. Apparently it was even being telecasted. We didn't get to see many surfers due to the waves not co-operating but that didn't seem to put a damper on the mood of the crowd. While strolling around the lighthouse we came accross this guy at the lighthouse point making and selling some really neat seaglass sculptures. They had succulents and hand made copper wire trees that were imbedded in the beach rocks holes. Next time we're here we'll bring some extra $$ so that we may aquire one of his sculptures.

 

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  We left the Subie parked at the lighthouse and walked along the cliff down to the wharf to grab a bite to eat.  We walked almost to the end of the warf.  The restaurant we ate at was Stagnaro's which is the last two story building as you walk to the end of the wharf. We liked the fact that Stagnaro's has an outdoor eating area upstairs where you could enjoy unobstructed views of the ocean. On the north side there are many table to sit at, but at the time they were all taken. I was hoping to be able to watch the surfing contest as we ate. Fortunately, someone else have better plans for us. We ended up being seated at the only table on the south side of the deck. We ordered some calamari and clam chowder. The sun was shinning and it sure felt good. While we waited for our food to arrive we noticed a lot of kayakers and sea lions cruising around the end of the pier. Camping Girl all of a sudden got real excited, she spotted a couple of whales just off the wharf about 100 yards away from where we sat. Our quiet side of the deck became a frenzy of whale watchers. At one point we must of had 20 people standing almost on top of us trying to get a good view. While we ate the whales breached the water a few times. We had our binoculars with us which came in handy. We sat and enjoyed the whales, dolphins, sea lions, kayakers and warm sun for a couple hours. What a way to finish our three day adventure.

 

 

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     We toured five State Parks and witnessed some pretty amazing stuff. We now have some great memories that will last a lifetime. Camping Girl and I hope you enjoyed our adventure and hope to cross paths with you and your family.

Uncle Leo & Camping Girl

 

 

 Here are the links to the parks we visited on this trip:

 New Brighton State Beach

 Natural Bridges State Beach

 Seacliff State Beach 

Lighthouse Field State Beach

The Forest of Nisene Marks SP

 

 

 

Merry Christmas

Happy Holidays everyone! Enjoy the holidays with family and friends, share the love and make some great memories. Take as many pictures as possible and whatever you do leave Santa some cookies and milk. 

Merry X-Mas,

Uncle Leo, Camping Girl and the crew

Independence Trail, Nevada County

    I love this time of year! All the fall colors and the smell of wood stoves and fireplaces. Ahhhh the joy of it all. A couple of weeks back Camping Girl and I did our normal routine of scouting out a new locale before bringing the kids. Two weeks later I brought the kiddies back up for a hike. C.G. and I have passed this trail head many times over the years and never once stopped. The spot we chose to explore was the Independence Trail in Nevada County near Nevada City and the South Yuba River. I'd like to take this time and share another one of our Northern California Family Adventures.

      John Olmsted  (March 2nd 1938-March 8th 2011) was the brain child of The Independence Trail. It's history began as a an old miner's ditch that was known as the Excelsior Canal. The Excelsior Canal was built from 1854 to 1859 by the Excelsior Canal Co. to provide water for the hydraulic mines in the Rough and Ready and Smartville areas travelling well over 25 miles. When California outlawed hydraulic mining in 1884, the ditch was used for irrigation until 1967, when it was abandoned. In 1975 John Olmsted, re-discovered the whole water system consisting of the ditch, the berm, where the ditch-tender walked, and the wooden flumes which bridged the ravines where ditches weren't feasible. John had the vision to recognize that this could be the answer to a friend's lifelong dream: "Please find me a level wilderness trail where I can reach out and touch the wildflowers from my wheelchair." The Excelsior Canal having such a slow grade made it the ideal candidate for a handicap accessible trail and eventually it became the first wheelchair accessible trail in the nation.  

    This is another trail that is easy to find. From Sacramento take Hwy 80 East towards Tahoe. Take Hwy 49 North towards Grass Valley, continue past Grass Valley on Hwg 49/20. When going through Nevada City you will need to make a left and continue on Hwy 49 towards Downieville. From this turn the trail entrance is only another 5 miles down the road on your right. I have put a link below to a Google Map for your convenience as well as a link to a Ca.gov map.  

Independence Trail

ca.gov map

    We came at the perfect time of the year (our personal opinion of course). The leaves were all changing color and the temperature was around 60 deg. Once parked we grabbed our gear and headed for the trailhead. At the trailhead there are vault toilets and a map of the area. If you choose to come here during winter and spring months beware, the trails can get a bit muddy. And as far as bathrooms, the only facilities that are available are the ones located at the trailhead. The rest are closed due to their poor conditions. We chose to go West first and headed down the trail that leads you under the road. The kids could walk standing up where as C.G. and I had to stoop down to make it through this passage. Once on the other side you only need to walk a little ways find the illustrated map of the trail and all it's features.

    

    We continued walking towards Rush Creek enjoying all of the ferns that were growing out of the old stone that once made up the canal. The leaves on the trees were beautiful with their vivid reds and bright yellows with the sun cascading through them. The kids liked the fact that you could walk either in the old canal or up on the berm where the ditch-tender use to walk back in the day. Along the way we passed the Jones Bar Trail that takes you down to the river. You can hike the Jones Bar Trail loop which takes you to the river then west along the Yuba and back up to the Excelsior Canal; the loop is a 4.2 miles. Further down the canal you will come to the Telephone Pioneers Yuba River Overlook. From here you can see all the way down to the river. During the spring and summer months when all of the trees have their leaves, seeing the river can be a challenge. Around a few more bends we came upon the California 4WD Club Diamondhead Outhouse which is now closed due to badly needed repairs. The first flume that you come to is flume #25. This flume like  so many others on this trail have been carefully reconstructed. It's pretty amazing when you think about all of the work and labor it took to originally make this 25 mile long canal. Let alone what they did just to rebuild these flumes. Horse and carriage, surveying the land for the slow gradual grade on which the water moved, blasting rock, milling the lumber to make the flumes and the list goes on. Just amazing!

   

    A little over a mile from the trailhead we came to flume #28. Standing at the entrance to the flume and looking out across Rush Creek to the end of the same flume was amazing. This is definitely one of the many spots to take anyone who enjoys California mining history. As you walk over the creek you will see the addition of a wheelchair ramp that goes all of the way down to the water. During the fall and winter months this ramp is very slippery, you can almost skate down it. There is a Lunch Shelter that overlooks the falls; this is a good place to take a few pics and have a snack. We walked carefully down to the creek and took in the sights. If you look near the bottom of the ramp, wedged in between the rocks and across the creek you can see remnants of a truck that came from Hwy 49 above. At least that's what I think. At this point we turned around and headed back to the entrance to the trail and continue eastward.

    Once back at the trailhead we ventured off eastward towards Miners Tunnel. Just as we started down the trail the kids noticed this Mud Man that someone lovingly created and put on the handrail. FYI, on our return he was gone. We'll surely miss him.

    The eastern section of the trail has some pretty cool walkways that overlook the Yuba River and cross gorges. We stopped at the #21 flume and parked ourselves on the large bench to enjoy our sandwiches and some snuit fracks. From here we enjoyed listening to the rushing water and watching the traffic below and across the canyon. Just a short walk down the trail from here we came across flumes #19/#20 and a few tenths of a mile more we passed through Tunnel Rock and took a few pics. The kids were in good spirits and so was I, it was a perfect day! When C.G. and I were here it got dark before we could find the Miners Tunnel, sotoday we decided we wouldn't turn back today until we found the tunnel. Onward we traveled. We passed over many more flumes and bridges as well as a nice little picnic area hidden along the way. Along the trail there were so many different types of mushrooms, there was even a little spot where all of the trees and ferns had water droplets all over their leaves. As the kids walked past they couldn't help but use the walking sticks their Papi gave them to knock water off  the leaves and onto the hiker behind them. The simple things in life. Almost 2 miles from the trailhead we came to Augustini Road; this is a 4WD road that once led to Hoyt's Crossing down at the river. From here we could either continue another .2 miles to the Miner Tunnel Overlook or go down the road to the left and see if we could locate the tunnel; we went left. It was only a few minute walk when we came upon a sign for Hoyt's Crossing Day Use Area. At this spot there were two ways to go. We could take the trail marked as Placer Mining Claim #295301 down to the water on the right, or we could continue down the road that was marked as Yuba Heaven.

          

    We decided to explore the mining claim trail first before continuing down the road. The trail was pretty steep and it dropped us down onto a field of strewn trees and logs that obviously get washed up here during winter and spring run off. We wanted to go down to the river but we decided that climbing over so many logs was not a good idea. I could definitely see someone getting hurt, and we were a long ways from cell phone signal and help.

  Back up the trail we went. Once back on the road we continued down to the river on Yuba Heaven. The road ends up stopping just short of the river. You'll know your at the right place when you see a rock fire ring someone built on the right. We headed to the left since there wasn't a clear trail beyond the fire ring. The twins took a potty break while the rest of us scrambled down the rocks towards the river. As I was trying to figure out where this other source of water was coming from, I looked to the left and low and behold it was the Miners Tunnel. We stumbled onto it by dumb luck! If you didn't know it was here you could easily miss it. One by one the kids came down and looked at the tunnel with mouths and eyes wide open. There was a considerable amount water flowing through it, so we agreed that come summer we would journey down here on a hot day and see if we might get the opportunity to actually walk through it when there would be far less water.

  

    After our discovery we headed back towards the car. We kept a pretty good pace since it would be dark in a matter of minutes. Lucky for us we brought our headlamps and only needed to use them from the Tunnel Rock to the car. Overall we hiked approximately 6.3 miles and enjoyed every step along the way. I would so recommend this trail for anyone. Folks with children in strollers, persons in wheelchairs, families wanting to take parents/grandparents along for an easy hike and anyone who loves a bit of Gold Country history.

    Thanks for reading another Northern California Family Adventures,

Uncle Leo & Camping Girl

 

Kids Corner

Lizzy:

     Hi everyone, Independence trail was awesome. Let me tell you something, along time ago there were mines here and those mines needed water so the miners could find the gold. So they built canals and  flumes. We walked through the flumes and canals and it was cool. That time of day was beautiful, the weather people said it was probably going to rain but lucky for us it was sunny. There was a rock that looked like a bridge and you can go underneath it. Oh, I almost forgot that everytime we go somewhere we have a mission, and our mission here was to find the Miners Tunnel. There were twist and turns and different trails, and we didn't know which trail to take but we took one. Now that we where at the very end of the trail, we stopped by the river. Then we took a little trail down to the river and all of a sudden my dad stumbled upon the Miners Tunnel. He called me and my brother down to the river and we looked around and we saw the big tunnel. We were glad we found the miners tunnel, now our mission was acomplished. I loved this trail very much, it was sweet and cool hike. I thanked my dad for taking us there, I love this place and thank you for joining with me and my family, goodbye every one.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     Love,

                 Lizzy

Happy Thanksgiving!

   

 Hello everyone, I'm taking a brief moment today to type a few words about Thanksgiving and the importance of family. I'm thankful for my family, it's not a perfect one and thats what makes is special. Lets be honest without our families where would we be. The people that make up our families play an important role in how we interact with people and resolve situations in our daily lives. I see family as a school where you learn how to work with people who have a different point of view than ourselves. I know my family consists of individuals working together as one. We may not see eye to eye all the time, but thats good. I stoppedby my parents yesterday and ended up talking with my mom while she was watching one of her Dr. shows. I actually stopped what I was doing to listen to the unbelievable situation that was being dealt with on this show. Wow! At the end of the show the Dr. simply stated that we need to talk to and treat one another the way we expect to be treated. That being said, during this holiday season whether it's family or a complete stranger lets all do are part to be the better person. Imagine a world where we all looked out for one another and spread positivity. So when your with family this holiday season,  go back to school. Work on perfecting that a ray of sunshine that makes darkness disapear, I know I will! 

    So to everyone out there in Adventure Land, have a great Thanksgiving! Take plenty of pictures, enjoy family and when out and about out, SHINE!

Happy Thanksgiving,

Uncle Leo 

Horsetail Falls, Eldorado National Forest

    Hey there fellow adventurers how's the daily grind? Me too. Well I have a special place for you and everyone else in the family to give you a change of scenery. The place I'm talking about is Horsetail Falls in the Eldorado National Forest. The hike to the falls starts at the Pyramid Creek Trailhead which is located off senic Hwy 50. We visited this jewel back in July and I'm finally dusting it off and sharing it with you.

     This has to be one of the easiest places to find. From Sacramento head east on Hwy 50 until you come to the Pyramid Creek Trailhead parking area on your left. From Sacramento it's about 90 miles and about an 1 hr and 40 minute drive and it's less than 20 miles from South Lake Tahoe.    There are many campgrounds along the way that can make the trip a little less hurried. We went for the day, but going up and staying the night before at a local campground would give you much more time to explore. I've added a Google Map link below.

Horsetail Falls

    As usual we decided to go on a whim. We have some friends that we'd been trying to get out and do something adventurous with. I believe the idea began during our game of bags out in front of the house the night before. Our in the know friends suggested we go to Horsetail Falls and since neither my baby or myself had ever been there before the decision was a no brainer. So we planned to head out in the morning. Coffee was made and the Forester loaded with the essentials, water, hydration packs, sunscreen, sandwiches and snacks (sunflower seeds and granola bars).

    The parking at the trail head is very limited and unless you show up bright and early you will be parking across the highway as we did. Or get lucky and get a spot as somebodies leaving, good luck. Once your here you don't want to leave. The parking fee if I recall is $5- and there is a box right next to the trailhead information board. There are vault toilets here but as we walked by people were coming out of them saying there was no toilet paper. We always carry a roll in the car for just these types of situations. 

    We headed up the trail head towards the falls taking the Wilderness Boundry Trail. This trail takes you over and around granite as you make your way over to the creek. As you climb further into the valley you can see Horsetail Falls in the distance. You will come to a 4"x4" post that shows the Pyramid Creek Trail going to the right (this is the way we went). As you make your way up the trail you will pass many great spots to stop and swim or to just put your feet in the water. You may see Lilies and many other flowers along the way. I enjoyed the hike because one minute your traversing granite and manzanita, the next your going through tall pines or even through a grove of birch trees. One of these little groves of birch trees it seems is a favorite spot for people to leave their mark  along the way. Our buddie "Nator" recalls being here with his family many years ago and had many stories to tell. Where we decided to stop and have lunch at a spot where there was a little waterfall spilling into several pools. Nator recalled hanging out at the swim hole with his childhood friends. He was the only one at this stop that had the courage to swim, at this point I was feeling a little ill and decided it was probably a better idea to get some nurishment than frolic in the cold water. From where we were you could get a spectacular view of Horsetail Falls, when we were here there was a lot of fast moving water so as Nator swam we kept an eye on him.  

 

 

    After we had snacked and Nator dried off we headed back down the trail to find another swim hole that all of us could enjoy.  We had an idea where to find such a place because on our way up we passed a couple of spots that looked pretty inviting. The water was a bit nippy but it sure was refreshing. 

    Almost all of the way back to the trail head we stopped for a group photo. We look so darn happy don't we?

    As I was walking across Hwy 50 I spotted a little envelope. Apparently someone dropped their day use fee, So I walked it back across Hwy 50 so that it could complete it's journey.

    We had a wonderful time here and I'm sure you'll have the same experience when you decide to get away to Horsetail Falls.

Uncle Leo & Camping Girl

 

 

 

Holiday Shopping

    Hello fellow Adventurers. It's that time of the year again, the time for holiday shopping. I'm sure any of you who read our blog are familiar with our affiliates on the right side of our site. When looking for gifts this season for your loved ones please take some time and click on the links to our many affiliates to see what great deals are out there and help support Northern California Family Adventures. 

Thanks for your support and have a wonderful holiday season,

Uncle Leo & Camping Girl

Sugar Pine Reservoir, Foresthill

    Well, it's that time of year once again. The time for what you ask? It's the time of the year when the campgrounds that are affected by snow close for the season. Last year we went to Mt. Lassen around the same time in October just before the campgrounds shutdown.

    This year we decided to stay closer to home and take the kids. The weekend before our camping trip, Camping Girl and I decided to go for a hike, and as usual we got sidetracked. After passing through the town of Foresthill we took a left on Sugar Pine Road and followed the signs to the reservoir. Camping Girl had been here before. Once there we found out that the following weekend was the last weekend the campground would be open, so we decided to bring the whole family back the following weekend.

  Yes, that is snow. Further up Foresthill Rd. past Sugar Pine Rd. we encountered the seasons first real snowfall.

    Sugar Pine Reservoir is located in the Tahoe National Forest and even if you've never been here before it is easy to find.  From Sacramento head east on Hwy 80 towards Lake Tahoe. You will exit onto Foresethill Road, which is two exits after the Hwy 49 exit. Once on Foresthill Rd. you will travel approximately 27.5 miles passing through the quaint town of Foresthill until you come to Sugar Pine Road on your left. You will follow the road approximately 7.5 miles passing the Forbes Creek Group Campground and the Sugar Pine Reservoir boat launch area. After crossing the dam you will come to the Sugar Pine Reservoir Campground entrance on your right. From here the campgrounds are only a couple of minutes away! 

 

Hide and Seek: On your way to the campground while driving on Sugar Pine Road see if you can spot our little friend on the right side of the road.

 I found this a bit peculiar. A grenade carrying squirrel? Probably a good reason why they are so abundant. This reminds me of the "Don't Tread On Me" flag.

  During our visit Shirt Tail Campground was not open, and from what we saw walking through the campground it looked as if the Park Service was rebuilding some of the vault toilets. This left Giant Gap Campground the only campground available. This was more than ok with us since many of the sites here are a stones throw from the water. At both campgrounds and day use area there are vault toilets (this is the norm for any campground that see's temps below 32F). They were pretty clean but the smell, not so good. I can only imagine what they are like during the summer months. This area is very busy during the summer months due to the OHV (Off Highway Vehicles) trails in the area, so one can only imagine. We also walked through Forbes Creek Group Campground and liked what we saw, as a matter of fact we will try to convince the rest of our clan to have our "Family" camping trip here next year.

 Our campsite.    One of the two group sites at Forbes Creek.

    There are so many things about this place that make it special. The location, it's only a little over an hour and a half drive from Sacramento. The activities; from the beautiful 4.2 mile trail around the reservoir, to the inviting coves to swim in, 3 rope swings and the numerous frogs that the kids could catch close to camp, it's not difficult to find something to do here.  A little tranquility can also be found whether it be kayaking on the water, fishing, wading out to the little island and basking in the sun, skipping stones or just simply looking at the stars in the clear nights sky. This place is great for everyone. Our site had room for several tents and was a short walk to the trail as well as the water. We chose our site not for location, but privacy.  Being that it was Fall and the last camping weekend of the season there were many sites available. The only other occupants were the Camp Host, Camping Girls friend Dan and his crew, and a group of hunters that rolled in well after dark and left at sunrise. With no summer crowds around it was definately a slice of heaven.

 View of the island from the day use area.

 Looking across the reservoir after sunset.

     Our adventure started right after Bobbys' cross country event on Saturday morning in South Sacramento. After his event we headed home to load the green machine and hit the road. We finally made it to our destination by 1pm PST. Along the way we reminisced about all of our previous trips up Foresthill Road. During the summer months as you drive down Sugar Pine Rd. you get to see all the ATV/ Motorcycles folks at the staging areas getting ready to head off into the wilderness or coming back to get a break from the action. The kids got really excited! As we crossed the dam, they looked to the right and all they could see was this picture perfect lake with mountains as a backdrop.

      Upon our arrival at camp we did our usual "divide and conquer". The kids unloaded as the adults set up camp. After the G.M. was emptied the two oldest kids joined in with putting up the tents. Once camp was set up, Camping Girl and I passed out the walkie-talkies per the kids request. They'd been itching to explore their new surroundings since arriving and with the setup complete they were free to roam. During their exploration the kids found a three legged frog and named him "Frankie". Every time they went down to the water they always found Frankie, and they even said he would follow them as they walked down the shoreline. We also enjoyed playing bags for a little while before starting dinner. That evening we enjoyed chili and dogs cooked on the campfire. After our meal we cooked marshmallows and enjoyed the stars and peacefulness that comes with having a campground with very few campers. Before bed we made a plan to wake up early in the morning so that we could stroll down to the water first thing to see the mist that covered the reservoir disapear with the sunrise. Mother Nature had a different plan than ours. Camping Girl and I awoke in the middle of the night to a freak rain shower that had us scrambling to put the rainflys over our tents. We usually use our rainflys but this time decided not to so we could enjoy looking up at the stars in the clear night sky.

  The kids found some tiny critters. 

 Bags anyone?   Fireside.   Simple times.

 Frankie the three legged frog.  Uncle Leo takes a dip.

    Come daybreak Camping Girl and I were still in our bags, but the kids apparently got up, dressed and saw the mist on the water as we lay sleeping. When we got up, we packed our sleeping gear and started breakfast. When the kids arrived back at camp we told them they needed to pack their gear up as well. Well I'll be damned! Apparently buying the kids new sleeping bags that they could pack by themselves finally paying off, they had already packed before heading down to the water. When we finished breakfast Camping Girl headed over to Dan's campsite to see what their plans were for the day. She came back with news of some rope swings that were about a mile down the trail heading towards the dam. We decided to pack our backpacks and check out the rope swings.  Four kids have a plenitude of energy so rather than take the  mile or so direct route we decided to walk the 3 1/2 miles around the reservoir to the rope swings. Many kayakers were paddling into the launch area as we walked by the boat launch. It seemed they were taking advantage of the perfect weather as well. One thing I can say for sure is this 4.2 mile trail around the reservoir has to be one of the nicest trails we've walked in quite some time. If you come here, walking the trail is a must! We recommend going first thing in the morning. After crossing the dam we went through the green gate and just a little ways further down the path we came to the rope swings where Dan and his crew were swinging like a bunch of happy monkeys.

          

     Just so your aware these rope swings are not for children or the faint of heart. But for Dan and his crew they left their fears at home and it seemed as if they had a blast. Just take a look at these pictures below and see for yourself. Now mind you I only swung once on the least dangerous of the three, and only once. I have kids you know.

   

    After watching the boy's of summer we went down to the little cove near the swings and found a nice little beach entrance and some blackberry bushes.

    After frolicking in the water we headed back to camp to pack the car up and move to the day use area before our journey home. We finished our day by going back to the island to skip rocks and saying our goodbye's. How can skipping rocks be so much fun yet be so darn frustrating at the same time? Bobby by far is the best skipper of the bunch. Me, I can hold my own. But it seems as if some of the girls were just throwing rocks, and it showed by their frustration. Well you know what they say, practice makes perfect. So we'll just have to keep on throwing until we get it right. 

 

    As we were skipping rocks the camp host rolled up to the gate and pulled it closed and then  locked it up for the season. I guess we shut the place down, I never heard him say "Last Call". Oh well, maybe we'll open the place up next season.

    We had such a wonderful time here and plan on coming back next season when it re-opens. Hope to see you there.

Uncle Leo & Camping Girl

 Kids Corner:

    Hey,this is Bobby and the trip to Sugar Pine Resevoir was awesome. I liked the trails and the frogs. The funny thing is my sister had a lizard go up her pants. My sisters and I climbed trees when we were there. I want to go back to Sugar Pine Resevoir.

     Lizzy here. Sugar Pine Reservoir was spectacular. My two favorite parts where when all of the kids went to the reservoir and found frogs and snakes it was fun. My other favorite thing was when at the very end of the adventure we took a hike around the reservoir and let me just tell you that when you hike you smell the pine it smells so good . If you ever come make sure that you see this land which is at the end of reservoir. Make sure that you wake up very early to see the mist at the resevoir, and can you make sure that you see my friend Frankie the frog . Oh, and I almost forgot. Make sure that there's no bears in your campsite. Look and see if you can also find some fish in the reservoir. I hope that if you come you will love it. I have never had a camping trip like that in along time. I love Sugar Pine Resevoir.

Until next time,

Lizzy

 

 Fees:

Shirttail and Giant Gap Campgrounds/$21- a night + $5- per additional vehicle.

Forbes Creek Group Campground/ $120- a night

Reservations: http://66.193.24.151/camping/Giant_Gap_Ca/r/campgroundDetails.do?contractCode=NRSO&parkId=71676

 Download Giant Gap Campground PDF

Download Shirttail Creek Campground PDF