Fall Colors 2011

[Lighthawk]

Prologue:

One of our favorite tours is to spend some time on the East Side during the fall colors season. We had a great time last year, when we just acquired my new Hawk and were eager to get back. New friends MarkBC, and Ski3pin and Lady were game to meet up late October. Great! We easily agreed on a site along Green Creek as our nexus for Friday night.

Our plan was to leave on Thursday. We both thought we could bail on our jobs midday and be gone. No dice. Headaches with the building department kept me in the office until 5pm and my sweetie got talked into a very-important-meeting in Truckee. Arrrrggghh. Would we get out of town??

We decided to meet in Truckee, so I packed solo and hit the road. Interstate 80 was tough after dark with single lane constrictions, where I got sandwiched between big rigs with rough road transitions bouncing the camper around. It was 8pm before I met Susan at the Town Hall for Truckee where we left her Subaru and began our travel south. Gas in Minden wsa $3.44 (later we paid $4.89 in Bridgeport )

East Side Trip Report:

We rolled into Bridgeport around 12:30am.

After the stress of a busy week and packing the camper we were ready to visit the hot springs. Ahhhhh. We brought our friend Bob (aka Zodi) into the spring and had hot showers afterwards.

The night was dark with a late-rising waning moon. Meteors were frequent as Jupiter dominated the starscape. Our eyes adjusted as we viewed the landscape tinged with a Jovian hue.

We boondocked nearby as the crescent moon rose.

To be continued . . .

 

[Lighthawk]

We awoke to view the Bridgeport valley, framed by the Sawtooth Mountains.

The day was sunny and warm.

We could see gold and orange spilling down the drainages where the aspens live. It was going to be a color-filled day.

We had a little time before meeting MarkBC, so we explored a small cemetery near Travertine Hot Springs. Kind of bizarre with plastic flowers and corian sink cutouts for non-labeled headstones.

Only one grave was marked.

.
We did a quick visit to the Bridgeport Ranger Station to get a campfire permit. Susan walked out of the station and did a double take as a Tundra/Hawk rolled into the lot. She thought maybe it was me, but instead it was our new friends from Nevada City. We laughed to find each other 200 miles from home. Corbett was ready to fish the East Walker and said it was fishing really well. I kind of got jittery thinking about casting a fly. I fished the E. Walker last year and it was really nice.

It was time togo down to Hays Street Cafe. Mark rolled in and after a big breakfast of omelets, we hit the road. Before we left another FWC came in with a single guy, but we didn't connect with him. Popups seem to be everywhere on the East Side.

Our plan to to visit Lundy Canyon, just south of Conway Summit. The aspens right along 395 were magnificent. We drove to the end of Lundy Lake and past the beaver dams. Photographers were behind every bush as this is a very popular fall destination.

We took an afternoon hike up Lundy Canyon from the trailhead. Last year when we were here at the same time, it was cold and rainy. What a difference this year!

The first lake is only about half a mile and has a beautiful set of waterfalls along Mill Creek feeding the lake. The beavers have been industrious.

But we wanted to keep on climbing to a higher basin above the falls.

Lundy Canyon was part of the mail route from Bodie to Bennetville at Tioga Pass.
Lundy Cyn Mining

We found an old log cabin along the trail, slowly disintegrating into the earth.

Indian summer hiking in the fall Sierra. It doesn't get any better than this.

Our rendezvous with Ski3pin was up Green Creek road, so we decided to get there while it was light to pick the best site. I thought I might get a little fishing in. The meadows above Dynamo Pond were golden.

I quickly grabbed my rod, skipping waders to hike upstream and fish. The water was so clear and still that casting would spook the trout, so I tried drifting my fly downstream into an undercut. My fly hooked a log and I could not dislodge it. I finally decided to snap off my leader, but when I did I realized that my rod tip had come off It was dim light and I didn't have a headlamp. I got on my knees and strained my eyes looking down into the icy water and could not see it. Then I thought, "Well maybe it doesn't sink.", so I tested the middle section of my Sage carbon-fiber rod ($$$). It wanted to float! Yikes. Now my expensive rod tip was somewhere downstream. I threw dry grass in the water and watched where it went. About twenty feet below it tended to hang up. I looked in the water. Yes! I could see my rod tip there in about three feet of water at a 45 degree angle with the metal rod tip as ballast. I ran back in the dusk, got waders, headlamp and talked Susan into watching me as I retrieved my gear.

 

[Lighthawk]

I must be posting too many photos
I just got an error message from WTW about that. I must have exceeded the allotted number per post

Just a wrap up for our evening at Green Creek:

While we settled in for the evening and the arrival of Ski3pin and The Lady I got out the tripod and did some more night photos.

The Big Dipper

The next day we headed north with Ski3pin, The Lady and MarkBC.
To be continued . . .

 

[Lighthawk]

Sonora Pass

By now all the WTW'ers have had their yellow/orange optical receptors blown out
Between Ski3pin, Ted, MarkBC and everyone else, we're getting more than our share of fall color.

Morning light at camp:

Leaving Green Creek Saturday morning we followed Ski3pin up to Hwy 108 to Leavitt Meadows where MarkBC said goodbye and headed down to the White Mtns. It was another sunny, warm Indian Summer day. We shouldered packs and hit the trail.

Our hike was about three miles along the length of Leavitt Meadow, then up a small rise to a hidden gem, Secret Lake. We had it all to ourselves. It was a fine lunch.

We cut back across the meadow, following the pack trail back to the stables.

This entailed a few mandatory stream crossings

The meadow was filled with dried pods from some sort of flower. Anyone know what this is?

The stables were shut for the season. The history of the place was palpable.

We found a camp at the 9,000' elevation, just off Hwy 108. With daylight waning, we pulled into a nice flat site with plenty of room. The night was cold, so I used up the rest of the storm-damage oak firewood and mixed that with local lodgepole and juniper for a warming fire.
We enjoyed great story telling with our new friends, Ski and Lady before jumping inside our Hawk. The Wave 3 kept ol' dog Sadie nice and toasty that night.

The morning view across to Leavitt Falls was sublime.

Stay tuned for one more episode: Walker River to Tahoe

 

[MarkBC]

Very nice, Andy!

Looks like I missed a nice hike and campsite when I left...

 

[SunMan]

Your pics seem to get better and better (if that's possible)...love the night shots!

 

[ski3pin]

Great trip report Lighthawk, looking forward to the next installment!

This is my favorite east side color photo of all posted thus far. We really like this one! Excellent!

and this one of SR crossing the West Walker is just special.

 

[randygirl]

Amazing pictues... Looks like an awesome trip.

 

[highz]

Love the photos! Awesome.