french meadows - hell hole res.

HERR42

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Sacramento, Ca
anyone been up into those places recently?

its been a long time since i have.

cant remember if there good camping or if its "busy" around there?

i do remember the suspension bridge toward yankee jims. it was manufactured by augustus roebling and son. same guys that built the brooklin bridge!
i remember the deck "swings" freely in the wind.
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a park service guy came to pick up garbage...in a 3ton truck...else i wouldnt have crossed it.
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you can see ROEBLING on the suspension stay.
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Jeff, the Lady & I were up that way the first weekend in June. Most of the roads had just opened up. I'd say these areas can be a bit busy on the weekends as the summer season gets into full swing. But, there are lots of places to disappear into. Thanks for the great pics of the bridge over the North Fork.
 
Jeff, the Lady & I were up that way the first weekend in June. Most of the roads had just opened up. I'd say these areas can be a bit busy on the weekends as the summer season gets into full swing. But, there are lots of places to disappear into. Thanks for the great pics of the bridge over the North Fork.


you know whats funny is that the dam at hell hole res failed during the same storm that flooded the rivers on the north coast (eel, smith) in dec of '64.

pic from uc davis are here http://cee.engr.ucdavis.edu/faculty/boulanger/geo_photo_album/Embankment%20dams/Failure%20of%20hell-hole%20dam/Hell-hole%20dam%20-%20main.html

that was a big storm!
 
That was an incredible storm. I recently picked up a copy of the old USGS report on the failure. The scars in the canyon below are still evident along with the first mile and a half below the dam filled with cobble from the coffer dam. Here's two photos from a couple of weeks ago.
 

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Just spent last friday thru tuesday at both French Meadows and Hell Hole. Weather was good, only snow at higher elavations. Fishing was better at French Meadows, Hell Hole water levels have risen very quickly in the last two weeks, this has had a impact on the fishing. I have made three trips to Hell Hole this season and two to French Meadows. They just opened the campsites at French Meadows a couple of weeks ago. Their water system is working. During the week the fishing pressure is very little. Last trip it was still a little cold at night, that should be changing very quickly now.
 
Jeff, it is worth a trip up to to explore and look around this area. The Lady and I were teaching a class up near Hell Hole this past weekend. Hell Hole Reservoir rarely spills but as fish more says, the water has really risen the last couple of weeks. It is very close to being full and spilling.
 
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