craig333
Riley's Human
Headed out after work, made it to the free camp site near the Snow park on 88. Packed, had a hard time finding a place to camp. Cold, dog water froze and so did I. Furnace wouldn't light so went with the Wave 3 backup. I've thought off and on about removing it but I'm glad I didn't. Have to run it on low to avoid roasting the dog. Hit the road before it was light in the morning. Stopped in Bridgeport for breakfast. Lady at the auto parts store said it 30 at her place last night. Fortunately it got warmer as the weekend went on. Went on up to my spot along the Dunderberg road.
After setting up camp it was time to take the Jeep up the Kavanagh Ridge road. While I could have gotten the truck up there I'm glad I did it in the Jeep. A couple of UTV's went in ahead of me.
Walked around looking at the lakes and trying to figure out you'd get down there.
Everything looked way too steep for this kid.
Riley has his nose to the ground when I decide its time to head back to the Jeep. No premonition or anything but when I looked up the hill I was being watched.
First couple of photos were blurry since I just fired them off in a hurry but to my surprise he stood there long enough to get a good shot.
He kept a respectable distance as I headed back to the Jeep. On level ground Riley finally spotted it and made a move towards it. Fortunately voice commands worked as his leash was way back in the Jeep. Something told me letting them sniff butts might not be a good idea.
Never saw him again after we headed back in the Jeep. Much larger than the ones I see locally around here.
A subaru had been near my camp and when I reached the little pond down the hill a guy was taking a break there after hiked up with his skis and skied a tiny little patch of snow. I don't know my skis but they looked long. Skiers, must be something in the blood
Down the hill I stopped and took of photo of this.
Quite obviously of alien architecture but its on private land so I couldn't explore further.
Later, as I'm cooking my steak a guy in a pickup comes by and asks if I'd been up the road and seen if that structure is still there. Informs me its a Yurt and the guy that put it up was supposed to have removed it by now. Turns out he's the landowner but I didn't get his name. I'm still not sure I buy the Yurt story.
Go on into Virginia Lakes resort for breakfast. Breakfast was so so but I can see why it a popular place to fish.Lots big fish coming out of those lakes. Four pounders are common.
Headed over to Bald Mountain. Made the mistake of looking over Big Springs campground. What a zoo. Took a wrong turn but the Atlas paid off and I finally found a spot to camp near Bald Mountain spring. Should be called no spring as its completely dried up. Little grove of aspens are dead so its been dry a while. Took the Jeep up to the lookout. Unfortunately this is where my camera decided to malfunction and I didn't realize it until later. Not sure why I took one pic with the cell phone.
The lookout is open, fire finder and radio installed so they must be manning it during lightning storms and such. Lots of visitors in UTV's up at the lookout.
I was up fairly early the next morning and after coffee and a biscuit headed on out. Didn't see a soul until I hit 120. I did make the mistake of taking 1S42A on the way out. At times I wasn't sure if I was still on the road or truly off road. Never would have found the traces at night. Glad I had 4wd as the sand got pretty deep in a few spots.
Headed on over to Silver Lake to visit and old friend. They had rigs crammed into every nook and cranny. Seems I got there just in time for a potluck dinner though!
Thats Steve with the batman shirt.
A few other observations.
Only saw two FWC on this trip.
Trail heads were empty on the way up, packed on the way home.
Heenan Lake had so many rigs they overflowed onto the main road. Not as bad on the way back but still busy.
I took the June Lake Loop for the first and last time on the way to Bald Mountain. Beautiful country but insanely overcrowded. I'm sure there must be times of the year when its only slightly overcrowded.
The furnace I did get to fire up the heat of the day with 14.5 volts showing. I tried but failed to get the water heater lit. Pilot light has a very weak flame. I'm hoping maybe I have some bad/marginal propane. I'll go out and test it in bit now that I'm back at nearly sea level. Camera says my battery is not compatible with my camera. Its a nikon genuine battery and has worked for years. I've run it dead before and not received that message. See what it does once I locate my charger.
I also took a trip down Green Creek to see if I could figure out which cabin the guy at the dog park has and I maybe figured it out. The trail head was packed but not quite as much as the one at Virginia Lakes. Backcountry must have been zoo also.
After setting up camp it was time to take the Jeep up the Kavanagh Ridge road. While I could have gotten the truck up there I'm glad I did it in the Jeep. A couple of UTV's went in ahead of me.
Walked around looking at the lakes and trying to figure out you'd get down there.
Everything looked way too steep for this kid.
Riley has his nose to the ground when I decide its time to head back to the Jeep. No premonition or anything but when I looked up the hill I was being watched.
First couple of photos were blurry since I just fired them off in a hurry but to my surprise he stood there long enough to get a good shot.
He kept a respectable distance as I headed back to the Jeep. On level ground Riley finally spotted it and made a move towards it. Fortunately voice commands worked as his leash was way back in the Jeep. Something told me letting them sniff butts might not be a good idea.
Never saw him again after we headed back in the Jeep. Much larger than the ones I see locally around here.
A subaru had been near my camp and when I reached the little pond down the hill a guy was taking a break there after hiked up with his skis and skied a tiny little patch of snow. I don't know my skis but they looked long. Skiers, must be something in the blood
Down the hill I stopped and took of photo of this.
Quite obviously of alien architecture but its on private land so I couldn't explore further.
Later, as I'm cooking my steak a guy in a pickup comes by and asks if I'd been up the road and seen if that structure is still there. Informs me its a Yurt and the guy that put it up was supposed to have removed it by now. Turns out he's the landowner but I didn't get his name. I'm still not sure I buy the Yurt story.
Go on into Virginia Lakes resort for breakfast. Breakfast was so so but I can see why it a popular place to fish.Lots big fish coming out of those lakes. Four pounders are common.
Headed over to Bald Mountain. Made the mistake of looking over Big Springs campground. What a zoo. Took a wrong turn but the Atlas paid off and I finally found a spot to camp near Bald Mountain spring. Should be called no spring as its completely dried up. Little grove of aspens are dead so its been dry a while. Took the Jeep up to the lookout. Unfortunately this is where my camera decided to malfunction and I didn't realize it until later. Not sure why I took one pic with the cell phone.
The lookout is open, fire finder and radio installed so they must be manning it during lightning storms and such. Lots of visitors in UTV's up at the lookout.
I was up fairly early the next morning and after coffee and a biscuit headed on out. Didn't see a soul until I hit 120. I did make the mistake of taking 1S42A on the way out. At times I wasn't sure if I was still on the road or truly off road. Never would have found the traces at night. Glad I had 4wd as the sand got pretty deep in a few spots.
Headed on over to Silver Lake to visit and old friend. They had rigs crammed into every nook and cranny. Seems I got there just in time for a potluck dinner though!
Thats Steve with the batman shirt.
A few other observations.
Only saw two FWC on this trip.
Trail heads were empty on the way up, packed on the way home.
Heenan Lake had so many rigs they overflowed onto the main road. Not as bad on the way back but still busy.
I took the June Lake Loop for the first and last time on the way to Bald Mountain. Beautiful country but insanely overcrowded. I'm sure there must be times of the year when its only slightly overcrowded.
The furnace I did get to fire up the heat of the day with 14.5 volts showing. I tried but failed to get the water heater lit. Pilot light has a very weak flame. I'm hoping maybe I have some bad/marginal propane. I'll go out and test it in bit now that I'm back at nearly sea level. Camera says my battery is not compatible with my camera. Its a nikon genuine battery and has worked for years. I've run it dead before and not received that message. See what it does once I locate my charger.
I also took a trip down Green Creek to see if I could figure out which cabin the guy at the dog park has and I maybe figured it out. The trail head was packed but not quite as much as the one at Virginia Lakes. Backcountry must have been zoo also.
