Mokelumne River

[Ted]

Made a weekend run to the north fork of the Mokelumne River below Salt Springs Reservoir. This is the location of last year's Pork Rally. The usual route into this area is by Ellis Road off HWY 88 above Hamms Station. But Ellis Road washed out this winter and will remained closed for a while. We camped here years ago and came out by following the road west almost to Pioneer. So we headed up Friday night after work. Unfortunately I couldn't remember the exact route and we kept running into dead ends. It was getting dark and, yes DD, Magellan was lost. Denied Plan A, we camped that night by a river rafting launch area below Tiger Creek Reservoir.

Next morning we drove out, got directions, and tried again. This time we made it. The road in is 26 narrow and winding miles. It is a mix of pavement and dirt with lots of potholes but can easily be done with a two wheel drive. If you go there, take Tiger Creek Road off 88 a couple of miles past Pioneer. You get to Tiger Creek Reservoir after a couple of miles. The road splits just before the power house. The right side drops down to the power house. Stay left even though it is unsigned and it looks like a narrow one way road coming out of the area. Be aware there are many sections of this road where someone will have to back up if you meet another vehicle. Allow one and a half hours for the 26 miles. A typical section of roadway:

Once in the area is heavily forested and pretty. There are three small campgrounds back here plus lots of boondocking sites right on the river. We stayed at White Azalea cg and had it to ourselves. Even saw a couple of Bobcats. Our campsite:

DD had mentioned that this place was kind of trashed, so we spent some time picking up garbage. It wasn't too bad but then it is early in the season. Our harvest:

 

[chnlisle]

I like your style Ted.

 

[ski3pin]

Ted, our friend, thanks for the report, and Ted, you are a good guy and good guys do make a difference in the world. We like your style too! Good you see the new truck out wandering.

 

[clikrf8]

What a peaceful campground and you left in much better shape than before you arrived. We all should do that when we can. The more trip reports, even short ones, the better.

 

[DirtyDog]

Thanks for the trash duty Ted. What struck me about that area wasn't how much trash was at the spot we camped in, but that there was pretty much trash everywhere as there are a lot of primitive sites in that area.

 

[Overland Hadley]

Thanks for picking up the trash. The world needs more people like you.

 

[Ted]

Thank you for the nice comments. It really isn't a big deal, its just always been a way for me to pass time when camping. We just did a little more this time. What I truly find amazing and impressive is that I admitted being lost and DD didn't use that opening to take a shot at me.

 

[ski3pin]

What I truly find amazing and impressive is that I admitted being lost and DD didn't use that opening to take a shot at me.


...............you are not the only one to notice.

 

[RJones]

Ted Thanks for taking some ownership of the great outdoors.

 

[SunMan]

I don't do Facebook Ted but this would get a "like" from me if I did!

 

[rich]

Hey Ted,

Great report. Couldn't make it out last week, wish we did would have been nice to see another wanderer out there. Thinking about heading out tomorrow morning and had one question for you. How was the river right there, looks like you were at a pretty still section, was there much current through camp?

We were thinking of bringing our paddle boards out there to play on the river a bit.

 

[Ted]

Hi Rich,

There was that small pool by our camp and another a couple of hundred yards downstream from there just below a bridge. Unfortunately the rest was whitewater. Even the small pools had a pretty strong current. Unfortunately I don't think you would be able to use the paddle boards here. And even if you could, in three minutes you would have circled the whole pool twice.

I saw your post in trip planning and thought about it but really couldn't come up with any suggestions. What you said about mountain lakes being snowed in is true. I figure it will be July before we can get tyo some of them. If you were to head east instead of west, you could stay at Washoe Lake and paddle it. Not exactly remote but a big lake with fair access.

Another thought is north, but you are looking at about 4 hours. About 5 miles east of Chester is a forest road that goes north. About 6 miles up is Echo Lake. Very pretty with remote camping on the shores. I think it is only about 4000' elevation so may be accesible now. Call Lassen National Forest to confirm that.

Have a nice weekend for us - I'm peeling up lino and laying tile.