craig333
Riley's Human
Day 3, heading for loon lake. Still hoping to avoid smoke. In hindsight another route would have. Been better.
smoky, very
- Thread starter craig333
- Start date
Smokecreek1
Smokecreek1
Not here Craig either-it's becomming like Reno 
!!! Man I wish I had headed for cent. Nevada, the coast or somewhere instead of trying to get things done here in Susanville and missing the Labor Day crowds---then taking off . It's been smoky and windy but this morning it is like being inside of my old Schrader fire place! The truck is ready to go but where, maybe I'll just sit on the deck and have a vodka and when it gets to bad, go and sit in front of the fan ! Unlike you, I can wait this out, but can I? You'll find a place up there to play!
Smoke
!!! Man I wish I had headed for cent. Nevada, the coast or somewhere instead of trying to get things done here in Susanville and missing the Labor Day crowds---then taking off . It's been smoky and windy but this morning it is like being inside of my old Schrader fire place! The truck is ready to go but where, maybe I'll just sit on the deck and have a vodka and when it gets to bad, go and sit in front of the fan ! Unlike you, I can wait this out, but can I? You'll find a place up there to play!Smoke
OP
OP
craig333
Riley's Human
I did finally outrun the smoke but it took some driving. Union res was a no go so I headed on to Centerville flats campground. Smoke was tolerable and the campground was clean and empty. I took the Jeep up to the top of monitor pass to see if anything looked smoke free. It didn't. The next day I decided to run on over the tub at the East Fork of the Carson River now that I know a better route. Sure enough I was the only on there. So far. Here's the tub empty. I had to improvise a drain plug. You guys who do more hot springs will have to tell me if that normal. As I crossed the river I thought about how it would be an easy two wheel drive crossing if not for it being illegal, being a wild and scenic river.
Took about forty five minutes to fill.
You guys who like em hot would like this one. I had to wait about 45 minutes before it cooled enough to get in. I was enjoying a soak when a dozen atvs/utvs went by. They were all my age or older so I have to assume they knew better. They didn't stop to chat.
It was pretty clean but why anyone would build a fire that close to the tub /boggle. Way too many fire rings around there.
I made it back to camp about 2pm, the smoke was getting untenable. Time to head on. I chatted with some guys on the ham radio over at loon lake who said the smoke wasn't bad there. That was a bit to much haul for the time and the smoke thinned nicely as I hit the Silver Fork road. Camped along there for the night. Saw either a very large cub or a small adult bear in the road on the way down. Its been my year for bears. Very few campers along the way. Made it to Loon Lake. Spent about two hours on the Lake before the winds made me nervous and I got off.
I thought about staying the night but it was pretty crowded so I decided to push on for the Lakes Basin. Omg, this didn't work out so well. Instead of heading for Georgetown and 193 I decided to go via Hell Hole and that other lake. Its not a bad route, paved all the way to Foresthill. Do not go down road 23. No signs and my map shows it going through. A locked gate at the end of road with no turn around showed otherwise. I had to disconnect the Jeep to get both rigs turned around. Whacked my knee good getting back into the truck. Made it to French Meadows where you cross the damn to keep going. A small hand written sign mentions the road being closed two miles ahead due to the American fire. They couldn't have a sign back on the Wentworth Springs road? Good thing there were no FS employees around right then. Well if you keep going straight the road eventually goes to Soda Springs. I'd done the route from Foresthill years ago. It wasn't bad and I sure didn't want to backtrack all the way to 193. If I'd only known what I was in for. It starts out as a nice wide gravel road. It did have a sign warning against cars and trailers. It needs a better warning. Without 4low I"m not sure I would have made it. It was steep switchbacks up the mountain. Very few places to pass. Thankfully no over was going the other way. It would be okay for the Jeep, not a full size truck towing a Jeep.
No signs at the intersection but it would either have led to roadblock or into the fire if I headed to Foresthill from here. The road isn't bad from here, typical rocky dirt road but it was longer that I remembered. You know you're nearing Soda Springs when you see tennis courts in the forest.
The homeowners here really don't want trespassers. This is one of the nicer signs.
The road drops you out in the old Royal Gorge ski area. Looks to be for sale. Not a sole at the lodges.
By now I know I can't make it to the Lakes Basin put I pulled into the Lower Little Truckee campground as the sun was going down. It was empty. Nice campground but too close to the road. To top things off when I went to grill my ribs the meat had gone bad. Had to bump up the meal plan and go with chicken instead.
It may have been partly my fault. I had the refer packed full. I did find I had to set the temp from 4 to 6 to achieve good cooling. Sure enough the traffic along 89 woke me up nice and early. Packed up and did breakfast in Sierraville. I made it over to Plumas Eureka state park before they'd even opened the museum. Its nice but once you've seen a dozen mining exhibits.... The mountain was a bit different. Never seen mines on that many levels on a mountain. You can actually drive up the mountain most of the way to a mountain top lake. Eureka Lake and Eureka Peak. I thought about the hike to the top but didn't want to test the knee. Not a soul up there.
Found a nice spot to camp with a view of the Sierra Buttes.
Did a little driving around, checked out the lakes. Nice kayaking lakes. A lot of interesting backcountry there I need to come back and explore. Pretty much smoke free too until I neared Nevada City on the drive home. 620 miles and while maybe it wasn't the best route considering the smoke I still (mostly, not whacking my knee) enjoyed it.
Took about forty five minutes to fill.
You guys who like em hot would like this one. I had to wait about 45 minutes before it cooled enough to get in. I was enjoying a soak when a dozen atvs/utvs went by. They were all my age or older so I have to assume they knew better. They didn't stop to chat.
It was pretty clean but why anyone would build a fire that close to the tub /boggle. Way too many fire rings around there.
I made it back to camp about 2pm, the smoke was getting untenable. Time to head on. I chatted with some guys on the ham radio over at loon lake who said the smoke wasn't bad there. That was a bit to much haul for the time and the smoke thinned nicely as I hit the Silver Fork road. Camped along there for the night. Saw either a very large cub or a small adult bear in the road on the way down. Its been my year for bears. Very few campers along the way. Made it to Loon Lake. Spent about two hours on the Lake before the winds made me nervous and I got off.
I thought about staying the night but it was pretty crowded so I decided to push on for the Lakes Basin. Omg, this didn't work out so well. Instead of heading for Georgetown and 193 I decided to go via Hell Hole and that other lake. Its not a bad route, paved all the way to Foresthill. Do not go down road 23. No signs and my map shows it going through. A locked gate at the end of road with no turn around showed otherwise. I had to disconnect the Jeep to get both rigs turned around. Whacked my knee good getting back into the truck. Made it to French Meadows where you cross the damn to keep going. A small hand written sign mentions the road being closed two miles ahead due to the American fire. They couldn't have a sign back on the Wentworth Springs road? Good thing there were no FS employees around right then. Well if you keep going straight the road eventually goes to Soda Springs. I'd done the route from Foresthill years ago. It wasn't bad and I sure didn't want to backtrack all the way to 193. If I'd only known what I was in for. It starts out as a nice wide gravel road. It did have a sign warning against cars and trailers. It needs a better warning. Without 4low I"m not sure I would have made it. It was steep switchbacks up the mountain. Very few places to pass. Thankfully no over was going the other way. It would be okay for the Jeep, not a full size truck towing a Jeep.
No signs at the intersection but it would either have led to roadblock or into the fire if I headed to Foresthill from here. The road isn't bad from here, typical rocky dirt road but it was longer that I remembered. You know you're nearing Soda Springs when you see tennis courts in the forest.
The homeowners here really don't want trespassers. This is one of the nicer signs.
The road drops you out in the old Royal Gorge ski area. Looks to be for sale. Not a sole at the lodges.
By now I know I can't make it to the Lakes Basin put I pulled into the Lower Little Truckee campground as the sun was going down. It was empty. Nice campground but too close to the road. To top things off when I went to grill my ribs the meat had gone bad. Had to bump up the meal plan and go with chicken instead.
It may have been partly my fault. I had the refer packed full. I did find I had to set the temp from 4 to 6 to achieve good cooling. Sure enough the traffic along 89 woke me up nice and early. Packed up and did breakfast in Sierraville. I made it over to Plumas Eureka state park before they'd even opened the museum. Its nice but once you've seen a dozen mining exhibits.... The mountain was a bit different. Never seen mines on that many levels on a mountain. You can actually drive up the mountain most of the way to a mountain top lake. Eureka Lake and Eureka Peak. I thought about the hike to the top but didn't want to test the knee. Not a soul up there.
Found a nice spot to camp with a view of the Sierra Buttes.
Did a little driving around, checked out the lakes. Nice kayaking lakes. A lot of interesting backcountry there I need to come back and explore. Pretty much smoke free too until I neared Nevada City on the drive home. 620 miles and while maybe it wasn't the best route considering the smoke I still (mostly, not whacking my knee) enjoyed it.
OP
OP
craig333
Riley's Human
P.S. Going during the week was nice. Most areas had few people. Hard to say how much the smoke had to do with that. Now Loon and Lakes Basin, given the numbers there during the week I'd never ever want to see those areas on a holiday weekend.
Craig,did you check out Snag or Goose lake on the Gold lake road? We stayed at Goose lake some years back might have been more into Sept.Didn't have anyone else while we were there.craig333 said:
Did some nice hikes around Sardine lake,even put the canoe in.Had a good time.
Frank
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OP
craig333
Riley's Human
I did, and I'd say the campgrounds were maybe a third full? Most sites had reservation signs on them though. Maybe people showed early for the long holiday weekend?
takesiteasy
Senior Member
Sounds like you had an adventure! Trying to imagine all the smoke- crazy. Thanks for posting the report.
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