Red, White, Blue, Black & Tan!

How lucky can you get? Red, white, blue and black & tan!

Red Lake Peak, 4 dogs, and a New Camera

It’s been a long winter and a long, lingering, lovely late spring. Here in Pollock Pines the last of the dogwood blossoms are finally giving up the ghost for more summery attire. I’ve never seen them hang on this late- the past few years they have been over and done with well before the end of April. The Western Azaleas down in the canyon are officially overdue; they always bloom by June 5th and this year they haven’t even shown so much as a bud.
I’m not complaining, mind you. It’s a very nice change of pace, and I pray it’s not just a fluke. It’s good to see everything green and growing. I even got inspired to have a big garden and rejuvenated some of my old flower beds around the house. This is the California I fell in love with 30 years ago when I decided to migrate here from the land of snow and taxes (ie- New York!)

The visitors center at Carson Pass is still surrounded by a dense bank of snow in early June!

Driving up the highway on my way home from work I can see that the Sierras are still impressively covered with snow. The sight of the Crystal Range still draped in white always gives me a bit of a thrill. Down here in the foothills the grass is turning brown and everyone is getting out the shorts and sandals. But in the high peaks there are places that are still buried under deep snow pack.

Lyssa keeps an eye on me “where are we going next?”

In the news we are hearing warnings about how dangerous the rivers are right now because of the continuing runoff from the snowmelt. Currents are cold and swift, and the incautious pay for their poor judgement with their lives. So I was surprised when a friend forwarded me a report from a hiker who had just been up Red Lake Peak in Carson Pass and said that the path to the summit was fairly dry and walkable with only a few snowy patches! Evidently it was the kick in the butt I had been waiting for.

This is the biggest snow patch we had to cross on the way up to Red Lake Peak summit. I love the view of Lake Tahoe, with the peaks of Desolation Wilderness still highlighted by snow.

The garden is planted, the yard is weeded, and the firewood is stacked. Lyssa has a brand new pack and I have a brand new camera! What am I waiting for? So for the first time since last August we headed east up highway 50, up the hill to the high country. The dogs could hardly contain themselves! I reckon their sharp ears had been hearing the call of the mountains a lot earlier than mine did. Silly humans.

Raymond and Reynolds Peaks dominate Mokulumne Wilderness. In 2013 my brothers and I backpacked up through this country on the Tahoe-Yosemite Trail.

Near Echo summit I noticed that there was still a lot of snow in the forested areas, especially on the north facing slopes. I hadn’t brought snow-shoes, just the trail running shoes I have learned to love in recent years. This might be a short hike, I thought, but at the very least I’d find someplace to take some photos and give the dogs a run.

Who needs skis when you’ve got paws?
Tina tobogganing. Upside down is always more fun!

The visitors center at Carson Pass still looked pretty snowed in and there was only one other car in the parking lot on the west side of the highway. But the route up the east ridge of Red Lake Peak looked dry and clear as far as I could see. I grabbed the packs and camera and up we went. Other than a few small patches of snow the ridge was indeed passable for most of the way up to the shoulder. I picked my was carefully up the few snow fields but the dogs made a party of it. Dogs love snow. They roll and frolic and dig and toss it in the air. Tina does somersaults and throws herself on her back and toboggans head-first down the slopes. They have plenty of opportunities to indulge themselves on the way up the mountain. It’s delightful having such joyful companions.

 

Tina thinks the snowpack on the flanks of Red Lake Peak is a great place for a belly-flop. Snowy peaks of Mokulumne wilderness in the background.

I take my time climbing, stopping frequently to take photos. I have a lot to learn about my new camera. It’s a challenge trying to capture the stunning landscapes and then suddenly switch to focusing on fast moving dogs romping and playing. It’s almost impossible to catch both the beauty and delight of the dogs and the stunning beauty of the landscape in single images, with everything in focus and properly lit, but I keep trying. It’s a challenge sure to keep me busy for years! Here are a few humble submissions from today- I hope you enjoy them, and more to come!

On a snowy ridge before the final trek up to the summit of Red Lake Peak. That’s Steven’s Peak over in the distance…. maybe we’ll go there next time!
Pippi admiring the view in the shade of a Juniper tree. Carson Pass.
For a little dog, Lucy is an awesome hiker- always right on my heels wherever I go!
Lyssa posing near the summit block of Red Lake Peak- obviously the core of an ancient volcano. Looking north to Lake Tahoe in the far background.
Tina and Lyssa lead me over to the south summit of Red Lake Peak to check out the view. I feel like I’m walking across the sky!
Tina dancing along the snowbank. She sure looks happy!

Revival

New Year Revival

IMG_4968-2The woods are reviving. Life is returning to the parched life forms in the forest behind my house. Mosses and lichens, which until a few weeks ago were dry dusty crispy brown papery flakes, are swelling up- turning plump and green, coming to life. IMG_4953-2They’ve had a transfusion- some fluid therapy. In California we have learned not to take water for granted, and to appreciate it for what it is- a gift from the sky. Water is the true treasure of California, more valuable than that golden yellow stuff they dig out of the ground.

 

 

IMG_4949-2Every morning I escort the dogs outside for their early morning dog business- stretching, sniffing, leg-lifting etc. Today I noticed the barely perceptible sound of dripping and gurgling. The skies have been clear for about a week, but I can hear water moving: melt-water is running off the roofs and dripping from the trees because this is the first night that the temperature has stayed above freezing- not much above freezing, but enough to turn frozen crystals of ice and snow into flowing liquid. IMG_4939-2Water dripping and dribbling down the gutters and down through the branches to soak into the soil, which is full of organic potential. You can smell it- a raw, fragrant, earthy perfume. Not quite the same stuff that Lucy was wearing behind her ears the other day, but close. Organic. Alive.

 

 

IMG_4963I love moss. It’s like green velvet. Its delicate feathery fronds weave thick soft verdant blankets in 100 rich shades of green. I remember in biology classes learning about the life cycles of moss, lichen, algae, fungus and the strange creatures known as slime molds which were neither plant nor animal, but belonged to a kingdom of life all their own. Plain old everyday moss has a life cycle as fantastic as any fantasy science fiction alien you can imagine!

IMG_4965-2But they are nothing compared to the mysterious slime molds, and wondrous hybrid lichens which incorporate both fungus and algae. Although they seem like aliens to us, they are not. They are more Earthen than us hominids, arrogant, near-sighted mega-faunal creatures that we are!

 

IMG_4959

All this summer I have walked arid pathways, thinking that land and forest seemed sterile and devoid of life, everything baked into ash and dust. Life beaten into oblivion had only retreated into microscopic spores, thick walled capsules and seeds, dormant, holed up, waiting for however long it took for ocean currents to shift, and rivers of air to fill and flow through the atmosphere, and the circulatory system of our planet to return. But now Life is finding the way. IMG_4950-2It’s rising from the dust and ash. Don’t wait until Easter to celebrate the victory of Life over Death- it’s going on all around us right now; go take a walk, see for yourself!

 

 

Happy New Year! Seize the Day.

IMG_4975-2

Sly’s Park

sly park recreation area
Crystal Range as seen from Jenkinson Lake.

There is a place in Pollock Pines occupied, visited, and otherwise
shared by all manner of species of fish, birds, reptiles, amphibians, bugs,
mammals and um, oh yes people too. All kinds of people- fishermen, hikers,
bikers, runners, campers, horseback riders, boaters, kayakers, naturalists,
photographers, and many more that have never heard of Pollock Pines or
Jenkinson Lake but depend on its waters for their every day lives or
livelihoods. Not all that long ago there was no Jenkinson Lake. In 1952,
the year that Queen Elizabeth became Queen and Dwight Eisenhower became
President, Sly’s Park was still a meadow. Well, not just a meadow, but a
ranch, sawmill, and stopping place for cattlemen, explorers and settlers.
Shortly before that it was a gathering place for the Maidu and Miwok to hunt
and collect acorns for grinding. These days we visit Jenkinson Lake, the
centerpiece of Sly Park Recreation Area, to enjoy the water, the wildlife
and the woods. But under the lovely sparkling surface, beautifully
reflecting the surrounding hills, forest and sky, lies history!

sly park, Jenkinson Lake, Camp Creek Falls
Camp Creek Falls, Sly Park Recreation Area

My own history with Sly Park spans 15 years, which seems a long time to me.
I remember my first hike here, the first time I made it all the way around
the lake, the year when the water level was so high it seemed like the dams
might overflow, the time I saw the bald eagles and actually got close enough
to take a photograph, the time a sudden squall dropped 3 inches of snow on
me before I made it back to the car, the time I found the dog, the time I
saw the bobcat, times when Camp Creek waterfall was barely a trickle and
times when it was a raging flood, times when we could paddle kayaks all the way up
to Park Creek bridge and times when you could walk across the narrows on dry
land and bypass the whole east end of the lake. Yesterday I will remember
as the day we found the bricks, and realized that there was a lot more to
Sly Park Lake than met the eye. Or the lens of the camera.

sly park recreation area, Jenkinson Lake
South Cove
sly park recreation area, Jenkinson Lake
Bricks resurfacing.

I should have suspected something because of the mist. Sly Park Lake is a
prodigious generator of mists which rise fast and furiously from the waters’
surface, especially from the little cove tucked in down along the south shore. I
used to believe that it was due to physics- something explained by warm
waters evaporating into the chilly air lurking on the shady north-facing
slopes of the south shore. But these are mystical mists, and both physicists
and mystics agree that there are many invisible layers of matter and energy
in this world and in this universe. Because the last several winters have
been so dry and the lake levels are relatively low, some of those layers are
resurfacing. Yesterday we found bricks. Colorful old bricks forged locally
from native soil and clay, imprinted with letters and names that are clues
from the past. Bricks with stories baked into them, for whoever has the
ears to hear them.

sly park recreation area, Jenkinson Lake
Camp Creek diversion tunnel head wall
sly park recreation area, Jenkinson Lake
Mushrooms in the snow after a winter storm

Jenkinson Lake was born in 1954, the product of 2 main creeks, 3 dams and a
half mile of underground tunnel contributing the diverted waters of a third
creek. The lake’s serene vista, which now seems to fit so naturally into
the landscape, belies the power of the geological and cultural forces that
evolved and conspired to create it. Whether you walk, run, pedal, float, or
ride horseback, whether you’re after fish, photos, relaxation or rare
plants, when you visit Sly Park Lake you are part of history, adding another
layer to the story, another link in the continuum, another footprint in the
mud.

Read more about the history of Sly’s Park and the genesis of the lake at
http://www.thepollockpinesepic.com/title/sly-park/

Then go for a walk and
enjoy the day!

sly park lake annie picks-8(PS- Unless you are a fish or a duck it’s illegal to swim in the lake
because it is a municipal water supply; obviously fish and ducks are more
sanitary than people…)