TCT #15 -- Leave No Trace

Here's a link to the February TCT radio show in which we talk about dogs on the trail, Leave No Trace, and the government shutdown.  We also chat with Leslie Smith about the Dragoon Gulch Hike and Run in Sonora.  We give trip reports of Dave Moore Recreation Area and Cosumnes River Preserve (Rebecca) and the Devils Slide trail (Wendy).  Finally, we talk about plans for the March 2 hike to the Old Don Pedro Overlook trail in Red Hills.

https://drive.google.com/open?id=1htQz_zEC0zRV0VuO3IDlI54BlrkyCFz6

TCT #14 -- Angels Creek (hike date 1/5/19)

Here's the January episode of the Tuolumne County Trailhead radio program in which we:

• Hear Trail Head reviews of the Angels Creek hike (3.5 easy miles at New Melones Lake, Glory Hole Recreation Area near Angels Camp)
• Learn the plan for the February 2 snowshoe hike at Calaveras Big Trees State Park.  Bring your own snowshoes if you've got 'em.  If not, there are loaners available for free at the park; only cost associated with this hike is $10/auto parking.  We will carpool and caravan and share the cost.
• Get a rundown of upcoming trail runs including the 2/24/19 Dragoon Gulch Hike and Run in Sonora -- pancakes, yoga, hiking!  Sun or snow!
• Recommend a fellow KAAD-LP program -- Yosemite Can O Peaches by John DeGrazio.  This show is also available as a podcast.  The recent episode with Yosemite NP Ranger Sheldon Johnson, of "Buffalo Soldiers" fame, is especially notable.

Click this link to program audio on Google Drive:
https://drive.google.com/open?id=1kdqAtkaXEMK3StLd-5DSJINPzSf-Bfll

Revision for 1/5/19 hike

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Trail Heads, we have a co-host!

Rebecca Andrade

Welcome, Rebecca Andrade, our new co-host! Rebecca's family roots began in Tuolumne County five generations ago. She finds that living and working in the wilderness areas of the Sierra Nevada for the past decade provides a deep sense of freedom and connection which allows for a lifestyle of service to the community and environment of Tuolumne County. Her joys are building trails, restoring native habitat, surveying high alpine meadows and providing wilderness education. Rebecca's developed a deep appreciation "for the opportunities to connect with people, in these rare and beautiful environments, while improving conditions for all generations to enjoy. It’s an honor to be a part of TCT, and I'm looking forward to enjoying new adventures together!"

TCT #13 --2019 Wish List & Post-Wildfire Recreation Discussion

Welcome to our second season of Tuolumne County Trailhead!

Wendy's Wish List, p.2

Wendy's Wish List, p.1

The Trail Heads discovered the chaw-se (grinding rock) at Bell Meadow.

We have gained a co-host: Rebecca Andrade!  Rebecca carpooled with me on the second TCT hike of 2018, the Red Hills hike (now legendary for it's huge turnout of over 70 people).  As we chatted en route to Chinese Camp, I learned of her wilderness credentials (ranger, Native Plant Society, Master Gardeners, Stanislaus Wilderness Volunteers, naturalist).  I recognized a resource and kindred spirit, and a few months later, Rebecca was our interview subject for TCT #9.  She talked about the Leave No Trace wilderness ethic; the Emigrant, Carson-Iceberg, and Mokelumne wilderness; and the Stanislaus Wilderness Volunteers. Gob-smacked by this articulate, accomplished outdoorswoman, I hatched my plan for a co-host and set my sights on Rebecca.  And, Trail Heads, she said YES!

So, now I have a partner on the trail and on the radio, and we're going to keep up with our First Saturday hikes.  Mark your calendars now!  And watch out for bonus hikes, too; I'm training for a backpack trip this summer -- 100 miles on the Continental Divide Trail near Yellowstone -- and can use all the trail time I can get!

  

Shelly Davis-King

Episode 13 features:

• Feedback from our Native American Heritage Month hike
• A conversation with fire fighter Molly Day and soil scientist Curtis Kvamme -- both of the Stanislaus National Forest -- about safety and best practices when hiking in a fire scar and the Donnell Fire in particular
• Your TCT co-hosts' extensive hiking wish lists for 2019, and beyond (from the looks of it)!

Trip Report - Wolf Creek Lake (9/16/18) & Cleo's Bath (10/6/18)

Trail Heads at 10,000'+

Wolf Creek Lake

We had our issues getting into the high country this summer.  First, the Donnell Fire (started August 1) spread wildly necessitating the closure of Highway 108 for about two weeks.  Then the Boot Fire (near Bridgeport) shut the pass down for another few days.  By mid-September the fires let up and we happily scampered up the hill for a bonus hike to Wolf Creek Lake (elevation approx. 9800') in the Carson Iceberg Wilderness.  It's about an 8.25 mile round trip out-and-back hike north on the Pacific Crest Trail from the Sonora Pass Trailhead.  For the first (and last) couple of miles, you walk among volcanic outcroppings and get views mainly to the south (and, oddly, of Highway 108).  As the trail winds around the east flank of Sonora Peak, civilization fades away, and you feel you've truly gotten away from it all.  You're almost certain to encounter PCT hikers attempting a through-hike (doing the entire 2653 mile length in one season) or section hikers filling in the gaps.  Say "Hi" and ask their trail names.

Lunch on the slick rock

Water remained in a deep pool

Where' the H2O?

Back to our first Saturday schedule, we had a splendid fall hike to Cleo's Bath on October 6.  Cleo's Bath is a popular swimming hole on the South Fork Stanislaus River near where it flows into Pinecrest Lake.  At just over 6 miles round trip, this is a relatively easy hike with a DIFFICULT short section of low-level rock climbing on the final approach to Bath-level.  At first you walk the pleasant trail around the south end of the lake.  You'll share the trail with trail-runners and walkers young and old. You'll hear the lapping of water as canoes and kayaks ply the water.  You'll smell breakfast cooking in the nearby cabins.  After a mile or so, you'll head east up an seasonal stream bed and gain a little elevation. 
You'll come upon an interpretive exhibit with a steam donkey and a panel describing early water diversion efforts that resulted in three crib dams: Lake Edna, Lake Eleanor, and Lake Gertrude.  Lake Edna has become Pinecrest Lake, Lake Gertrude is vanished, but a little ways from the interpretive spot, you'll find the remains of Lake Eleanor.  Eventually the trail will cross large expanses of granite and will become hard to spot.  Watch for cairns/ducks (rock piles) and
blue spray-painted arrows to find your way.  Arriving at the Baths is breathtaking, and not because you've just hauled butt up a short 400' incline.  The river makes that same drop you just climbed but first creating a network of several levels of slick rock, deep pools that are nothing less than awesome.  There was water in the larger pools but, so late in the season, no flow down to the lake.

Distant Pinecrest

The trailhead for Cleo's Bath is at Pinecrest Lake in the southwest area, just past the amphitheatre and the accessible fishing platform).  There are plentiful bathrooms all along the approach to the trailhead.  Be aware, at certain times of the year, dogs aren't allowed on certain sections of the trail around the lake.  Also, we don't recommend the Cleo's Bath hike for dogs, unless you're able to hoist your pooch over sizable boulders!

Thank you, Sue Fristad, for the excellent photos of Cleo's Bath!

TCT #10 -- Cleo's Bath

TCT #10 is an "All Trail Head Episode."  We start with our Pinecrest Peak three T's; then move into a "Remote Possibility" trip report from Robert Swift and Deverie Voral's hike on Mt. Tallac in Lake Tahoe (interviewed in the middle of Cooper Meadow); finally, we preview our next hike to Cleo's Bath with audio from a reconnaissance hike I took with Patricia Harrelson.