TCT #29 -- COVID-19

Rebecca Andrade, Gary Stockel, and I employed Zoom to produce this month's Tuolumne County Trailhead episode.  We discuss what we've been doing, watching, and reading during the statewide Stay At Home Order:

• Rebecca offers some nature-oriented websites such as California State Parks PORTS, https://www.ports-ca.us/ and Yosemite Nature Notes, https://www.nps.gov/yose/learn/photosmultimedia/ynn.htm
• Gary suggests a couple of books: "A Walk in the Woods" by Bill Bryson and "The Death and Life of the Great Lakes" by Dan Egan
• Wendy recommends some movies: "Wild," "A Walk in the Woods," "Mile...Mile and a Half," and "The Way."

Wendy also editorializes and PROMISES a return to hiking IF we all do our part to bend the COVID-19 pandemic projected infection curve:

• As Governor Newsom said, "Just assume that you potentially are contagious and act accordingly .. Be a good neighbor.  Be a good citizen."
• Bear in mind that "Asymptomatic transmission is driving coronavirus epidemic, experts say" (SF Chronicle headline, April 3, 2020)
• Respected hiking sites (American Hiking Society, https://americanhiking.org/blog/hiking-responsibly-faq-covid-19/) and outdoors organizations (Sierra Club) say to limit your outdoor excursions to your immediate neighborhood with members in your immediate household.
• During normal times, hiking is essential.  For now, we must sacrifice this simple pleasure out of care, concern, and love of our elderly and immune-compromised family and friends. Out of respect for businesses which closed to keep us healthy and businesses limping along in order to hopefully reopen after all this is over.  Out of respect for laid off workers and essential workers still providing services.  Out of respect for front-line health care providers and first responders.

Finally, we play our theme music, "Switchback" by Bill Horvitz (on his album "Tuolumne Songs"), in full.  No fade ins or fade outs or voice overs.  We need the optimism of this bright, cheerful song!

Please take a listen!  https://drive.google.com/open?id=1i9rl_uZpSUekhMH4ksDUHL8TcjmIssC4

Stay the bleep at home - COVID-19 non-hiking

"I Stayed Home" badge "stolen" from The Mountaineers

Hello, Trail Heads.
No hiking for us for a while.  We won't carpool; we won't crowd trailhead parking lots; we won't travel to rural areas and potentially impact their limited medical resources.

We will take walks in our own neighborhoods.  We may introduce and/or encourage our spouses, significant others, and housemates to join us in our favorite pastime.  There are predictions of a baby boom 9 months after the COVID-19 crisis ends.  We may also experience a Trail Head membership boom!

Meantime, you may want to seek out hiking or outdoor-oriented books, podcasts, movies, TV shows, YouTubes, websites, and more.  You may want to service your gear.  You may want to plan dream hikes and backpack trips for the future.  You may want to hone your nature journaling skills.  You may want to listen to the back catalog of "Tuolumne County Trailhead" (at the KAAD-LP 103.5 FM program archives:  https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1-tKI43sgIjqTugSua5JH9oYDSJ735zr9).  You may want to support hiking, natural resource, and outdoor-oriented non-profits and organizations.

Wash your hands!  Don't touch your face!  Make a mask out of your bandanna!

Watch this space; I know we'll be seeing each other soon!  Love you, Trail Heads!  -w

Hiking Movies
"Wild," Cheryl Strayed's story about finding herself on the Pacific Crest Trail
"A Walk in the Woods," based on Bill Bryson's book about hiking the Appalachian Trail
"Mile ... Mile and a Half," five friends walk the John Muir Trail in a high snow year
"The Way," after his son dies while walking the Camino de Santiago, a grieving father completes the hike

Hiking Books
"The Man Who Walked Through Time," Colin Fletcher walked the length of the Grand Canyon in 1963
"Salt to Summit," Daniel Arnold hiked cross-country from Badwater, Death Valley to the Mt. Whitney summit in 17 days late one spring
"Trespassing Across America," Ken Ilgunas walked the proposed route of the Keystone Pipeline
"Into Thin Air," Jon Krakauer's classic about the disastrous 1996 climbing season on Mt. Everest

Hiking Podcasts
"The Outside Podcast," from Outside magazine (check out their old "Science of Survival" series)
"The First Forty Miles," Heather & Josh Legler, a married couple from Oregon produced a delightful  214 episodes that ended in December 2018
"Life in 16 Ounces," a fun podcast about outdoor adventure and beer, brought to us by Modesto-area residents Brandon and Paul
"Tough Girl Podcast," since 2014, Sarah Williams has been inspiring and motivating women and girls in outdoors pursuits through interviews with female explorers, adventurers, athletes, and plain folk

Hiking Online Learning Resources and Videos
"Yosemite Nature Notes," a video podcast available through your podcast provider and YouTube
"CA PORTS," California State Parks Online Resources for Teachers and Students
"Smithsonian Learning Lab," free online access to millions of Smithsonian images, recordings, texts, and videos

Local Organizations
Tuolumne River Trust
CSERC (Central Sierra Environmental Resource Center)
Stanislaus Wilderness Volunteers
American Hiking Society
KAAD-LP 103.5 FM, Sonora
YExplore
PCTA (Pacific Crest Trail Association)
Friends of the Inyo
Three Forests Interpretive Association
Yosemite Conservancy

TCT #28 -- Brian Kermeen

Our next hike will be on SUNDAY, April 5, 2020 (a deviation to our normal first Saturday schedule).  We're going to Red Hills ACEC in Chinese Camp and will be taking the Old Stage to Soaproot Loop Trail.  There's a long loop and a short loop.  The long loop is difficult due to length (9.1 miles round trip) and elevation gain (approx. 1,200').  At 2.5 miles round trip and a less than 500' elevation gain, the short loop is moderately easy.  This hike will be your choice: for views, take the long loop; for a pastoral saunter, take the short loop.  Since we'll be splitting into two groups, we've marked both trails (thank you, Gary Stockel!).  Regardless of which loop you take, you should see a profusion of poppies and some of the rare plants that are unique to the Red Hills:  Congdon's lomatium, Layne's bitterweed, Red Hills soaproot.  Critter-wise, be on the lookout for Bald Eagles, roadrunners, and foxes.

On Saturday, April 25, 2020, the Tuolumne County Land Trust will host its annual Ratto Ranch hike.  Ratto Ranch, in the Shaw's Flat area between Columbia and Jamestown, is a working cattle ranch and has been in the same family for over 150 years.  Learn more about the Ratto Ranch, the hike, and the Tuolumne County Land Trust in this month's Tuolumne County Trailhead radio program: TCT #28 -- Brian Kermeen:  https://drive.google.com/open?id=1u1etJ7e4-43lYLFeDRTGwxgdSzK3IE30

For more information about Tuolumne County Land Trust, here's a link to their website:  http://tuolumnecountylandtrust.org/

Trail Heads at the historic Columbia Marble Quarry

In TCT #28 -- Brian Kermeen, we feature a trip report about our "Trio of Trails at Columbia College."  Yes, just one trip report.  Things were a little chaotic what with 37 hikers (aged 3 to 80+), intermittent light showers, several trails, and interpretation indoors and outside.  I decided to skip the traditional real-time "3 T's."  Instead, we go in depth with Trail Head Veronica Kristapovich.

Here are a few photos of our outing:

Donna in the Labyrinth

Sean Osborn presents at the
college's Me-Wuk cultural site

Trail between Columbia College and
Columbia State Historic Park

TCT #27 -- Barbara Balen

Barbara Balen and the Columbia Ditch

Our March 7, 2020 outing promises drama, history, engineering, archaeology, anthropology, geology, and botany.  Sound like a college course catalog?  Well, that's entirely appropriate, as we'll be at college -- the trails at Columbia College, that is.  Listen to TCT #27 -- Barbara Balen for a discussion about the hike and other topics including Tuolumne County's historic ditch system and "wild crafting."  Barbara's doggos even chime in!  The episode also includes real-time audio trip reports from our "Take All the Trails at Tuttletown" trip last weekend which enticed 50 (yep, 50!) trail heads to come out for the event.  Thank you to Bureau of Reclamation Ranger Pat Sanders and her husband Harold for providing interpretation and helping with the human herding!

Here's a link to the radio program TCT #27 -- Barbara Balen: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1qvUZD0s-4zAbO43zWS3my-Er_TGB0sqE/view?usp=sharing

We talked with Tom Hofstra and Jeff Tolhurst about the trails at Columbia College in episode TCT #24 -- Columbia College.  TCT #27 and TCT #24 make a nice pair of related programs giving a well-rounded overview of this imminently-accessible community resource.

Here are some photos from the "Take All the Trails at Tuttletown" gathering:

About 50 turned out for the hike at Tuttletown (New Melones Lake)!

Manzanita blossoms attracted hummingbirds

(Bobcat ?) skull

Steve and an errant tire from a wave attenuator

Stevenot Bridge on Highway 49 from shady Heron Point Trail

TCT #26 -- Baja

Rainy hike, December 2018

Saw a juvenile eagle, 12/18

The next hike is the thing -- and our next hike is on Saturday, February 1, 2020.  We'll be going out to the Tuttletown Recreation Area of New Melones Lake.  We'll hike a combination of trails with the centerpiece being the Heron Point trail.  The idea is to get about 6 miles in.  This will be an easy hike.  The draw is that the manzanita should be in bloom and the little vase-like white flowers attract hummingbirds.  The lake itself attracts eagles, so we have a chance of seeing very small to very large birds.  Mark your calendar!

The January 2020 episode, TCT #26 -- Baja, features highlights of my winter vacation to Playa El Coyote and Mulege in Baja California Sur.  We drove, rested, relaxed, ate, drank, sang, and, (of course!) hiked.  One of the hikes was to a 7,000 year old cave painting site, Canyon La Trinidad.  A guide is required to this UNESCO treasure.  We signed up with Salvador Castro.  He took us and two others on an adventure that started with a long, bumpy drive through the desert.

We also have audio trip reports of our snowshoeing expedition on the Crabtree Loop near Dodge Ridge and some Dragoon Gulch news, namely -- Saturday 1/25/20 Lunar New Year (Rat!) trail work day (contact anderson95370@gmail.com for info) and Sunday 2/23/20 annual Dragoon Gulch 5k & 10k Hike and Run fundraiser (register here: https://www.active.com/sonora-ca/running/distance-running-races/dragoon-gulch-run-2020).  Theses are non-TCT events, but we highly endorse them and hope to see you there!

Here's a link to the audio of the episode:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1o7WoBFpdJtXUyrgT2C3rwUqqESRGjHRx/view?usp=sharing

Dean, Cuervo, Sandy, Salvador

Dolphins at Canyon La Trinidad cave painting site

near Mulege, BCS MX

Take a tour with Salvador.  He has an info booth at Hotel Las Casitas in Mulege or

email him at mulegetours@hotmail.com

Maggie and Yogi on the trail with Playa El Coyote in the background

Trip Report - Snowshoeing at Crabtree Loop, 1/4/20

Deverie, Lynne, Bridgette, Mike, Joan, Ron, Lewis, Sue, Steve, Brian, Sharon, Bret, Barb, Donna, Jim, Renee,

Robert, Karie, Mike, and Sally

On 1/4/20, we went snowshoeing!  We'd intended to go snowshoe at Pinecrest Lake, but the reports from rangers and Trail Heads was that there wasn't sufficient snow for a safe or satisfying experience at lake-level.  However, a short drive away, up Dodge Ridge Road just before the ski resort, the Nordic trails were reported to be high enough to have a good base.  So, off we went to tromp about on the Crabtree Loop, a moderately-easy, 4.5 mile trail with only about a 330' elevation gain: perfect for beginners.  We had about 24 in our group, some new to TCT, some new to snowshoeing, and some taking snowshoeing up after a long hiatus; some in elementary school and some retirees.  After strapping on our snowshoes, we set off through the forest on what ended up to be a sunny day full of warm surprises!  Here's a link to a very useful map, should you want to head out on your own.  We took route 1.  As you can see, there are some loops and spurs off of route 1 that can extend or intensify your outing.  Also, there are other routes that offer steep, satisfying climbs to outstanding vistas!  https://www.dodgeridge.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/Nordic-Map-AI.pdf

Corinne & Amelia

Crunchy, older snow, still

conditions were good

Snowshoeing under

sunny skies

Ron provides trail magic: fresh hot cocoa!  Barb enjoys.

Barb & Brett

Donna, Sue, Renee & Jim

Karie & Wendy

Wendy and Amelia's snowperson

Out of the forest & returning to the 

trailhead via Crabtree Road

UPDATE - 1/4/20 Snowshoeing at CRABTREE

We will be snowshoeing on 1/4/20, yay!  However, our Trail Head scouts and the rangers at Pinecrest say the snow at Pinecrest Lake isn't adequate for a safe and satisfying snowshoeing experience.  So, we're revamping the location very slightly -- we'll snowshoe at the Crabtree Loop at the Nordic area near Dodge Ridge.  The loop is about 4.1 miles with an elevation change of about 330' and is rated as one of the "easiest" trails by the Forest Service.  If you have Kathi Joye's book "more Day Hikes Along the Highway 108 Corridor," see page 201, "Crabtree - Redwood Semi-Loop from Crabtree Nordic Trailhead," for a description.  Kathi says, "This Dodge Ridge Nordic trek is one of the easier snowshoe/cross-country ski loops in this location.  The well-marked trail winds its way through a mixed coniferous forest and past small meadows and seasonal creeks with gradual slopes.  There are no dramatic viewpoints but the forest is quiet, the pine aroma is heady and with snow on the ground, the ambience is magical."  Magical is right!  Sound enticing?  Here are the details:

To carpool/caravan, meet at Mi-Wok Ranger Station at 8:15; leave at 8:30.  Or meet at Pinecrest Ranger Station at 8:55; leave at 9am.  Parking is limited at the trailhead, so we will carpool/caravan from the Pinecrest Ranger Station.  DO NOT MEET AT THE CRABTREE TRAILHEAD!  We should start snowshoeing by 9:30.  We should be back to Mi-Wok by 3pm.

Bring snowshoes and poles.  Rent at Sierra Nevada Adventure Co. in Sonora (or Avery) or Heidi's in Cold Springs.  You may be able to rent from Dodge Ridge, as well.  Dress for snow -- warm, waterproof pants and boots, gloves, beanie.  Bring water and snacks/lunch.  A thermos with a hot drink is a special treat!

Here's a map of the Nordic trails.  We'll be on number 1.  https://www.dodgeridge.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/Nordic-Map-AI.pdf

RSVP by 8pm Friday, January 3, if you're going to join us.