Exploring Around Black Butte Lake - Orland, CA

Orland, CA
Buckhorn Campground 

Our trip out this week was another 2 hour drive north but west of I-5, in the central valley instead of our last trip which was east of I-5 up in the foothills/mountains.

All the farmland in the valley is full of mustard weed in full bloom.

We're here at Black Butte Lake which is a COE run campground.  It's very nice and the sites are large and very spread out.  We have one of the best sites, #49.  Only $10 with our senior discount.  There are no utilities but there are scattered, threaded water spigots, bathrooms, dump, playground, boat ramp and hiking trails.  

See how big the sites are?  The only downside is the roads in the campground really need some repair work.  Some roads are a little steep and uneven, as are the poured campsites.  Some trees are a little low too.

The lake level is very low at the minute.  Starting today, the first weekend of the season, they are not letting anymore water out of the spillway unless necessary due to the upcoming snowmelt.  We could actually see it rise about a foot each day.  It was incredible.

The next day we thought we'd take a ride into the small town of Orland.  We kept passing fields with these large, shoebox sized, pastel colored boxes on the ground.

They were out in areas of pastures that were mowed in straight lanes and

some in curved lines. Acres of them!

The Orland Arch was originally built in 1926, then redone in 1909.

When I was looking to see if there were any interesting things to see in town, I came across this!  Most of you know how I feel about bees, but I thought it would be interesting to visit.  Unfortunately, it's only open the two days we won't be here.  I wrote to the administrator about the boxes we were seeing and asked if they had to do with bees.  I found out Orland is the Queenbee Capitol of the US.

Those colored boxes are called a Nuc Yard.  When the weather changes from cold and wet to warmer and bees start to swarm, they will go into these small boxes which will hold about 3,500 bees per pound.  About 10,000 bees total.  These are starter homes for bees and sell for $165 for each Nuc.

A Nuc is a small, queenless hive created for the purpose of putting a queen cell in it, letting it hatch, having the queen fly and get mated, then catching the queen and putting her in a case with some worker bees. She will then be ready to go to a new home for sale or in a package for sale separately.  A queen bee can sell for $40 each.

The area has a large Hispanic population, so we found a Carniceria (a butcher shop) and came out with several goodies.  We bought some chorizo, al pastor, green salsa and chips.  We made a delicious dinner of it all!  There were some cute murals, statues and museums in town.

When we came across this statue, we knew there had to be a meaning for the riderless horse with backwards boots.  Well, a quick google answered that.  It's called the Lone Charger.  It is a sign that a warrior has fallen in battle.

The wildflowers were just starting to bloom and we took several rides out in the backroads of this ranching area.

The sunsets over the buttes were very pretty.

I got up early one morning to watch the sunrise as well.

We tried some fishing, but the with the lake level being so low, the water cold and murky the fish are just down too deep and not biting. We never had one bite.  A couple of years ago we were catching Large Mouth Bass with every cast!

Hurley enjoyed the sunshine keeping warm under his blanket.

Some fun shots.

This lone cloud looked like a spaceship.

See how low it is?  It's about 70% full.

The reflections were pretty too.

The Full Moon rising was gorgeous to watch.

It's rare we get to see snow on the backside of the Coastal Mountain Range.

Our drive around the lake was interrupted by a washout. So off we went on a further drive to find some old pioneer cemeteries.

Plenty of old barns along the way.

Sometimes the grass *is* greener on the other side!  This cow really wanted the new spring grass on the other side of the fence and kept bending it over until some of the posts uprooted.

We found Newville Cemetery.  Newville was founded in April of 1868.  Mr. Bryan was born in 1815.

There were some pretty fancy gravestones for back then.

Hannah Sherman was born in 1803!  Even more WOW.  She lived to be 89.  Can you imagine?

Seems Mr. James and E.T. went to the same place.

Since we could not finish our big loop drive around to the town of Elk Creek due to a bridge washout, we took the southern route a different day and had some dinner in the small cafe.

Of course, what small saloon/cafe would be complete without mounted animals?

The food was delicious with very large servings.  Steve had a burger served with a sausage patty and some spicy fries.  I had the Green Chili Cheeseburger with Tater Tots.  All yummy!  We had a lot of leftovers.

The Old Stone Creek Bridge.

Chrome Cemetery.  Another old pioneer cemetery.

The original carved posts.

My sister, Kris, came out to visit us for the day on her way to visit with my parents.  We tried some more fishing but still had no luck.  Her dog, Phoebe, came along too.

Another beautiful moonrise.

I liked the way the fire reflected on the fence making it glow red.

Steve catching the Moon.

Our week here was up and time to get back to Placerville in time for Easter.

  

We had a quick visit the day before with the Meatball.  He was busy "cooking soup".

What a great shot!