Escaping the Heatwave up in the Mountains - CA

Soda Springs, CA

Hampshire Rocks, NF CG 

Our next week out found us seeking the highest elevation we could to escape the 100+ degree heat that the valley and foothills were about to get.  We left early in the morning for an overnight at Hampshire Rocks.  This is a very small national forest campground at 5800' along the South Yuba River and I-80.  Like, RIGHT along the highway.  A very busy 4 lane hwy.  We knew this and that's why we just stayed 1 night.  We aren't the only ones that want to get away from the heat and finding a last minute spot on a Saturday would be almost impossible in the Greater Tahoe/Truckee area.  This is why we chose this spot.  Even so, most of the 20 or so sites were taken.

$12 with our Senior Pass, Site #12.  The campsite has some sites that would fit a large RV as long as you are careful on some of the turns.  There was a large dumpster along the road for downed tree cleanup that would've made it quite difficult to get our 5th wheel past.  There are vault toilets, dumpsters and scattered water spigots. The water at the moment is not potable though due to some certification phase that hasn't been approved yet. So call the ranger station first or bring your own. 

Of course all the waterfront sites were taken.  The river runs slower and deeper here and this is a very popular swimming area.  One of the few sites open backed up to the highway which is where we ended up.  We have noticed that several reserved sites remained unused including a prime spot on the river.  This is becoming worse each year.  People, please.  If you're not coming, call and cancel so that someone else can use it.

The mosquitoes weren't bad at all so we enjoyed a fire outside while we could as we figured any time now fire restrictions would go up and no fires would be allowed for the rest of the season.  The highway sound was loud however and kind of spoiled our outside time.  Sleeping was ok though.

South Truckee, CA

Granite Flat NF CG

There are 3 campgrounds along 89 that follow the Truckee River just south of the town of Truckee.  We didn't want to make reservations as I wanted to check out the 3 campgrounds to choose the one that we liked the best.  Each of the three campgrounds are only a few miles apart.  They are from north to south: Granite Flat, Goose Meadow and Silver Creek.  All small national forest campgrounds.  We liked Granite Flat the best as many of the sites are right along the river and had slightly better Verizon signal.  Our friends, John & Tina, had their grandson for an unexpected few days and ended up joining us a couple of days later for most of our time here. 

Our first site was one of the best!  #5, right on the river with a nice open view to the water.  Vault toilets, dumpsters and threaded water spigots.  $11 with our Senior Pass. Interesting thing about getting water here.  I'll get to that in a minute. 5800' elevation.

We loved putting our chairs in the river and enjoying a nice beverage and the cold water.  While the temps were moving into the upper 90s "Down the Hill", we had low 80s.

With John and Tina coming, we made a reservation and chose a site that was right next to them.  It was also along the water.  We were in site #14 and they were in the next site.

The Truckee River is the only outlet out of Lake Tahoe and flows 120 miles through Reno and empties into Lake Pyramid in Nevada.  I was surprised at how low the flow was since Lake Tahoe is so full with all the snowmelt.  I guess they want to keep Tahoe as full as possible.

Steve doing some fishing but no catching.

That's John & Tina's rig next to us in the distance.  Oh, about that water thing.  On the National Forest website it states that there is potable water for drinking.  Nothing else noted about the water.  I even called to double check since the last campground wasn't approved for drinking.  When we arrived, we wanted to top off our fresh tank.  The camp host came up to us out of nowhere rather purturbed we were filling our camper.  He said the water was for jug filling only.  No RV filling.  Steve had a nice calm way of talking to him and he mellowed out and said well, I didn't "see anything".  We mentioned we had friends coming in and he said in so many words that wouldn't be a problem.  Well, it was.  When they came in, he charged right up and rather rudely said NO RV filling.  Even though Tina was saying there was no sign and where did he get his info.  The camp host insisted there would be a $400 fine by the ranger.  Tina was explaining that she would talk to the ranger about it, but he went and turned the water off on her.  Not very cool!  Water access is very important for us Full Timers and it should've been on their website as well as on campground entry signs and at the spigots.

At least they were able to get some water and had some when they came.  Above is their grandson, Calen, doing some fishing.  He had a so much fun in the river.  He spent most of his day there fishing, building walls and just enjoying himself.

Things filled up very quickly and we should've extended our stay when we had the chance because once we decided we wanted to stay longer, our site was taken for the next few days.  Steve found another site that was opening up so our last 2 days were spent at site #43.  This spot, while riverside, did not have an open view of the river though.

Once you walk down a very short path from our site you get to a nice open area.

Very large site for any size RV.  The day after John & Tina left I was taking a walk around the loop and stopped when I saw a bit of commotion at one of the campsites.  The families were yelling "Bear!" to get their kids safe and alert others.  As I looked around, I saw a large cinnamon colored bear tromping through the campground heading away from the campers towards the river.  After that excitement, we headed to our next destination, higher up in elevation.

We continued our drive south on 89, enjoying the beautiful views of Lake Tahoe that surrounded us.  We drove past famous Emerald Bay and Eagle Falls.

After passing Hope Valley, we turned east to Gardnerville on Hwy 88 just on the other side of the Nevada border.

West Fork of the Carson River.

After topping off our tank with the much cheaper priced gas in Gardnerville, we dumped our tanks and refilled our fresh water down Hwy 395 at the Topaz Lodge.  There was a large motorcycle group taking a break here.  Look how long that guys beard is.(above lower right)

Continuing south on Hwy 395 you pass the notable Meadow Cliff Lodge.

We had hoped to grab a spot at Leavitt Meadows NF Campground which sits at 7100 feet on Hwy 108.  It is another very small campground that sits on the West Fork of the Walker River.  This is about as high as you can get around here in a campground.  With this being FCFS (First Come, First Serve), we knew it could possibly be full. Especially with the hot weather and it being a Friday.  And it was.  So we took our second choice which was just down the road.

Sonora Junction, CA

Sonora Bridge NF CG

Sonora Bridge NF Campground sits at 6750' above the Walker River.  Like the others, there are vault toilets, dumpsters, water spigots spread out, firepits, tables and bear lockers.  $10 with our Senior Pass, site #14.  Since we are very near the Marine Corp Mountain Warfare Training Center, there is very fast Verizon.

Our site overlooks the river down below if you walk over just a bit.

We were only a few miles from our campground back up to Leavitt Meadows where the trailhead for an 8 mile hike to Secret Lake begins.  As you cross the bridge above the Walker River to the trail, you can see the power of the Walker River roaring through.

Our kids used to jump off the large rock in the middle when they were younger and the water is usually a slow moving, deep pool.

Strangely on this side of the ridge most of the trail is in the sun and it is much hotter.  Low 90s.

Up and back down.  Through meadows the trail meanders.

Plenty of wildflowers out.

The views from up here are incredible in all directions!  This is looking east.

Zoomed in you can see the red roofed buildings of the Marine Base just above the meadow.

One of several ponds left behind from the snowmelt.  A lot of wildlife stops by.

 

There were cattle and deer tracks.  Hmm, maybe a bear too?

 

Looking west over the meadow.  It was just gorgeous!

 

We were almost back when Steve slipped on some loose gravel and went down hard.  Luckily he landed on his butt/hip area and not his tailbone. (update: 1 week later and his bruising is horrible!)

Sonora Peak, elevation 11,460.

The highest we got was about 7650 feet.  The heat and elevation were getting to us so we decided to turn back about 1 mile and a half from the lake.  We never did get to see it from the trail.  We just weren't up to another 3 miles if we had continued.  It was a very nice hike though.

We had one more stop before returning back to Placerville.  The meadow below our campground was filled with these bright yellow flowers.

We checked out at an area around the bridge below our campground that is usually very good for flyfishing as the river runs wide and usually very smooth.  Still too fast though.

The last of the Wild Orchids.

We stopped in at one of the campgrounds on the Walker River across from Bootleg Campground.

Chris Flat was open for a short period this summer until some wash out from the mountain across the road flooded out the campground from a burn scar.  The road was a mess and there was a huge sink hole in one part.

We tried a couple of spots to see if we could find a little part to fish along the bank.  No good.  Fast and a bit muddy still.  We'll come back in a few weeks and hopefully the water will be fishable.

We figured the July Fishing Derby would be a bust but we popped into the General Store in Walker and they said there were actually 14 fish recorded so far with the biggest being 5 lbs.  Of course we had to have lunch across the street at Walker Burger.

Hope Valley, CA

Hope Valley Dispersed Area

Boondocking at Hope Valley is a favorite for us and it was nice to be back.  There were quite a few rigs here but we found a nice private spot.  Verizon, which is much better, can still be spotty.  This time we stayed in a spot with a more direct line of sight to the tower and had much stronger signal.

The Verizon tower is just behind Hawkins Peak in the distance.

The meadow was still very green.  Unfortunately this led to so many mosquitoes and flies.  As long as the breeze remained it was ok.  As the sun went down, forget about it!

It was another great trip in the camper and we were able to stay in the low 80s instead of 108 degrees. Moving 4 times in 10 days is not a big deal in the camper.  That's a big plus.  Pretty much just close the door and go.  One more trip coming up before we store it for the rest of the year.