Two weeks ago my pal Syd sent a message with the subject line “Fire near Grover”: Seems that wherever you go… a fire breaks out after you leave??? True. First there was the one near Homestead Cottages outside Ahwahnee. Now, her email informed me, the Tamarack Fire was approaching Markleeville and Grover Hot Springs. Caused by lightning strikes, it started out in early July as a wee, quarter-acre concern that crews monitored rather than extinguished. […]
Read moreMonth: July 2021
Journey’s End
July 23–25 In the middle of the night I awoke to a powerful eau de skunk stench that increased in intensity. I hoped that nothing would startle the beast into spraying since my tent is hardly an adequate barrier. By morning the offender was gone and so was I, Chico-bound by 9:00 a.m. as Nick ventured further north before turning toward home. So long Spencer! I arrived under 2.5 hours later to find my two […]
Read moreGoodnight, Moon
July 22 Last night passed uneventfully as far as I was concerned—no return of motorcycles—but Nick heard another car cruise silently past us toward the rear of the campground, headlights off, at around 2:00 a.m., and then back out. After more bacon and eggs this morning, we departed for our final hike. We’d consulted a detailed map of the region and spotted the five-mile round-trip trail to Adams Lake. It begins near the end of […]
Read moreSpencer & Erica
July 21 As our new neighbor slept in across from us, we quietly prepared breakfast, cleaned up and aimed ourselves toward our next trailhead, the McKenzie Gulch loop 20 minutes south, outside of Weaverville. Despite the early hour, it was already climbing toward 90° and much of our route was exposed, hillsides denuded of shade due to a previous wildfire. Once again the AllTrails app kept blaring warnings that we were off-route, and this time […]
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