Upper Fairy Falls drops 47 feet.

The weather has been very difficult the last couple months.  Here we are halfway into April and we’re still fighting off winter in Northern California.  We’ve been alternating between beautiful, sunny spring weather – usually passing through midweek when we don’t get to enjoy it much – and cold, windy rainstorms making for quiet weekends at home.

Three weeks ago, we were graced with pleasant weather on a Saturday, and I took off with the Wife and Dog to tackle one of my all-time favorite trails out to Fairy Falls in the Spenceville Wildlife Area east of Marysville.  Our day was spoiled by turkey hunters.

It turns out that Spenceville is closed to the public for the first 9 days of turkey hunting season.  Both of my area guidebooks include the Fairy Falls trail, and neither mentions this fact.  The California Department of Fish & Game webpage about Spenceville does mention this fact, but forces you to dig around for a PDF with more details about what the dates actually are for turkey season.  (Honestly, DFG, most of the people I see out in Spenceville aren’t hunters, and we aren’t all going to know offhand when turkey season starts.)  Apparently it starts the last weekend of March, or thereabouts.  Anyway, hiking trip spoiled.

So cut to this weekend.  The weather is absolutely gorgeous, and I was itching to get out on this trail again.  (We hiked it for the first time in mid-March last year – probably the week before turkey season started).  This is a fantastic trail, which follows a dirt road for a good portion through the low rolling foothills of Yuba County, through some rare blue oak woodland, ending up at the really impressive Fairy Falls on Dry Creek (also called Shingle Falls, Dry Creek Falls, or Beale Falls – take your pick).

Overall, it’s a pretty easy trail – great for kids and dogs, though a little on the longish side for little ones (2.5 miles out to the falls, then back again).  And even though it is pretty remote, it is also quite popular – both times we’ve been, the large parking area at the trailhead was packed with cars, and you run into lots of people along the way.  But somehow, the popularity of this trail makes it feel more like a community social event then a drag on your commune with nature.

A lupine by the side of Spenceville Road.

The wisdom of experience: save yourself a little energy on the hike in by sticking to the left when the trail splits.  About two-thirds of the way in, the trail splits in three.  All roads lead to the falls, but the left-most trail keeps you high on the hillside, coming out right above the falls.  The other two approach the falls from the bottom, with a steep climb at the end.  Why be exhausted when you get to the falls overlook?

One thing that I have to address, because I feel like both my guidebooks have seriously messed it up: directions to the trailhead.  I think even Google Maps has some of the road names confused, but if you plug in “Spenceville, CA” and know how to follow a map, it should get you there.  You will follow dirt roads for a number of miles, but don’t worry, it’s worth it.

Difficulty: easy – could be a little long for smaller kids (or smaller dogs like ours)

Length: 5 miles out and back

Parking: a large parking area at the trailhead on Spenceville Road – you’ll know you’re at the trailhead because the road ends where the bridge over Dry Creek has been removed

Dogs: definitely (on leash, as always)

Popularity: high – it is relatively easy with a spectacular pay-off, so a lot of people will make the effort

Season: year-round; spring is ideal, with plenty of wildflowers and green grass; summertime might be hot, so stick to the morning, and be alert for rattlesnakes and poison-oak; autumn colors are probably very pleasant on dry days; trail access is closed for the first 9 days of turkey hunting season (last weekend of March through the first weekend of April, I think)

I know that was exactly what you wanted to read, wasn’t it?

Traveling to Morocco by stomach tonight, which always gets me excited!

Speaking of milestones, the Wife, Dog, Cat, and I are celebrating our first anniversary in the House today!

The weather’s clearing up, so I hope to be out hiking more often in the coming weeks.  I’m really itching to visit Shingle Falls again, so hopefully I can write that up next weekend…

We had a young relative with us today, and neither the Wife or I had packed proper shoes for a real challenging hike.  That’s not to say this trail isn’t a little challenging, but since we were wearing flip-flops and dragging along a six-year-old, we took it slow, and really didn’t hike the trail too far.  But we still got to see some of the best parts – the views across the valley, the sheer drop to the valley floor, and the corridors where the trail cuts through bamboo forest.  Some things to consider…  This probably isn’t a good hike for six-year-olds.  Dogs might be okay (and we saw some on the trail).  It’s generally a narrow trail, and people with a fear of heights could have issues, but the cliffs are draped in heavy vegetation, so you only notice the drop-offs in a few places where the vegetation clears a bit, or whenever you look to the downhill side and notice that the vegetation right next to you emerges from the ground a good 10 feet below you.  And should you actually fall, you’ll probably get snagged on vegetation before you make it too far.  But it will be plenty far enough, I’m sure.

The first 0.4 mile is relatively easy, passing up and over a ridge to get to the cliffs (pali in Hawaiian).  And the rest of the trail once you’re on the cliff is relatively easy, too, undulating gently as it clings to the pali.  We turned around about a mile in, but the trail runs a couple miles before linking up with other trails in the Na Ala Hele trail system.  If you make it a loop, like the Wife and I did six years ago, you can take the Pu’u Ohia Trail or the Kalawahine Trail, which will bring you back to Tantalus Drive, which you will then have to walk along to get back to your car parked at the Manoa Cliff trailhead on Round Top Drive.  Frankly, I recommend you avoid that hassle and just do an out-an-back.

Difficulty: easy to moderate – the hike up and over the ridge to the cliff is a good little hill; along the cliff, you’ll be concentrating on keeping your footing stable

Length: 2.3 miles one way – the trail links with others toward the end, for numerous loop or through-hiking options

Parking: an unmarked gravel parking area across from the trailhead on Round Top Drive; not a large parking area, and it will be full on weekends; another small parking area is up the road about 100 yards

Dogs: on leash (as always) – bikes are not allowed on this trail, and runners take it slow, so your dogs won’t get in the way of other hikers any more than you will

Popularity: high – as with most other trails near downtown Honolulu

Season: definitely not recommended during the rainy season; and as with most hiking in Hawai’i, you’ll be more comfortable in the morning

Mount Shasta, Siskiyou County, California

I’ve been lazy.

The Wife and I went on a “roadtrip” to Seattle last week, and I’ve been neglecting to write about it.  I use the quotation marks because this was not a “classic” roadtrip, with few plans, no fixed destinations, etc.  We just opted to drive to Seattle instead of fly.  Nevertheless, I have some random observations.

• The drive along the Siskiyou Trail right now is gorgeous (Interstate 5 – more on that below).  I thought it would be too late for fall colors, but I was dead wrong.  A gloomy Pacific Northwest mist in Oregon last Wednesday made for a fantastically mysterious atmosphere.

• Can Oregonian civil engineers please figure out how to bank the turns properly so I can maintain a constant speed?

• The coffee at the Super 8 Motel in Roseburg, Oregon was some of the best I have ever had.  Seriously.

• Did you know that Interstate 5 between Stockton, California and Portland, Oregon follows an ancient network of Native American footpaths later traveled by fur trappers of the Hudson’s Bay Company and called the Siskiyou Trail?  I just learned that a few moments ago.

Also, the Wife is a Twilighter, so she forced me to drive her and a relative out to Forks and La Push, Washington.  The highlights:

• The drive along the shore of Lake Crescent, Washington is a really fun little winding stretch of US Highway 101.

• The beaches around La Push are beautiful and dramatic:

Second Beach, La Push, Washington

And after all, where would humans be without them?  It’s possible we may never quite know just how important their continued role has been in the development of human history.  As hunting companions, sled dogs, bomb sniffers, eyes for the blind – what would our history look like if we didn’t have dogs by our side?  Would so many of our ancestors survived the Ice Age winters?  How many people alive today owe their existence to the aid of just one dog thousands of years ago?

And how about the cats?  How many plagues have been averted by domestic cats hunting rats in our granaries?

Horses, camels, oxen, carrier pigeons – do I need to go on?

I think it’s far too easy for humans to look at the modern world around them and tell ourselves, “Man did that”, but it’s really delusional to ignore the interconnectedness of our lives and history with that of our furred and feathered friends.

Don’t be too proud, Monkeys.

And give your Dog or Cat a hug today.

Road trips make the journey the adventure.

From the Top Ten Reasons that Road Trips Rock by Mike Barish at Gadling.

As I established my blog this weekend, I hoped that the inaugural journey would be one worth dwelling on, but the Wife and I were suffering from a heavy dose of laziness this morning.  We both agreed that we wanted to go hiking this weekend, and she even made a very ambitious trail suggestion last night, chosen from one of our guidebooks.  But waking up this morning, neither of us felt particularly inclined to drive anywhere for more than an hour just to find a trail.

Instead, we opted to stay in the general neighborhood, taking the Dog for a little stroll around a nearby section of the American River Parkway.  The parkway begins where the American and Sacramento Rivers converge near downtown Sacramento, and follows the American upriver to Folsom Dam (one could argue the parkway runs the other direction).  The American River Natural History Association has published a truly fantastic guidebook, Biking and Hiking the American River Parkway by Robin Donnelly, which details the natural and human history found along the entire parkway (marked by mile, starting downtown).

The American River at Fair Oaks Bluff

After parking outside the Upper Sunrise parking lot (mile 19.9), we took the opportunity to wander across the Old Fair Oaks Bridge, and onto Fair Oaks Bluff.  The view of the river and parkway below was beautiful, but the pair of young men hanging out at one end of the bluff didn’t look nearly as pleasant, so we wasted little time on the bluff before heading back across the bridge and down to the Jedidiah Smith Memorial Bicycle Trail.

Make no mistake: the Jedidiah Smith is a bicycle trail.  I guess I had never really thought about that distinction before.  My only other noteworthy experience with paved trails is the Burke-Gilman Trail in Seattle.  To the best of my recollection, there was no particularly formal etiquette about where on the path a given class of traveler should be positioned.  Then again, I spent a good deal of my time on the Burke-Gilman in the vicinity of the University of Washington, where it was a commonly used footpath for students.  But even along the farther reaches of the trail, the path was traveled most by runners and walkers – not bicyclists.

Not so, the Jedidiah Smith.  On any halfway pleasant day in Sacramento, the Jedidiah Smith sees hundreds of bicyclists racing along the undulating path, which has given rise to a policy of “wheels on the right, heels on the left”, meaning that runners and walkers are to walk on the left-side soft shoulder, facing the oncoming bicycle traffic.  I’m not sure whether this policy is common elsewhere, but all my previous experience with dirt trail systems (and my recollections of the Burke-Gilman) had told me that bicyclists yield to everyone.

So imagine my mild embarrassment when the Wife, Dog, and I were not following the “heels on the left” policy, and were kindly told so by a woman walking the other direction.  I suppose she could have been a bitch about it, but I have to wonder, are the true locals (we are recent transplants) and parkway proponents aware of how oddly bicycle-centric their policy is (I think)?

Anyway, correcting our mistake, we proceeded upriver along the trail, finding a bench near mile 20.6 to sit at for a while across the river from Sailor Bar.  In this region of the country, a bar is the common name for a large bend in a river where silt, sand, and gravel accumulates.  It happens to be a very promising spot to find gold deposits, and a “bar” is a common place name throughout California’s Gold Country – Sailor Bar, Negro Bar, Diamond Bar, Italian Bar, American Bar, and so on.

On the opposite bank, we saw deer running through the woods, and in the riffles of the river, Chinook salmon or steelhead trout were broaching.  The weather was extremely pleasant for the early autumn.   But not inclined for a serious hike today, the Wife, Dog, and I turned back after sitting for a while.

We will return.  The American River Parkway is gorgeous, and the Jedidiah Smith is a very good trail, as long as you remember that bicyclists own it.

Difficulty: easy – gently undulating, minor elevation changes, well-maintained

Length: 32 miles, but access all along allows you to explore very short portions

Parking: at county-maintained access points, cars pay $5.00, or you can park outside the gates

Dogs: on a short leash to avoid runners, bicyclists, and horses

Popularity: high – and hikers are the bottom of the food chain; bicyclists rule the paved trail

Season: not recommended for hiking in summer, due to the seasonal heat and popularity of the river area with boaters and swimmers

ancient Chinese proverb