A Winter Western Wee Wander (without wagon)

[MarkBC]

I'm in a motel (i.e., "without wagon") in Happy Camp, California tonight...will post photos/report when I get to home/computer in a couple of days.

 

[Overland Hadley]

Sounds promising.

 

[ski3pin]

You can't help but be happy in Happy Camp, eh? Interesting town isn't it? Look forward to hearing/seeing your adventure!

 

[MarkBC]

You can't help but be happy in Happy Camp, eh? Interesting town isn't it? Look forward to hearing/seeing your adventure!

Happy in Happy Camp...and I'm not even camping! Imagine how happy I'd be if I was...camping.

 

[Smokecreek1]

Mark

Way back in the dark ages before I became a fed, I did several projects just outside of Happy Camp---and at night discovered a real neat old bar (can't remember its name-just that it to like HC was in the middle of nowhere) that lived up to the towns name! Almost wrecked the rig getting to the motel that night too! Happy camp seems to pop up from nowhere in one of those valleys that seem to have forgot time!

Smoke

 

[generubin]

http://www.city-data.com/city/Happy-Camp-California.html

 

[MarkBC]

Just got home and probably won't get photos selected until tonight/tomorrow...but here's my route:




A pre-photo disclaimer: It was raining most of the time during my wander...but some of it was so cool-and-scenic that I took photos anyway...drying off my camera every time I got back in the car. If nothing else you'll get an idea of what it looked like.

 

[craig333]

Why no camper? I've done the part from redding to somes bar, looking forward to seeing pics from the rest.

 

[MarkBC]

My trip starts in Redding because I was there for a couple of days to visit my parents. But besides the "being a good son" part of the trip, an exploring drive in northwest California (and possibly southwest Oregon) was part of my plan before I ever left home (Bend).

When I left home I made the last-minute decision to NOT bring any car-camping equipment (tent, Coleman stove, cooler, etc.) with me, committing me to stay in a motel on any overnight excursions.
WHY was I driving my car -- not my truck-camper -- on a road-trip that would involve overnight exploration (as craig333 asked)? Three reasons:

• Because my car gets 3 times the gas mileage of my truck-with-camper; the trip would have cost me $400 in vehicle fuel instead of $130. (yes, I'm ignoring the cost of the motel
  
  ...but I stay in cheap motels) Less-expensive trips mean that I can take more trips, since free-time isn't a limitation anymore.
• I like to drive aggressively (where appropriate), and the low-mass car is much more nimble on winding, narrow, mountain roads: mass x velocity = momentum. And I planned/expected/hoped to be driving on those kind of roads (and I did!).
• When I don't need my truck I always drive the car so that the truck will last me longer. It'll cost me more than twice as much to replace the truck as it'll cost to replace the car...so I wear out the less-expensive car to extend the life of the more-expensive truck. Since I didn't plan to drive on any unpaved roads and not even be out-and-about more than a night or two, this was a case of "don't need the truck".

And I've done this before, anyway...

So, again, here's the route I took -- the part covered in this trip report, anyway:



Originally I'd considered taking 299 clear over to the coast then up the coast into Oregon then back east towards home...but I decided I wanted a less-visited zone than the much-touristed redwood coast...and since the forecast was for rain or heavy rain it didn't seem like the ideal time to be on the coast.
Sitting my my parents' living room, I looked at my Michelin North American Road Atlas...and figured out what looked like an interesting -- and paved -- route that went up the Trinity River drainage (mostly reservoirs) and then over through Callahan and then on up to Happy Camp on a combination of state highways and county roads. A quick check on the 'net showed that Happy Camp had at least one "full-service" motel, with free wifi and fridges and microwaves in all rooms (full-service, but inexpensive!).

I'm not trying to create suspense/drama, so I'll just say now: the route turned out to be without incident -- no unexpectedly-unpaved mud, no washed-out bridges. The only slight unexpected route-related disappointment is that a road that appears to head west from Happy Camp is not open in winter...but my alternate route was great anyway.

 

[MarkBC]

I grew up in the Redding area -- 6 - 12th grades and college-summers, anyway -- so I'm kinda familiar with the area in general...but I haven't lived there in 35 years, so most knowledge is a distant memory.

I have a very good memory of my first experiences backpacking, in the magnificent Trinity Alps, just after high school...and college summers, I think. So as I drove up past Lewiston Reservoir and then Clair Engle (aka "Trinity") Lake I noticed signs that reminded me of when I took this road to access trailheads on the east and north side of the Trinity Alps. Those were some good memories.

(as I said at the top of this thread...it was cloudy-to-raining, not great photo weather..but at times I like to take pics just for the record, to give an idea of what an area looks like -- not necessarily for artistic effect.)

Driving along Lewiston Lake, I decided that Pine Cove boat ramp would be a good place to stop (because I'd been drinking coffee

):

I walked out on the dock and shot a 360° panorama -- hand-held, as were all of the photos on this trip. Nothing special at all, really...just something to do:
Pano-01
(this is one of those panoramas that require you have QuickTime viewer/player plugin installed on your computer)

Continuing along north, I came to Trinity Dam.
Thumbnail view of the panorama:

Full-size version of the panorama above: Pano-02

("full-size" of this and all of the non-360° panos is 900 pixels high, so make it so when the link opens in another window or tab)

Further north along Trinity Lake it was less-industrial, more scenic. I stopped at this elaborate, interpretive-plaque-festooned view-deck:

I was glad I was driving in the lane away from the cut-bank...as melting snow released/ejected lots of loose, sharp rocks onto the other lane:

Soon I was past the lake and driving alongside of the upper Trinity River:

I shot another pano here:
thumbnail:

Full-size version: Pano-04

The road I was on at this point, California 3, climbs very steeply up Scott Mountain, above Scott Mt. Creek (tributary of the Trinity). I stopped and looked back and down:

Reaching Scott Mt Summit took me out of the drainage of the Trinity River and into the drainage of the Scott River (both of which are tributaries of the Klamath)...though full exploration along the Scott would wait until the end of my route.

 

[craig333]

I get it. I could have done my last trip in a car. However, a car adds no safety factor, no ability to change plans at the last minute (as I did). I'm guessing you had no cell coverage most of the time and rarely saw another vehicle. Were you looking for bigfoots? Thats where they roam.

 

[brianjwilson]

Beautiful area! If you're familiar with the area you know where Nordheimer campground is on the salmon River? My grandparents own the property across the road from the campground. Love it out there, spent a lot of time there as a kid. We took the new Jeep down there last summer as well.

 

[4llamas]

Thanks for the pictures Mark. I'm surprised there is not more snow at the summit. Sometimes after a llama packing trip into the Trinity Alps I lay over in that primitive campground. The Pacific Crest Trail crosses the highway there and I've met some interesting characters, mostly through hikers.

 

[MarkBC]

Down the north side of Scott Mountain, down to Callahan.
I think I've only been to Callahan -- an old mining community (a description that could be applied to most of that part of California) -- once before, and that was when I was in my early 20's...but it was a memorable experience. A friend had access to a cabin/house in town there. From that relatively civilized/comfortable base, we then drove a ways and then snowshoed (it was winter) to a remote cabin on public land...the door was mostly blocked by snow, but we got in somehow. We shared the bunks that night with a population of what I could euphemistically call "indoor squirrels" . We spent most of the next day in an altered state wandering around in the snow...and then hiked out that night to avoid spending another night with the "indoor squirrels", which had become less acceptable for some reason...

Hey -- it was a long time ago! That memory has gotten lodged in the "special" bin in my brain...and that's what I think of when I think of Callahan.

Anyway...at Callahan I turned off CA 3 and headed up the "Cecilville Road".


As I climbed up the divide (between the Scott River on the Callahan side and the Salmon River on the Cecilville side) the rain turned to snow. Log trucks passed me going the other way. Down to the East Fork of the South Fork of the Salmon River.

Shot a pano here:

Full-size Version: Pano-05


At Cecilville the road got a lot narrower...like, maybe a lane-and-half. I was worried about what would happen when I met another of those log trucks, but apparently they were coming from somewhere else 'cause I met no more of those nor anyone else for quite a few miles...
As I drove along the narrowed road, the Salmon River began dropping down into a canyon, maybe I should say "its canyon", since the river created the canyon.

In giving my reasons for driving my car (instead of truck-camper), Reason #2 was that I like to drive sportily at times, and this would have been a fun road for that. However, since there were many blind corners and the road was just a little over one lane wide it would have been Russian roulette to be speeding willy-nilly around those corners since there was a chance -- however small -- of meeting someone head-on. So I drove (relatively) slowly, cautiously, and enjoyed the view.

And what a view!

That canyon was so damn cool!

Between Cecilville and Forks of Salmon I only met two vehicles -- a flatbed ranch-type truck and a CDF (California Division of Forestry) truck. Both appeared when I was parked in a wide-spot taking photos. "What's that damn fool tourist doin' here?! Don't he know it's dangerous to be out in the middle of nowhere in a little car? Why don't he listen to craig?" I imagine something like that...

Full-size Version: Pano-06

Full-size Version: Pano-07

A modern bridge, a sign of civilization...but I don't remember what road this is:

 

[MarkBC]

Since Cecilville I'd been driving along the South Fork of the Salmon River...but there's also a North Fork of the Salmon, and they meet at "Forks of Salmon" to become the Salmon River.

Full-size version: Pano-08

Forks of Salmon is an actual community with a US Post Office and microscopic store and a gas station of sorts...neither of which I stopped to check out. I should have, though.
I just stopped at the safer-appearing rest area, which overlooks the North Fork of the Salmon River.

Full-size version: Pano-09

There were some surreal aspects to this place...the misty clouds and remoteness was part of that...and there was the unfenced horses grazing. Now, I'm familiar with the open-range concept of the West -- cattle roaming across roads without fences. But the only time I've seen horses wandering in areas without fences they were "wild"/feral horses. But these must have been domestic. Odd.

The tiny little grocery/supply store in a building the size of a large outhouse was also surreal, but I was too shy/chicken to stop and check it out (nor take a picture -- the thing that looks like an outhouse in the upper photo IS an outhouse, and the light-colored building is the Post Office)...I have a slight fear of encountering cannibalistic hillbillies (or "sons of the soil", as they prefer to be called) in places like this.

I kinda expected that from here on down the river that the road would return to a normal 2-lane road...after all, there is an actual US-post-officed community to access here...but no, the 1+ lane road continued for quite a few more miles. Slightly more traffic, but for the most part I still had it to myself.



Still beautiful in the rain:

Single-lane road hugging the cliff:

Full-size version: Pano-10

At some point before the road (now called the "Salmon River Road" -- it stopped being the "Cecilville Road" at Forks of Salmon) reached Somes Bar it turned back into a normal-ish 2-lane road.
With interpretive signs and everything!

Apparently the Karuk people were enjoying this scenic area before my ethnic group moved in:

At/near Somes Bar the Salmon River joins the Klamath River and this this great route joins CA 96. This is a full-size regular highway that follows the path of the Klamath for many miles upstream...as would I. However, at this point it was raining harder and the Klamath is scenic but not deep-canyon scenic, so I didn't take any more photos this day.

Before I left my folks' house I did an internet search that determined that there's at least one "full-service" motel in Happy Camp, my destination for this day. It featured free wifi internet and microwaves (ovens -- not just the waves) and mini-fridges in every room: the Forest Lodge. $50 for a single -- such a deal! I checked in and was given room #18. I tried the key in the door of #18 and it wouldn't open. Hmmm...the deadbolt seems to be locked. So I tried to stick the key in the deadbolt lock, but it wouldn't fit. I tried to get in for several minutes until I heard -- and felt -- a loud pounding coming from inside the room

and an angry face appeared when the curtains opened. Seems I was given a room that was already occupied.

The very apologetic proprietress gave me a key to room #19, and all was well! A little musty...but clean and equipped.
I had dinner at the Frontier Cafe. "CMO" (cheese, mushroom, onion burger).

(to be continued -- Final Installment: upper Klamath and Scott River)

 

[CraggyMan]

Canyon pix are way cool. Anybody know the geology of this area?? Those exposed cliffs looked pretty enticing.

 

[Dughlas Stiubhart]

Looks a bit damp up there, just as I remember it. Have you switched from taking pics of sage to moss? Or is that just opportunistic and temporary? Those look like some fun little roads! Thanks for sharing.

Hey, Mark, do people still call that part of the USA the State of Jefferson?

 

[craig333]

No pics of bigfoot? Maybe it was too rainy?

 

[MarkBC]

No pics of bigfoot?

Maybe I'm saving those photos for the exciting conclusion of this trip report...

 

[Overland Hadley]

Beautiful area. Looks like a fun trip.