Trinity Alps in Northern CA Each of these photos can
enlarged by clicking on them. |
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Here's the topo map of the Trinity Alps area which is in Northern California. | |
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Lewiston Lake is a long skinny lake that is
fed by Trinity Lake to the North. A better topographical view of the upper end
just below the dam face is shown to the right. We spend our first night in the Ackerman campground. This is a large camp ground but was nearly vacant. |
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The Fall weather was comfortable so we slept without the tent rain fly. No mosquitoes were around but there was a little Poison Oak. What a beautiful view of the narrow lake to watch at dusk and to wake up to in the morning. | |
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But it wasn't as isolated as we like it, so the next morning we drove North looking for a better site. Along the way, we stopped at the ranger station in Coffee Creek and saw this fawn nibbling on the grass. | |
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Up the side road Betty saw this sign. We wonder if the pastor considered changing his name! (Or maybe it increased his attendance with curious vacationers.) | |
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We continued North on Hwy 3 until we found Eagle Creek Campground. The cutoff from Highway 3 quickly became a dirt road with potholes which discourages people from continuing to the campground. When we arrived we found only one other camper at the other end. Check out the chimney on the fireplace! | |
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About 150 feet from our campsite is the Trinity river. It was quite low. The water wasn't too cold so Ray took his baths there. The terrain is full of rocks - rocks for miles and miles. Many are natural but there are huge piles from hydraulic mining for gold. | |
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Ikon loves the water and chasing sticks. He's getting the hang of bringing them back too. It's always funny to throw a dog a water-logged stick and watch how they react when it sinks. Ikon just buries his head and brings it up. | |
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Oh, and Betty gets to take a hot shower. Being late in the Fall, it took several hours to get the water hot but it's definitely warmer than the river. Of course, she can't take a leisurely shower as it only holds 4 gallons of water. But it's enough to get the dirt off and wash her hair. | |
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Since we were going to stay for several days, we decided we needed a roof over our table in case it rained. We discussed what would happen if it filled with rain or if the wind got stronger. It protected our table from the beggar Blue Jay perched in the trees above. (If you know what I mean.) | |
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Here's the river bed. Doesn't this look like a good place to try out your 4-wheel drive? Betty wanted to but I vetoed it. | |
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Although it wasn't cold, Betty loves to have a campfire. There was a fellow camping near us, Larry, who enjoyed splitting logs. He gave us all the firewood we wanted. It was good seasoned oak and burned hot with few sparks and little smoke. | |
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In the town of Weaverville is the Jake Jackson Museum which has very interesting mining exhibits. Here's a 15 foot "monitor" nozzle used for hydraulic mining. | |
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We stayed overnight at this BLM campground about 1.4 miles North of Junction City. The Trinity river was shallow and swift so not very good for fishing. But as you can see there was lots of room in our campsite. The next morning, we got up early and rushed off to church in Weaverville. | |
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This looked like a great fishing hole. But alas, no bites. This pond was a result of hydraulic mining. See the rock piled in the background. | |
