NorthEastCal 2up 2dayers

I'll be riding some of where you rode in October when I ride the Hogsback road up to Hwy 36 then take the 172 loop and pick-up some dirt from there working my way over to Hwy 32 then home. Going to be a fun ride as long as the forest is still there. Sad about all of these fires, rough year.
Thanks again for sharing

Hi Kelly! I knew you would find this sooner or later.
Breathing is no fun right now. We are still good though and have our fingers crossed for no more lighting in Lassen County!
Glad you enjoyed the picture. He travels with us every where! Juju is brilliant.
I see you have a report in progress. YAY!!!!

Long live REI!!!

Don't forget to take a gold pan redog1! Our forest has been ruined for a while, but as you will see, there is still plenty to enjoy. Save Travels.

I was wrong, it's %25 on the Big Agnes pads, but still going to order!

Okay lets get started with

Trip #2----------------------------------------



August 11-12, 2012
A beautiful morning and not too much smoke from the nearby fires. We were looking for somewhere not blazing hot but also kind of close to home. Decided on the Northern Tahoe area.
Another well loved and used map.



Our route for this trip.
HWY 36 to HWY 395, HWY 70 through Portola, HWY 89 through Graeagle, over Gold Lake HWY to Bassets, dirt road #54 to Jackson Meadows Reservoir, Henness Pass Road to camp, HWY 89 to Sierraville and back to Graeagle, HWY 70 to Quincy to Indian Valley, dirt through Moonlight Valley and home on HWY 36.



All ready to go once again, just a little dirty from the last trip. Different tires this time. Knobby.





We are riding HWY 36 south to HWY 395 south today. The smoke over the Honey Lake Valley.



Riding through Susanville, we notice the Oscar Mayer Wiener is in town.



Rode HWY 395 to the Hallelujah Junction turn (HWY 70) toward Portola. Our ears were shot after listening to the whirrrrrr of the dirt tires for 70 or so miles. Richard put in ear plugs. I chose tough it out... mostly because we only had one set.

Stopped in Portola for some gas. Still way over $4.00 today. The beauty of travelling by bike. So many miles for so little cash.



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Trip #2 day one
From Portola we continued along HWY 70 to the HWY 89 turn through Graeagle. The village is a former lumber mill and the buildings all through town are painted red. Graeagle has a huge antique fair at the end of August each year.



A little bit beyond town is the Gold Lake Forest Highway. It is a beautiful shortcut to HWY 49. We have spent a lot of time in the Gold Lakes area. Earlier in summer headed out for a 3 day camping trip to ride the Huskies on the Butcher Ranch/Pauley Creek trail. The trip was cut short due to a gnarly wound sustained by myself riding up Pauley Creek. Lots of blood and such. AAAkkkk. Didn't want to think about that. The HWY presents awesome views of the Sierra Buttes.



The HWY leads you straight into a little town called Bassetts. We were making good time and decided to do a little gold panning in a nearby creek.





Found a little bit.



and some flowers





After striking gold, we rode along road #54.



Not a bad road.



Until a bunch old folks race by in a swiss vehicle. The thing was pretty cool. If they were going a little slower, I might have clicked a better picture of it. I want one of those when I am like 80 years old.



We were sitting at a fork in the road. The way they went #54, the way we went, not #54. The GPS showed both roads ending up where we wanted to go. Took the less traveled, freshly logged adventure looking one to the right.
Which ended up turning into an impossible single track. Good for the Huskies, not for the 2 ton BMW. Had to turn around and go back through the stupid water bars.



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Trip #2 day one

We rode back up to the Y and continued on #54 to a T. Left was to Yuba Pass right to Webber Lake. We headed right on #12.



Along this road we saw a disturbing sign. Really Forest Service? No dirt bikes except for hunting season. We knew this was coming, Calfornia blocking off perfectly good roads to plateless bikes. To see it in sign form.



Road #12 came to a T at the road to Jackson Meadows Reservoir. Took a right and made it to the reservoir. The water was very low this year.



This is from the top of the dam looking down toward the beginning of the Middle Fork of the Yuba. The huge amount of water being shot out of the pipe is amazing. Way down there, you can see a bridge. One of our goals is to find that bridge, go across it and see what is on the other side.





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Went and found that bridge one time too...it's like a lure, I couldn't resist.

Trip #2 day one

To get down there week took Henness Pass Road which is to the right of the dam.

A little bit about the Henness Pass Trail:
The original Henness Pass road was primarily a road for an easier entrance into California. After the Donner Party disaster of 1846, emigrants avoided the rugged cliffs above Truckee (later Donner) Lake. Instead they turned northward taking a longer route developed by Patrick Henness (or Hanness) in either 1849 or 1850, although that is a subject of some debate. What is known is that Henness, along with his partner Jackson, is the probable discoverer of the pass that bears his name, and in 1852 the wagon road over it was improved in an attempt to draw overland emigrants to the country of North and Middle Yuba Rivers and to the towns in the Yuba and Nevada Counties. However, most emigrants continued to use the Echo Summit-Placerville route (Johnson’s Cutoff).

Along the trail is Milton Reservoir. Said to be a great fishing spot with no live bait allowed. There were about 10 or so developed camp sites here. Not our style, we kept going.



The dam at Milton Reservoir was pretty cool.

Milton South Dam is on the Middle Yuba River in Nevada County, California and is used for drinking water, irrigation, hydroelectric power and recreation purposes. Construction was completed in 1927. Its normal surface area is 100 acres. It is owned by Nevada Irrigation District. Milton South is arch, concrete. The core is concrete. The foundation is rock. Its height is 33 feet with a length of 137 feet. Its capacity is 295 acre feet. Normal storage is 200 acre feet.



We continued along the trail looking for a killer camp spot. Both the GPS and map showed very few roads leading toward the Yuba. Tried this one first.



It brought us to a nice flat area used for camping. I didn't like it enough to stay there. It was way above the river with no nice way down. We walked along a path and were willing to leave the bike and hike in a little if a sweet spot was found. Almost decided on a place right above this bitchen pool.



Naw, this wasn't good enough. Hiked back to the bike. Along the way, just a few hundred butterflies and a rock wall.





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We saw it the first time we crossed the dam last year...had to make it down there this time.

Trip #2 day one

Turned around and went back along the trail and past Milton Reservoir. Our main focus was getting to the bridge. We were on the right track but still downstream from the bridge. This was a cool spot to camp, but we decided to keep looking, still too public.



Took another trail and made it to the bridge.



This was taken from the footbridge below the big bridge. You can see the rock of Jackson Meadows Dam in between the planks.



Info about this bridge: NONE!! Absolutely nothing.
I have been looking for two weeks. No mention of it anywhere. No map showing it, no history whatsoever. It is not even on Bridgehunter. If it was a toll bridge, it surely would have been marked on a map. Was it covered at one time like the ones further down river? Frustrations of a history buff! On the other side, the spillway, no road at all.

I imagine the road was washed out the same time the bridge was.



Turned the bike around and headed back up the trail.



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Trip #2 day one

On our way to the bridge we had spotted a possible place to camp. Since it was getting late, we headed back there and set up. Perfect!



There was a small waterfall upstream from camp that we tried to hike to. Did not make it. But got a cool shot of the tent.



I knew there was supposed to be a meteor shower happening that night and this is where we watched it from.
With a cloudless, non smoke filled sky, the meteors zoomed across the sky all night.



I wish I could have just captured one night photo. Something to work on.

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Trip #2 day two

The view from the tent in the morning. Beautiful!



Made some coffee.



Walked around a bit taking photos.









Our good juju guy was along for the trip.



The berries were on their way out.



We needed to restock the water. Our trusty Katadyn water filter did the job.



Loved this place.



But we had to get back on the road again.





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Trip #2 day two

Rode back up to Jackson Meadows Reservoir.



Past Perazzo Meadows and the Little Truckee River.



Turned left onto HWY 89 and rode through Sierraville.





Continued on HWY 89 toward Calpine.



We saw the sign for the Calpine Lookout. Right on...lets go up there. Damn gate. Got home and found out that this particular lookout is a rental.



Jumped back onto the HWY and rode through Graeagle again. Turned left onto HWY 70 and headed to Quincy for lunch. Parked in the shade under an oak tree and went in to the enjoy the air conditioner. Quick, cheap, and yummy lunch.



Left Quincy and continued along the HWY. These rock barriers are cool, most have been replaced with the ugly metal ones along here. To the right are the railroad trusses.



Took a right at the "Greenville Y" (HWY 89) and headed to the Indian Valley.





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Trip #2 day two

Stopped here in search for gold.



The creek was sparkling with gold, but everyone knows, that fools gold hangs out on the surface. I dug around under the rocks and couldn't find the real stuff. Doused ourselves with the cool water and took off.



Turned on the road to Moonlight Valley.



Into the old burn.
The Moonlight fire ignited on a 520-acre piece of private property, converting 65,000 acres of what was lush forest – including 46,000 acres of national forest in Plumas and Lassen counties – into a moonscape for a century.
Burning furiously for two weeks, it killed 15 million trees, some more than 400 years old.



Stopped for a quick break and wondered where the smoke was from the Chips and Reading fires.



Right here as we were riding through the Roxie Peconom Campground.



Roxie Peconom campground is a tent-only campground in a dense stand of Douglas firs. Home of the Mountain Maidu's Spring Rite "Bear Dance," the campground is crowded one week in June and nearly empty the rest of the year.
The creek usually flowing through here was bone dry. Hopefully we have a better winter this year.

The smoke was getting worse as we turned right onto HWY 36.



The fires had been burning for two weeks with no containment in sight. They contained the Reading Fire inside of Lassen Park a few days ago. The Chips Fire is still burning today. Another one, the Rush Fire, burned all through our normal route (Smoke Creek Road) to the Black Rock Desert. In a few months, when the firefighters have gone home, we will be out exploring the damaged areas. I hope it is not as bad as they say.

Thanks for following along everybody.

Until next time.

Thanks for following this one Rob.
Sometimes from the back of the bike I catch things that he doesn't see---like deer, and bridges. Lure is right. How many things are hidden in the trees?

I especially like that picture!!

Thanks for another great trip report!!

Beautiful! I really like this one.


Matt and I were just in the Graeagle area.
Gold Lakes/Butcher Ranch/Sierra Buttes...our favorite part of the PCQ.


Thanks for the report, Aimee!
Sorry you got stuck in research hell, trying to find more info about that bridge. :huh

Nice reports! Just was up LaPorte/Quincy road and down though Graeagle today. Hubby was scrubbing in his new birthday tires. Been on Henness Pass a couple times and have not noticed that bridge. Need to explore more in my own back yard!

Thank you kindly. I like that one too. The spirit of 2up.