Blue Heron Colony

Went back to Ironhorse campground at New Melones Reservoir since we were in need of a couple of days of "different wallpaper". 

It was the first time staying at site 40. All of the sites that we have stayed at in the past were already booked. Site 40 doesn't have a view of the reservoir....

...but it did provide us with wonderful entertainment of a colony of blue herons. Blue herons tend to be solitary birds, but during mating season they come together to form a colony with lots of nests. This colony seemed to have about 6-7 birds. They would fly in just an hour before sunset. 

The campsite is nice with a private feel to it. The only downside was that it isn't very level. Out came our extra leveling blocks, thank God for them!

We were close to the one tree when the slide was out. Sadly, no critters or birds came to check us out or visit the tree. At night we did hear the owls calling to each other. I love the hoot of the owls, so peaceful.

Friday's hike was the loop around the shore of the reservoir, Carson Creek trail, and up the Tower Climb and down back to camp, about 6.5 miles. Saturday's hike was 8.5 miles down to the Angles Creek trail and back. 

This stretching of the Angles Creek trail is so peaceful. Sometimes a boat motoring would go by, but most of the time the only sound came from the cow bells from the hill on the other side of the reservoir.

A very needed rest stop at the closed boat launch by Angles Creek was taken before heading back to camp. We saw some folks fishing in numerous places as we hiked. 

Ironhorse at New Melones

Went back to New Melones for our first RV camping of the new year. We were at site 21, which is towards the end of the one peninsula at the Ironhorse campground there at the Glory Hole side of New Melones Reservoir. 

It was a beautiful warm January day with highs about 70. After setting up camp and eating our lunch, we head off to hike the Frontier trail that parallels the road and comes to a junction at the smaller parking lot a the end of the road. 

As we approached the bridge, we could hear the water running down the hill. There was one other stream that's a seasonal one, but this is the larger stream that seems to run most of the year (minus the drought years). 

The picnic table is still just up from the bridge. Last time we came here we could barely see the top of the picnic table. When we arrived at the Buck Bush parking lot we decided that we had time to hike the Angels Creek Trail. 

We took the shorter route by traversing up the hill and over to the other side, which cuts off a small portion of the trail.  Manzanita is in bloom already. It smelled so sweet!

Since it was getting late and we had at least two miles of travel back to campground, we decided to walk the road. We could see a portion of a halo around the sun as we were heading back. The sky now had clouds and a portion of a rainbow formed because the ice crystals in the clouds were refracting the sunlight. This is also a sign of weather change. 

When we got back to camp a group of Scouts had set up their camps near to us. At first I thought they would be loud since it was a group of teenagers with older adults, but I was wrong. As darkness came, they got quiet. We had a quiet and peaceful night. 

The morning sky proved to show that there was a change in the weather with what looked to be snow clouds forming. No rain was in the forecast for the day or the next couple of days; just a change in the sky with clouds. 

We took a walk around the campground. Walked down to see if the osprey were building a nest or had one. Instead we found a turkey vulture sitting on the tree that once housed the osprey's nest. I do hope the osprey find a better location this year for their nest. We will find out in future visits!