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!

 

Ironhorse 19

Headed back to New Melones before the weather gets too hot. We got lucky with a site that has a view of the lake. 

A turkey and...

came to our site to check us out, while the opsrey and bald eagle observed us from above. We could hear the woodpeckers and see lots of turkey vultures. It was a birder's paradise. 

We did one of our favorite loops, the Tower Climb. It was nice seeing the lake full again.

Most of the time the trail is just dirt and rocks with occasional pretty flowers. We were surprised to see a rib cage from some animal long gone. The turkey vultures must have enjoyed that meal too. 

Second day's hike was around Angel's Creek trail. It was a long moderate hike that day, 8.3 miles. Happy to be back at camp to relax and enjoy the views. Did I say how quiet the campground was both nights. First night, Saturday, had tired fishermen, while second night, Sunday, was just one person next to us. 

February Getaway

 We headed back to our favorite spot at New Melones since spring weather was in the forecast.

We hiked one of our favorite hiking routes with wonderful vistas of a fairly quiet lake.

Along the hike, we came across a white ceanothus in bloom! It smelled so sweet and the bees were enjoying the blossoms.

I did not know that there are white ceanothus since all I have seen in the nurseries are the blue to purple flowering ceanothus.

Down by the closed boat launch, there were two seaplanes parked at the water's edge. Most likely two pilots having a meetup. We later watched the planes take off.  One plane headed west, while the other plane headed north.  Such a fun way to spend a beautiful day! And it was for us too!

Easter, Water, And Irises!!!

 On Easter weekend we headed out to our favorite winter camping spot at New Melones Reservoir. Yes, it was the beginning of spring, but the heavy winter rains had prevent us from camping in winter this year.

We had been keeping a tab on the water level risings.

This is how much water was there end of October 2022. 

This is how much water was there in March 2022.

And this is how much was there April 2023.

 It's at 95% historical average, meaning just a little above half full. 

Last October, there was no water at the one boat ramp.

This April not only was there water, but a boat dock for this area was under construction.

We have never seen it this green here. All the flowers were in full bloom. A beautiful field of flowers right beside the campsite, so perfect!!

We could see the water from our site!! We had fun watching the swifts flying around and checking us out. They were very curious as to what we were doing at the picnic table.

The wild turkeys had fun roaming the campground and we had a blast watching them.

One of our favorite trails, the Tower Trail was full of surprises too!

Someone must have planted these Irises as a memorial for a pet or loved one. 

With the heavy snowpack at higher elevations, we might not be able to get to some of our favorite summer campgrounds sites until September, if the NFS opens them at all this year.

Acorn Campground, New Melones Lake

Back at Acorn Campground with a spectacular views from site 53 of the hills and lake.  There weren't too many folks here over the weekend. 

Most folks were in sites 60-67. The only large group was a boy scout troop at sites 33-35. So, it was a very quiet camp for us.

Our first hike (Saturday), we headed back to a place we hiked once before. We were shocked to see the water this low. We don't know if they emptied the lake in preparation for this winter's rains or if this is a result of not enough rain this past winter. 

We took the Black Bear Loop over to Cougar Point Trail. 

I'm standing close to the edge. I have to remember that at this area there is a picnic table, which makes for a great place to eat lunch.

What looks like large sticks are trees. This is looking across the cove from the point. 

While we climbed down to let Meeks have a drink of water, a couple of kayakers were enjoying their time exploring by water.

On the way back up to the trail, we stopped to look at this rock formation which looks like a tree had turned to petrified wood. 

Heading back to camp, we spotted our RV. The picnic table for the site is to the right. To get to the table it is a steep and short climb. They need to get the boy scouts to do a scout project of building steps into the short hillside from the parking pad to the level ground by the picnic table. We got back in time before a light rain started.

After a peaceful night of rest and a yummy breakfast of hash browns with eggs( I just had veggies with my browns), we headed off to do a longer hike than the day before. 

We started from the campground and took the Heron Point Trail down to just one of many points along the trail. This section of the trail that leads to this point isn't on the map, but there is a trail that extends from the main trail to this point. Again, we were shocked at how low the water had gotten. I'm somewhere down there looking for a good spot for Meeks to drink some water.

After exploring this point, we headed back to the main trail and hiked around the Heron Point to Redtail Trail. 

This oak tree looks like a large bonsai to us. From Redtail Trail, we took Ringneck Run over to the Lupine area. 

Along the Ringneck Run and very close to the Lupine Day Use area sits this huge truck tire. We wondered how it got there. Maybe at one time the water covered this area of grassy land and as the water receded the tire that was once floating here sank to this spot; or, a group of kids rolled the tire up to this spot from another location closer to the lake. It just looks so weird sitting in this location. We finished our hike by picking up the Black Bear Loop by the dump station to head back to the campground. 

Next morning (Monday), we awoke to a beautiful blue sky. Our last hike was a short one from Heron Point Trail to the Park's Entrance Station and back. The hike along the trail gave us an excellent view of the lake and bridge. We have driven across that bridge many time to get over to the Glory Hole Campgrounds, which is one of our favorite places to winter camp.