BRT Insights - WW Kayaking & Hiking

Carson River Aquatic Trail The new and improved put-in and take-out locations are now available for whitewater paddleboating on the Carson River (river map & whitewater boating guide). Lynn Zonge, Hydrologist at Resource Concepts, Inc., said "The (Carson) River is just now coming up to comfortable levels to run. This year it should be runable through the end of June." See the press release below.

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For immediate release: Wednesday, April 21, 2010.
Contact: Chris Chrystal, Nevada Commission on Tourism.
Phone: 775-687-0616; Cell phone: 775-230-8655; Email: cchrystal@travelnevada.com

Officials to cut ribbon on first-ever Carson River whitewater rafting, kayaking facilities.

Carson City, Nevada. – Officials from Carson City and Lyon County will cut the ribbon May 22 to ceremonially launch new boating facilities for whitewater rafting and kayaking that have opened on the Carson River Aquatic Trail between Carson City and Dayton, Nevada.

For the first time, boaters have a developed area to put into the river at Morgan Mill Road in Carson City. The area offers a concrete launching ramp, paved parking, picnic tables and a restroom, and similarly improved facilities to take out of the river at Santa Maria Ranch in Dayton.

“Boaters will have a much safer and more convenient experience putting into the Carson River from Morgan Mill than ever before,” Director Roger Moellendorf of the Carson City Parks and Recreation Department said. “These new facilities represent a milestone for whitewater recreation on the Carson River.” The Morgan Mill Road River Access Area is a Carson City Parks and Recreation Department facility.

The public is invited to attend the ribbon-cutting ceremony at 10 a.m. (Saturday, May 22) and tour new Morgan Mill facilities, just upstream of the U.S. Bureau of Land Management offices at Deer Run and Morgan Mill roads, south of U.S. Highway 50 East. The Carson River Aquatic Trail has two segments:

The Upper River Class I 3.3-mile float is a peaceful 1.5 to 2-hour ride from Carson River Park through cottonwood and willow-lined riverbanks,& concluding at Morgan Mill. It is suitable for beginning paddlers.

The 9.3-mile, 2.5 to 3-hour Lower River Class III ride for experienced floaters puts in at Morgan Mill and offers exciting, challenging rapids in scenic Carson River Canyon with wildflowers, historic rock walls, mill sites and other relics from the old V&T Railroad and Comstock mining era. It terminates at Lyon County’s newly redesigned Santa Maria Ranch River Park in Dayton, next to the Santa Maria subdivision on U.S. Highway 50 in Dayton, NV. It now includes parking, restrooms and a river-access beach for rafters and kayakers.

The Carson River Regional Recreation Steering Committee is coordinating the event, which includes invitation-only kayaking and rafting excursions for officials attending the ribbon-cutting.

A bronze plaque to be erected at Morgan Mill will list the partnering agencies that contributed to the project: Carson Truckee Water Conservation District, Carson City Quality of Life Initiative, Carson Water Subconservancy District, Nevada State Parks, Land and Water Conservation Fund, Nevada State Lands, Conservation and Resource Protection Grant Program (Question 1). Site improvements were designed by Resource Concepts, Inc. and built by Horizon Construction, Inc., and Hansen Landscape Architects, LLC.

More about:
• Carson River Conservation & Recreation Directory. (Sort alphabetically. 1=whitewater, 2=rafting, 3=conservation, 4=fishing, 5=camping-hiking, 6=local-info)
• Trip Reports - Kayaking on California & Nevada Whitewater Rivers.
• Whitewater River Guides for California & Nevada kayaking, rafting & innertubing.

IceRocket Tags: kayaking, river tubing, float tube.
Tags: kayaking, river, whitewater, paddle boating, playboating, Carson River, Nevada, rafting, paddlesports.

Labels: trip

• Pg. 1 - Personal Websites on Hiking in California.
• Pg. 2 - National, State & Regional Parks in California.
• Pg. 3 - County Parks in California.
• Pg. 4 - Hiking Trails Listed by Counties & Regions in California.
• Pg. 5 - Hiking Clubs in California.
• Pg. 6 - Photos from Hiking in California.

Photos from hiking in California.

Updated 12feb2012.
• Laurent Droin PR8

• Geology of National Parks - USGS PR6

• California North - Don Bains VR Panoramas PR4

• In the Moment PR3

• SherpaTrails PR2
• Frank Farmer PR2

• BRThomas PR0
• Dave's Travel PR0
• Ted's Outdoor World PR0

• ElRemaro PRN
• trinityalpsphoto PRN
• Frank Farmer PRN
• Eric Emerson PRN
• Panoramas EGoetze PRN
• RobinLiu PRN
• Southbay Ramblers PRN
• Kusum Sanu PRN
• Calipidder PRN
• Tuleyome PRN
• northbayhikes PRN
• kareninca zenphoto PRN
• canyonkeepers PRN

California Hiking Trails Directory

• Personal Sites > State Parks > County Parks > Hiking Trail Lists > Hiking Groups > Photos

More about:
• Contact me about sites to add to this California Hiking Directory.
• Hiking Trip Reports - BRT Insights.
• Site Map - BRT Insights - Kayaking & Hiking in California.

IceRocket Tags: hiking, trail, California.
Tags: photography, panoramic photography, landscape photography.

Labels: directory, hiking

RichardM, LynneN, MiloN, Peggy, Otis & I did a driving tour to see wildflowers in Capay Valley (Yolo County), Bear Valley & Indian Valley (Colusa County). Mustards and lupines were still blooming in Capay Valley (elevation 210 feet), redbuds were almost finished blooming, and there were no more blooms on the fruit trees. Birds were chirping and tamarisk was blooming along Bear Creek when we had a picnic lunch at Cowboy Camp. With two cookie bakers in the group we were guaranteed to have good munchies. We continued north on Hwy 16 along Bear Creek, turned west on Hwy 20, then turned immediately north on Bear Valley Road. There were some good wildflower displays right at the start of Bear Valley Road and nearby on the the south side of Hwy 20 at the Bear Creek Botanical Management Area. The next 7 miles of Bear Valley Road goes through a narrow part of Bear Creek valley where we found a few roadside wildflowers here and there.

Map of Bear Valley & Indian Valley wildflower hotspots.

• Instructions for online interactive topographic maps & road maps.
• Click on Map button for road map, Topo button for topographic map.
• Full-Screen Map - Bear Valley & Indian Valley in Colusa County.
• Names of landmarks (A, B, etc.) - DoubleClick or point on the red markers.

N 38.99771 W 122.35388 - Cowboy Camp at Bear Creek (A)
N 39.01183 W 122.36066 - Hwy 20 x Bear Valley Road junction (B)
N 39.07101 W 122.40980 - Bear Valley wildflower area, elevation 1290 feet (C)
N 39.18570 W 122.44400 - Bear Valley Buttes, elevation 2166 feet (D)
N 39.30149 W 122.48829 - Lodoga (Indian Valley), elevation 1280 feet (E)
N 39.35521 W 122.45964 - Grapevine Pass, elevation 1800 feet (F)

DoubleClick on the photo to see a larger version - use the back button to return.

• Photo 24 - Bear Valley wildflowers (Colusa County)

• Photo 47 - Bear Valley wildflowers (Colusa County)

Wildflowers of Bear Valley & Indian Valley.

We found that wildflower blooms had increased since my last visit to Bear Valley two weeks ago. We found a giant field of Death Camas (Zigadenus fremontii). Purple Owl's Clover (Castilleja exserta) and California Poppy (Eschscholzia californica) blooms had also begun. Continuing north into Indian Valley we found Ceanothus (Ceanothus ceanothus) blooms dwindling, but Yellowray Goldfields (Lasthenia glabrata) were still blooming abundantly. Then we drove over Grapevine Pass, through Sites and Maxwell, and returned home via Interstate 5.

• Photo 55 - Bear Valley wildflowers & view to Bear Valley Buttes (Colusa County)

• Photo 162 - Yellowray Goldfields (Lasthenia glabrata) in Indian Valley (Colusa County) & view to St John Mountain. Photo by LynneN/RichardM.

• We photograph wildflowers, but do not pick them. Native Plant Ethics- US Forest Service.

• More photos: BRT, Lynne & Richard wildflowers at Bear Valley & Indian Valley.

For more information:
• Colusa County Trailheads Map - BRT Insights.
• Bear Valley & Capay Valley wildflowers 03april2010.
• Capay Valley & Bear Valley wildflowers 20mar2010.
• California Maps - Atlas & Gazetteer by Delorme, 2008.
• Hiking Trails of Yolo & Colusa Counties - Davis Wiki
• Bear Creek Recreation & Conservation Directory. (Sort alphabetically. Section 5 = camping & hiking)
• Hiking & Camping Trip Reports - BRT Insights.
• BRT photos: Olympus Stylus 720SW camera. LynneN/RichardM photos: Nikon D70s camera.

IceRocket Tags: hiking, Capay Valley, Yolo County, Bear Valley, Indian Valley, Colusa County, California.
Tags: wildflowers, photography, landscape photography.

Labels: hiking

• Pg. 1 - Personal Websites on Hiking in California.
• Pg. 2 - National, State & Regional Parks in California.
• Pg. 3 - County Parks in California.
• Pg. 4 - Hiking Trails Listed by Counties & Regions in California.
• Pg. 5 - Hiking Clubs in California.
• Pg. 6 - Photos from Hiking in California.

Hiking Clubs in California

• Barefoot Hikers.
• Bay Area Hiking Clubs list - Vern Buck
• Capay Valley Hiking Club Google Groups.
• Chico Hiking Association.
• Dave & Bill Hikes Sonoma County.
• Get Off Your Gass - Sacramento
• NorthBayHikes.
• Sacramento TrailMix.
• Sacramento Walking Sticks.
• Sierra Club Singles - Motherlode Chapter.
• Sierra Club - Redwood Chapter.
• Sierra Club - Solano Group.
• Sierra Club - Yolano Group.
• Solano Hiking
• South Bay Ramblers Walking and Hiking Group.
• Yolohikers Google Groups.

California Hiking Trails Directory

• Personal Sites > Statewide Parks > County Parks > Wiki Sites > *Hiking Groups* > Photos.

More about:
• Contact me about sites to add to this California Hiking Directory.
• Hiking Trip Reports - BRT Insights.
• Site Map - BRT Insights - Kayaking & Hiking in California.

IceRocket Tags: hiking, trail, California.
Tags: photography, panoramic photography, landscape photography.

Labels: directory, hiking

Blue Ridge Loop Trail - wildflowers & scenic views.

RichardM, LynneN & I hiked part of the Blue Ridge Loop Trail at Stebbins Cold Canyon Reserve on 10april2010. We did a short steep hike from the trailhead on the west side of Cold Creek (elevation 280 ft) up to the top of Blue Ridge (elevation ~1200 ft) where we had lunch at a great overlook onto Lake Berryessa.

Map of Stebbins Cold Canyon Reserve & Solano County.

• Instructions for online interactive topographic maps & road maps.
• Click on Map button for road map, Topo button for topographic map.
• Full-Screen Map - Stebbins Cold Canyon Reserve in Solano County.
• Names of landmarks (A, B, etc.) - DoubleClick or point on the red markers.

N 38.50889 W 122.09733 - Cold Canyon Trailhead, elevation 280 ft (A)
N 38.50973 W 122.10409 - Lake Berryessa overlook, elevation ~1200 ft (B)

Cold Canyon GPS trail maps & photos.

• Stebbins Cold Canyon gps hiking & landscape photography - SierraHike 19feb2010.
• Stebbins Cold Canyon gps hiking photos - SierraHike 07march2010.
• Cold Canyon Loop Trail gps hiking elevation profile - cswift2 07dec2007

Cold Canyon hiking trails map.

• Doubleclick map to see larger version - back button to return.

Many different kinds of wildflowers were blooming on the steep trail up to the top of Blue Ridge.

DoubleClick on the photo to see a larger version - use the back button to return.

• Photo 90 - Indian Paintbrush. (Castilleja affinis ssp. affinis)

• Photo 101 - Overlook to Lake Berryessa. It was a very calm, peaceful spot to have lunch while watching many turkey vultures soaring serenely in the valley below us.

• Photo 125 - Bush Monkeyflower. (Mimulus aurantiacus)

Then Lynne & I did a quick hike along the east side of Cold Creek. Down at the bottom of the valley by the creek we found some different wildflowers that were not observed on the west side higher up on the flanks of Blue Ridge.

• Photo 145 - Cold Creek.

• More: BRT photos at Stebbins Cold Canyon Reserve.

My homemade sports drink recipe flavor of the day was Old Orchard Blueberry Pomegranate 100% all natural juice. Good hydration is critical for muscle performance for hikers and all other athletes. While hiking in search of wildflowers, scenery and photo opportunities it is too easy for me to forget to drink enough. The fruit flavor from the juice encourages me to drink. The sugar from the juice provides rapidly burned fuel for my muscles. The salt in the recipe stimulates my thirst and encourages me to drink even more!

For more information:
• Map to the Trailheads - Hiking in Solano County, California.
• Stebbins Cold Canyon Reserve hiking 25sept2011.
• Hiking at Stebbins Cold Canyon - UC Davis Natural Reserve System
• Cold Canyon Trails - YoloHiker
• Cold Canyon Loop 28X - Pete's Thousand Peaks
• Stebbins Cold Canyon - Berryessa Trails
• Ted's Outdoor World - Stebbins Cold Canyon Reserve
• California Maps - Atlas & Gazetteer by Delorme, 2008.
• California Hiking Trails - Statewide Information.
• Hiking in Solano County - Vacaville Wiki
• Putah Creek Recreation & Conservation Directory. (Sort alphabetically. Section 5 = camping & hiking)
• Hiking & Camping Trip Reports - BRT Insights.
• Olympus Stylus 720SW camera. Photos edited with IrfanView & PanoStitcher.

IceRocket Tags: hiking, Stebbins Cold Canyon Reserve, Solano County, California.
Tags: wildflowers, photography, landscape photography.

Labels: hiking

Popular launch location for the Whitewater Boating "C to G Run" on SF American River (El Dorado County, California, USA).

The North Beach Picnic Area at Marshall Gold SHP has reopened on Tue to Sat for launching whitewater paddleboats on the SF American River Coloma to Greenwood Run. Due to State of California budget cutbacks their staffing is severely limited, so boaters are asked to pack out all of their own trash and to make an extra effort on keeping the bathrooms clean.

Thanks to Dan Crandall (The River Store) and Suzie Matin (Supervising Park Ranger) for their work to get the park reopened.

For more information:
• Marshall Gold State Historic Park closed to all raft & kayak put-ins until Memorial Day 2010 - 23march2010.
• Fight the Closure of Marshall Gold Discovery SHP - access point for SF American River - 28aug2009.
• Fans of Marshall Gold Discovery State Historic Park - Facebook.

IceRocket Tags: river, California, American River, El Dorado County.
Tags: whitewater, kayaking, rafting, canoeing, innertubing, paddle boating, paddlesport.

Labels: guide

Wildflower tour of the region: Bear Valley, Oat Valley, Sacramento Valley, Antelope Valley, Grapevine Pass, Indian Valley, Capay Valley.

JimH & I did another wildflower drive-around in the valleys of Colusa County on 03april2010. Although Bear Valley is justifiably famous for its wildflower display we also found lots of great wildflower blooms in many nearby valleys in Colusa & Yolo Counties.

After a few rainy days, the weather forecast for Saturday was for a rainless day with some sun in the morning, increasing clouds in the afternoon and rain the next two days. Instead, it turned out to be a cool, cloudy morning. Fruit tree blossoms in Capay Valley (elevation 210 feet) were almost finished. There were still blooms on redbuds, mustards, lupines and many others. Then we continued driving north on Hwy 16 along Cache Creek and Bear Creek up to the junction with Hwy 20.

Map of wildflower valleys in Colusa County & Yolo County.

• Instructions for online interactive topographic maps & road maps.
• Click on Map button for road map, Topo button for topographic map.
• Full-Screen Map - wildflower valleys in Colusa County & Yolo County.
• Names of landmarks (A, B, etc.) - DoubleClick or point on the red markers.

• N 38.71016 W 122.05845 - Capay Valley, elevation 210 feet (A)
• N 39.07118 W 122.41001 - Bear Valley, elevation 1290 feet (B)
• N 39.15988 W 122.39147 - Oat Valley, elevation 600 feet (C)
• N 39.13033 W 122.30899 - Sacramento Valley, elevation 230 feet (D)
• N 39.31013 W 122.33774 - Antelope Valley, elevation 370 feet (E)
• N 39.35793 W 122.45018 - Grapevine Pass, elevation 1800 feet (F)
• N 39.31252 W 122.48657 - Indian Valley, elevation 1280 feet (G)

• N 39.37684 W 122.75874 - Snow Mountain, elevation 7056 (Lake County) (H)
• N 39.43467 W 122.69334 - St John Mountain, elevation 6746 (Glenn County) (I)

A great afternoon of wildflower photography in Antelope Valley, Indian Valley, Bear Valley & Capay Valley!!
Wildflower blooms had advanced in the two weeks since our last visit to see Bear Valley wildflowers on 20mar2010, but the blooms were still not at their peak. The flowers had not yet fully opened on this cool, cloudy morning in Bear Valley (elevation 1290 feet). The grey skies and low light were not so good for photography of the flowers that were there.

At the north end of Bear Valley we went east through High Valley (elevation 1453 feet), then down into Oat Valley (elevation 600 feet) & Sacramento Valley (elevation 230) where we found some sunshine and wildflowers. Crossing over into Oat Valley we got some views of the fresh snow on Snow Mountain & St John Mountain.

Entry roads at the south end of Antelope Valley are no longer open, so we went north to enter Antelope Valley at the town of Sites. Antelope Valley (elevation 370 feet) had some good wildflowers. We found some wild mustards that had a nice, strong mustard flavor in the flower buds, so we collected some to take home.

DoubleClick on the photo to see a larger version - use the back button to return.

• Photo 84 - Antelope Valley wildflowers.

Fortunately then we went east over Grapevine Pass (elevation 1800 feet) into Indian Valley (elevation 1280 feet) where we found some incredible wildflower displays near the town of Lodoga, CA.

• Photo 131 - Indian Valley wildflowers - Colusa County.

Then we retraced our path through Bear Valley. After some sun and warmth during midday the flowers were open, the light was better and the clouds had broken up into some dramatic skies. Photographer heaven !!

• Photo 143 - Bear Valley wildflowers - Colusa County.

The afternoon also provided great views of wildflowers in Capay Valley.

• Photo 144 - Capay Valley wildflowers - Yolo County.

• More photos: BRT wildflower photos. JimH wildflower photos.

On the way home we got some excellent tacos from the El Verduzco Taco Truck in Winters, CA. Then we went to Betty Lou's in Vacaville, CA for chips & beer and watched the Sacramento Kings game on the big screen TV.

The mustard flower buds we collected from Antelope Valley added a nice flavor to my scrambled eggs on Sunday.

For more information:
• California Native Plant Society
• Calflora - wild plants of California
• Celebrating Wildflowers - US Forest Service
• California Wildflowers - California Academy of Science
• Wildflower Viewing - Colusa County Resource Conservation District
• California Maps - Atlas & Gazetteer by Delorme, 2008.
• Colusa County Trailheads Map - BRT Insights.
• Bear Creek Recreation & Conservation Directory. (Sort alphabetically. Section 5 = camping & hiking)
• Hiking & Camping Trip Reports - BRT Insights.
• BRT: Olympus Stylus 720SW camera. JimH: Olympus Stylus 850SW camera.
• Photos edited with IrfanView & PanoStitcher softwares.

IceRocket Tags: hiking, Capay Valley, Cache Creek, Yolo County, Bear Creek, Bear Valley, Colusa County, California.
Tags: wildflowers, photography, landscape photography.

Labels: hiking