Gus Wiseman, a student at U.C. Davis, joined me Sunday for an exploration of upper Wildcat Canyon and the Placer Queen Mine. For those who aren't familiar with that area, Wildcat Canyon is a short tributary of the North Fork American which heads up along the Foresthill Divide, east of Robinson Flat. From Auburn one drives northeast through the town of Foresthill a long ways, losing the pavement at Robinson Flat. The sign there tells us that it is 25 miles on to Soda Springs on I-80. The Foresthill-Soda Springs road is often fairly rough over this high country reach. I consider it one of the great drives in California, with wonderful views of the North Fork canyon and the Sierra crest.
A couple miles east of Robinson Flat is the unmarked trail to Sailor Meadow and the Walker Mine. Another couple miles east brings one to the unmarked trail to the Placer Queen Mine, a drift mine near the confluence of the east and west forks of Wildcat Canyon. Sailor Meadow is notable for its large tract of old-growth forest, at about 5600' elevation. This forest, and several wet meadows, inhabit a broad bench or terrace along the east side of Sailor Canyon. Both Sailor Canyon and its neighbor to the east, Wildcat Canyon, are notable for the unusual thickness of the "superjacent" young volcanics lying on top of the vastly older "subjacent" bedrock. The young volcanics are comprised, from the top, down, of the andesitic mudflows of the Mehrten Formation (about 1000' thick here!), the "pink welded tuff" of the Valley Springs Formation, and then, beneath that, more rhyolite ash of the Valley Springs fm. Beneath all these volcanics is at least one old river channel, with gold-bearing gravel, so, in both Sailor and Wildcat canyons, there are various drift mines, where tunnels were driven into the ancient channels.
The underlying bedrock is metamorphic volcaniclastic rocks of the Sailor Canyon and Tuttle Lake formations, which appear to have been deposited in an oceanic environment, before being rotated almost 90 degrees to the east while being smashed up against the western edge of North America in the Jurassic, say, 140 million years ago. So all the strata are "on edge," nearly vertical. This rock was then uplifted and eroded, valleys formed, rivers flowed, then all was buried beneath the "young volcanics," and then, at last, our modern canyons were eroded into all of this, cutting right through the young volcanics, into the subjacent bedrock, and on down below the levels of the ancient, pre-volcanic rivers.
If one is sensitive to the variable thickness of the young volcanics, as seen along the ridges between the modern canyons, one can deduce the presence of the ancient valleys of the ancestral Sierra. Where these valleys were, the young volcanics are thicker than usual. This is especially evident around Sailor Canyon and Wildcat Canyon, where the ridgetops are up around 7000', and the ancient channels down around 5400', so that the exposed section of the volcanics is around 1500 feet thick.
At any rate. I cannot refrain from mentioning one of the most obnoxious timber harvests to take place in Tahoe National Forest in recent years. It went by the name of a "hazard tree removal" along the Foresthill Road, above Robinson Flat. It sounded innocuous enough: if some big old tree is leaning over the road, and might fall, cut it down. However, what actually happened was that, in a broad zone along either side of the road, many large trees were cut, bulldozers scrambled everywhere, log landings were constructed, and the tops of the Sailor Meadow and Placer Queen trails were obliterated. What especially galls me is that this part of the road *was* so especially virginal and lovely, winding narrowly through one of the all-to-rare unlogged parts of Placer County, a forest often dominated by Red Fir, with some Jeffrey Pine and Western White Pine here and there. So, what had been quite palpably virgin forest, often extending for miles to either side, now has the generic appearance of the run-of-the-mill logged forest.
It amounts to petty vandalism on the grand scale.
So, then, Gus and I drove up the Foresthill road, and a little past the side road to Deadwood, an old mining camp, we explored an obscure road on the left which was cut directly into the line of the historic Iowa Hill Ditch. This ditch was constructed in the 1870s, and was projected to take directly from the North Fork, way upriver, not far from the Cedars, and to take also the waters of all the North Fork's southern tributaries: New York Canyon, Sailor Canyon, Wildcat Canyon, Wabena Canyon, etc. Fortunately it was never completed; it ends a little east of Tadpole Canyon, and never reached New York Canyon. We followed the road east for a mile or so; it has been freshly re-graded only this year, and the newly-bulldozed road eventually leaves the line of the ditch and drops towards one of the several drift mines on the north, North Fork side of Hogback Ridge. I have no idea what's afoot down there. It worries me that so much expensive work has been done.
Where the road leaves the ditch, the ditch-road itself continues east, I don't know how far, seemingly in TNF lands, and purposely blocked by a large dead tree and berm of dirt. We walked in a short distance, then returned to the car, drove back to the Foresthill Road, and on up to the Placer Queen Trail. Parenthetically, I have wondered whether this part of the historic Iowa Hill Ditch might form part of the proposed Capitol-to-Capitol Trail. It would certainly make for a beautiful trail; there are some great views out into the North Fork, with Big Valley Bluff almost directly across the canyon, and Snow Mountain to the east.
I had scouted around for the trail down to the Placer Queen several times in years past. The USGS 7.5 minute Royal Gorge quadrangle shows the trail following a ridge crest down into Wildcat Canyon from a point along the road, a little east of Sunflower Hill. This time I stored waypoints for the trailhead and several points along the trail onto my GPS unit, and even with this additional help, it was very hard to find the trail. That wonderful hazard tree removal had done a good job of tearing things up at the trailhead, and what trees which might have carried blazes had been cut. We struck a likely line and started down, but, after a descent of perhaps 150 feet in elevation, when we broke free of the forest onto the crest of a barren little ridge of andesitic mudflow, I saw the true trail beside us, coming down very slightly to the east side of the crest. So, we had missed the uppermost line of the old trail.
Continuing down the mudflow ridge, we saw signs that this trail had actually been a small road in its day, a jeep trail, perhaps, although more likely it long pre-dated jeeps, and was either a wagon road, or a track used by some kind of ancient light truck, or both. Whatever the case, it has not been driven for a long, long time, and is fairly steep. As we passed again into forest, heavy brush buried the trail in places, and we sometimes simply had to veer away into more open terrain, and come back to the trail somewhere below. I had my loppers and was able to open up a few sections of trail.
At last we reached the top of an especially steep and forested section, and completely lost the line of the trail. We scouted back and forth along the hillside below, and picked it up again. This is the lowest, most northerly section depicted on the Royal Gorge quadrangle. The map is in error, for it shows the trail leading straight down the hill to the mine, when in fact it has several switchbacks. It is quite wide, but badly overgrown, and many were the eight-foot branches of Pacific Dogwood, many the small White Firs, I cut away from the trail. We had descended through the entire section of mudflow and were entering the pink welded tuff in particular, and the rhyolite ash of the Valley Springs fm. generally, which formation, almost everywhere in the Sierra, is the source of springs and seeps. Thus the many dogwoods, thus the rich forest of large pines and firs and Douglas Fir and Incense Cedar.
We saw that someone else had lopped branches along the trail, perhaps ten years ago, or more. However, just to follow the trail was quite a challenge, and at one point we succeeded where the previous explorers had failed, for there were no more old lopped branches. Eventually we reached a forested flat--truly flat--where several stumps spoke to the needs of the miners, perhaps for timbering in the tunnel, or for a cabin; but no cabin site was evident.
We rested a very short while, until clouds of mosquitos discovered us, and I began scouting back and forth along the flat terrace. I soon struck an old human trail leading back to the north into the east branch of Wildcat Canyon, so I went and got Gus and we explored along the trail for quite a ways, until it diminished into almost nothing as it neared the creek.
We were just above the point where the creek crossed from the young volcanics upstream into the old bedrock downstream. A moderately large landslide in the weak almost white rhyolite ash flanked the creek on the west side, apparently freshly remobilized and cut by the January 1997 flood event. We were to see several other, similar slide areas in the volcanic ash, in the general area.
We followed the creek down into the bedrock, which looked to be metavolcanics of the Tuttle Lake fm. This is variegated, with layers of pyroclastics, similar to the mudflows of the young volcanics, but all squished and metamorphosed and much harder and denser, and layers of fine-grained dark sediments, sometimes showing tight folds. The creek was charming, a little difficult to follow, and when we reached one deep little pool, of a sort which made one want to swim, I wondered whether a trail might have led to the pool from the mine, saw a terrace just above, and so we climbed back up and scouted the hillside. While we found no particular trail to the pool, we did strike the continuation of the main trail, again, very broad, which I had missed altogether in the large flat with the stumps, somewhere above us.
We followed along in a westerly direction and soon reach the mine residence, a log cabin around twenty feet square, with carefully hewn logs, squared off on the inside, still showing the marks of the broadaxe, and a shingled gable roof. The cabin had collapsed, probably many years ago. There was a fair amount of milled lumber in the thing, too, and an old wood stove, and so one, and all round nails, so, certainly 20th century; but nothing I saw could pinpoint the date of its construction. It might have been as late as the 1930s, maybe even a little later.
We found that the trail continued down and to the west, and followed along. We never found the main tunnel of the mine, although we saw many prospect holes, and did pass one very likely candidate for the tunnel, at least, it looked just as though a large tunnel had collapsed, along with portions of the steep slope above it.
The trail continued. We reached a rather large and steep slide area in the Valley Springs rhyolite ash, with many springs and seeps and dogwoods and alders along its base, lost the trail, and eventually emerged on a steep bank above the west fork of Wildcat Canyon. Here we decided to cross the creek and strike west and north on a contour, towards Sailor Meadow. If the going got too rough, we could always retreat to the Placer Queen.
Looking for an easy place to make the steep 100' descent to the creek, I saw what seemed like a continuation of the old trail, and joked to Gus that I was always seeing old trails, whether they existed or not. We followed it down and looked for a way up the far side; only one good possibility presented itself, and after a bit of a scramble, we were on steep heavily forested slopes, and immediately struck an unequivocal old human trail.
It was easy to lop the obstructions away, as the trail made an easy climb to the northwest. Soon we topped out on a small ridge, which at first I mistook for the main divide between Wildcat and Sailor canyons. A large flat lay just west, and we were unable to pick up the line of trail across the flat. Huge Sugar Pines and White Firs towered everywhere, with many fallen giants making for an intricate sequence of climbing and jumping and weaving back and forth.
Checking my Royal Gorge quadrangle, I saw that, as is often the case, this large flat area was not well expressed on the map, and that we must be a quarter-mile away from the divide. We contoured along and climbed a little, unwillingly, for my sense of location indicated we were on a perfect elevation to feather right in to the level part of the divide, where the long narrow pond lies, and the unmarked trail west to Sailor Meadow breaks west from the trail on down to the Walker Mine. I was sure that the old human trail must continue to the Sailor Meadow-Walker Mine Trail, but I saw no sign of it.
Our broad flat had narrowed to a terrace, and that in turn ended on steep brushy slopes which forced us still higher. We struck the main trail a scant hundred feet above the level reach by the narrow pond, and crossed right over to the west, circling around the north side of large and lush Sailor Meadow, then around the west side to the Indian grinding rock, and the old stockman's camp; for someone had grazed cattle here, once upon a time.
The ancient forest around Sailor Meadow is so very lovely, so amazing. Just west of the stockman's camp is a grove of tremendous Ponderosa Pines which range towards eight feet in diameter. Gigantic Sugar Pines are everywhere, along with huge White Firs and Incense Cedars. The largest Douglas Fir I have seen in the Sierra, maybe ten feet in diameter, is somewhere to the north; I have passed it twice in years past, wandering the broad terrace, over a mile long, but have been unable to find it again in the past two years.
A breeze blew up and scared the mosquitos away, and made the aspens tremble, and billowing cloud castles half-filled the sky, and distant thunder was heard, while we rested and ate a late lunch. Around 3:30 p.m. we started up and out, following the Sailor Meadow-Walker Mine Trail up the divide, a climb of about 1500 feet, to the Foresthill Road. This we followed east to Sunflower Hill, and then took a shortcut, contouring around the steep north side of Sunflower, which faces into Wildcat Canyon, and merging with the road again a half-mile to the east. We were a scant hundred yards from the car.
During the long drive down to Auburn, Gus fell asleep while I rattled on about the Placer County Big Trees and William Lardner's ~1925 expedition. So I held my peace and drove and drove and at last we reached Auburn and stopped in at the Shanghai for supper, where I chatted a little with my friend, the genial Richard Yue, proprietor. A blues band was revving it up nicely to an appreciative audience on the outdoors terrace, but Gus and I stayed tamely inside and listened to a strange old player piano execute jazzified versions of jazz standards like "Green Dolphin Street" and "When Sunny Gets Blue," both favorites of mine, which I play on guitar and piano. The food was fine.
Such was another day exploring the upper North Fork, with so many great views of Snow Mountain, and Devils Peak, Sugar Pine Point, and the many side-canyons, all made more dramatic by cloud shadows drifting slowly over the cliffs and forests.
Monday, August 4, 2003
Friday, August 1, 2003
Lost Camp Update
I have found that the timber harvest planned near the Lost Camp townsite is part of a 590-acre harvest plan spanning sections 22, 23, and 24, on land seemingly owned by Andrew and Sharon Siller, in some way related to the Siller Brothers Lumber Co.
The period for pubic comment on this plan ended June 30, 2003.
In speaking with a CDF employee, I found that, in theory, they are supposed to protect old trails from the effects of timber harvests.
I also found that an archeological database at Sac State is used to see whether prehistoric or historic sites (including trails) will be impacted by any harvest plan. I have little doubt but that this database is seriously flawed, since, years and years ago, the person in charge of the database, whom I will not name, flatly refused to record the existence of the ancient Indian hunting blinds I discovered on top of Snow Mountain. She suggested they might be house sites! At 8000' elevation!
There may be some slight chance of influencing this harvest plan, for, if an undocumented archeological site is discovered within the harvest area, operations must stop while a CDF archeologist devises mitigation measures.
Sites I observed today included at least one building site, one orchard, three or more mining ditches, two mining reservoirs, and, largely erased by prior logging, one trail.
The period for pubic comment on this plan ended June 30, 2003.
In speaking with a CDF employee, I found that, in theory, they are supposed to protect old trails from the effects of timber harvests.
I also found that an archeological database at Sac State is used to see whether prehistoric or historic sites (including trails) will be impacted by any harvest plan. I have little doubt but that this database is seriously flawed, since, years and years ago, the person in charge of the database, whom I will not name, flatly refused to record the existence of the ancient Indian hunting blinds I discovered on top of Snow Mountain. She suggested they might be house sites! At 8000' elevation!
There may be some slight chance of influencing this harvest plan, for, if an undocumented archeological site is discovered within the harvest area, operations must stop while a CDF archeologist devises mitigation measures.
Sites I observed today included at least one building site, one orchard, three or more mining ditches, two mining reservoirs, and, largely erased by prior logging, one trail.
Lost Camp: Good News, Bad News
This morning, early, I made a dash up to Blue Canyon and drove through Lost Camp to the top of the China Trail. There is no obstruction on the road, contrary to the report I received yesterday. So, that's the good news.
The bad news is that many trees are marked for a timber harvest in the vicinity of the townsite, and that some private parcels in the area are "for sale," and that there is no immediate prospect for Tahoe National Forest or the Placer Legacy to step into the breach and try to acquire these private lands, near the townsite and trailhead.
For those who do not know of Lost Camp and the China Trail, well, Lost Camp was a hydraulic mining town established in 1858. It is roughly south of Blue Canyon, and is on top of the ridge dividing Blue Canyon, the stream, from the North Fork of the North Fork. Lost Camp is in Section 23, T16N, R11E. Directions to reach Lost Camp and the China Trail are as follows.
From the Blue Canyon exit on eastbound I-80, set your odometer to zero, and turn sharply right onto a paved road leading back to the west. This is Blue Canyon Road.
In ~.4 miles, pass paved Airport Road on the right, leading to the Blue Canyon airport. Blue Canyon Road descends steadily, crosses the creek, and at ~2.0 miles, a paved road forks left, towards and past some houses. The pavement ends shortly and a dirt road continues. In another ~.5 miles a road forks left; stay to the right. The railroad is reached at approximately 2.9 miles. The road crosses the tracks near where the old Bradley & Gardner Ditch, or Placer County Canal, itself crossed the tracks, on its way to Dutch Flat and Gold Run. This major mining ditch pre-dates the railroad.
Immediately after crossing the tracks, a road forks left, which has been recently widened. Stay right. At ~3.0 miles a log deck is passed and at ~3.1 miles another road forks left--stay right--, while on the right is a small cabin-like structure with "no trespassing" signs. At ~3.5 miles a wrecked car is on the left. Roads fork to left and right, and a group of larger, older Ponderosa Pines is on the right, with a hunters' deer-dressing pipe embedded between two pines. The road to the right leads past the west part of the townsite to the largest hydraulic pit. That to the left leads to the east part of the townsite, where an old orchard still exists.
The main road goes straight. At ~3.6 miles a gulch is crossed and hydraulic mining banks are visible nearby. At ~3.8 miles the main Lost Camp Divide Road breaks away to the right, while the road to the trailhead goes straight. At ~3.9 miles, a small road forks steeply down to the left to the trailhead, which is just out of view. There is a parking area about fifty yards or so back to the north. There are no signs.
This trail descends to the North Fork of the North Fork American, and not too long ago, crossed the river and climbed up Sawtooth Ridge to the south. However, on the Sawtooth Ridge side it has been obliterated by logging. I published the diary of a man named Isaac Tibbetts Coffin who lived over near Texas Hill and Burnett Canyon from 1858 until 1864, and he often used this trail to walk to Dutch Flat, by way of Lost Camp, and also, mule trains used to bring provisions to Texas Hill and Monumental Camp, from Dutch Flat, on this trail.
Coffin always refers to it as the "trail to Lost Camp." I do not know when or why it became known as the China Trail, or the China Bar Trail. Coffin does mention that, in 1864, Chinese miners from Dutch Flat were scouting the entire area, and looking to buy mining claims.
The China Trail begins in the private lands in Section 23 but quickly passes into Tahoe National Forest lands, in Section 24 to the east.
This trail shows on the 1866 General Land Office map, as does the road to Lost Camp. As it descends to the river it roughly parallels a ravine marked "Texas Ca–on" on my 1866 map. This map also shows a trail leading east from Lost Camp, marked as "Trail to Monumental Camp," and another trail leading west, from somewhat south of Lost Camp, into Blue Canyon.
After driving to the trailhead, I turned back, drove to the townsite, parked near the wrecked car and old pines, and tried to find the "Trail to Monumental Camp."
Monumental Camp would seem to have been near the confluence of Monumental Creek and the East Fork of the North Fork of the North Fork. Coffin mentions several residents of Monumental Camp, who would come and visit him at Texas Hill or at his other cabin down in Burnett Canyon.
At any rate, scouting east on the small road, I passed the old orchard and reached the remnants of a cabin. Some mining occurred at Lost Camp during the Depression, but I have been unable to discover anything about this era. The structure I saw probably dates from that time. In the vicinity are a number of old mining ditches, mining reservoirs, and deep gullies left by minor hydraulic mining, of the sort they called "ground sluicing." The area has been logged again and again and no old trees remain which might have held blazes.
Unfortunately, the larger 3rd-growth trees which are there now are all marked with blue spray paint, and all kinds of flagging is scattered through the forest.
I struck the line of one of the many old mining ditches and followed it through a ravine, then saw an old human trail leading down, followed it, struck another ditch, in this case, with flagging marking it as a skid trail, and finally broke out onto an ugly bulldozed skid trail thing, with a bulldozed flat just above me. This I took to be a building site on one of the parcels now for sale. The ditch had been erased, and I was far from my car.
The route I had followed seemed a plausible fit for the Trail to Monumental Camp, but to determine the issue I would have to cross to the ridge between Texas Canyon and Fulda Creek, a ways east, and pick up the trail over there, and follow it back to Lost Camp, if possible.
The China Trail is quite special. A descent of around 1300 feet brings you to the river. Several old camping terraces are in the area. I almost always see tremendous numbers of ladybugs there, in fact, I call it the Ladybug Capital of the Universe. The river is lovely. However, the most wonderful, the most incredible thing, is the gorge which is hidden from view just a little ways upstream.
This is a Gorge of Many Gorges, riddled with waterfalls, a Confluence of Canyons, I don't quite know what to call it, but in a very short distance many streams are joined: Texas Canyon, Fulda Creek, Sailor Ravine and the North Fork of the North Fork itself, which is a hanging valley with respect to the main gorge, said main gorge aligning more closely with the East Fork of the North Fork of the North Fork. And add to all these streams Burnett Canyon and Wilmont Ravine.
The main gorge is awesome, with cliffs of the Shoo Fly Complex metasediments soaring above, in many blocky overhangs, so that, sitting on some outcrop or boulder down on the river, and looking up, I often get dizzy and disoriented. It is fairly difficult to ascend the river into the gorge. Some of the waterfalls, some of the best and highest waterfalls, are just off the main gorge, in the side canyons, and they too are difficult to reach.
It is really one of the most beautiful places in Tahoe National Forest.
We must find a way for Tahoe National Forest to purchase some of these private inholdings. However, TNF does not seem to appreciate the importance of this area, and the China Trail. I cannot help but think that, for the TNF staff in Nevada City, this area is far out of sight, and therefore far out of mind.
The bad news is that many trees are marked for a timber harvest in the vicinity of the townsite, and that some private parcels in the area are "for sale," and that there is no immediate prospect for Tahoe National Forest or the Placer Legacy to step into the breach and try to acquire these private lands, near the townsite and trailhead.
For those who do not know of Lost Camp and the China Trail, well, Lost Camp was a hydraulic mining town established in 1858. It is roughly south of Blue Canyon, and is on top of the ridge dividing Blue Canyon, the stream, from the North Fork of the North Fork. Lost Camp is in Section 23, T16N, R11E. Directions to reach Lost Camp and the China Trail are as follows.
From the Blue Canyon exit on eastbound I-80, set your odometer to zero, and turn sharply right onto a paved road leading back to the west. This is Blue Canyon Road.
In ~.4 miles, pass paved Airport Road on the right, leading to the Blue Canyon airport. Blue Canyon Road descends steadily, crosses the creek, and at ~2.0 miles, a paved road forks left, towards and past some houses. The pavement ends shortly and a dirt road continues. In another ~.5 miles a road forks left; stay to the right. The railroad is reached at approximately 2.9 miles. The road crosses the tracks near where the old Bradley & Gardner Ditch, or Placer County Canal, itself crossed the tracks, on its way to Dutch Flat and Gold Run. This major mining ditch pre-dates the railroad.
Immediately after crossing the tracks, a road forks left, which has been recently widened. Stay right. At ~3.0 miles a log deck is passed and at ~3.1 miles another road forks left--stay right--, while on the right is a small cabin-like structure with "no trespassing" signs. At ~3.5 miles a wrecked car is on the left. Roads fork to left and right, and a group of larger, older Ponderosa Pines is on the right, with a hunters' deer-dressing pipe embedded between two pines. The road to the right leads past the west part of the townsite to the largest hydraulic pit. That to the left leads to the east part of the townsite, where an old orchard still exists.
The main road goes straight. At ~3.6 miles a gulch is crossed and hydraulic mining banks are visible nearby. At ~3.8 miles the main Lost Camp Divide Road breaks away to the right, while the road to the trailhead goes straight. At ~3.9 miles, a small road forks steeply down to the left to the trailhead, which is just out of view. There is a parking area about fifty yards or so back to the north. There are no signs.
This trail descends to the North Fork of the North Fork American, and not too long ago, crossed the river and climbed up Sawtooth Ridge to the south. However, on the Sawtooth Ridge side it has been obliterated by logging. I published the diary of a man named Isaac Tibbetts Coffin who lived over near Texas Hill and Burnett Canyon from 1858 until 1864, and he often used this trail to walk to Dutch Flat, by way of Lost Camp, and also, mule trains used to bring provisions to Texas Hill and Monumental Camp, from Dutch Flat, on this trail.
Coffin always refers to it as the "trail to Lost Camp." I do not know when or why it became known as the China Trail, or the China Bar Trail. Coffin does mention that, in 1864, Chinese miners from Dutch Flat were scouting the entire area, and looking to buy mining claims.
The China Trail begins in the private lands in Section 23 but quickly passes into Tahoe National Forest lands, in Section 24 to the east.
This trail shows on the 1866 General Land Office map, as does the road to Lost Camp. As it descends to the river it roughly parallels a ravine marked "Texas Ca–on" on my 1866 map. This map also shows a trail leading east from Lost Camp, marked as "Trail to Monumental Camp," and another trail leading west, from somewhat south of Lost Camp, into Blue Canyon.
After driving to the trailhead, I turned back, drove to the townsite, parked near the wrecked car and old pines, and tried to find the "Trail to Monumental Camp."
Monumental Camp would seem to have been near the confluence of Monumental Creek and the East Fork of the North Fork of the North Fork. Coffin mentions several residents of Monumental Camp, who would come and visit him at Texas Hill or at his other cabin down in Burnett Canyon.
At any rate, scouting east on the small road, I passed the old orchard and reached the remnants of a cabin. Some mining occurred at Lost Camp during the Depression, but I have been unable to discover anything about this era. The structure I saw probably dates from that time. In the vicinity are a number of old mining ditches, mining reservoirs, and deep gullies left by minor hydraulic mining, of the sort they called "ground sluicing." The area has been logged again and again and no old trees remain which might have held blazes.
Unfortunately, the larger 3rd-growth trees which are there now are all marked with blue spray paint, and all kinds of flagging is scattered through the forest.
I struck the line of one of the many old mining ditches and followed it through a ravine, then saw an old human trail leading down, followed it, struck another ditch, in this case, with flagging marking it as a skid trail, and finally broke out onto an ugly bulldozed skid trail thing, with a bulldozed flat just above me. This I took to be a building site on one of the parcels now for sale. The ditch had been erased, and I was far from my car.
The route I had followed seemed a plausible fit for the Trail to Monumental Camp, but to determine the issue I would have to cross to the ridge between Texas Canyon and Fulda Creek, a ways east, and pick up the trail over there, and follow it back to Lost Camp, if possible.
The China Trail is quite special. A descent of around 1300 feet brings you to the river. Several old camping terraces are in the area. I almost always see tremendous numbers of ladybugs there, in fact, I call it the Ladybug Capital of the Universe. The river is lovely. However, the most wonderful, the most incredible thing, is the gorge which is hidden from view just a little ways upstream.
This is a Gorge of Many Gorges, riddled with waterfalls, a Confluence of Canyons, I don't quite know what to call it, but in a very short distance many streams are joined: Texas Canyon, Fulda Creek, Sailor Ravine and the North Fork of the North Fork itself, which is a hanging valley with respect to the main gorge, said main gorge aligning more closely with the East Fork of the North Fork of the North Fork. And add to all these streams Burnett Canyon and Wilmont Ravine.
The main gorge is awesome, with cliffs of the Shoo Fly Complex metasediments soaring above, in many blocky overhangs, so that, sitting on some outcrop or boulder down on the river, and looking up, I often get dizzy and disoriented. It is fairly difficult to ascend the river into the gorge. Some of the waterfalls, some of the best and highest waterfalls, are just off the main gorge, in the side canyons, and they too are difficult to reach.
It is really one of the most beautiful places in Tahoe National Forest.
We must find a way for Tahoe National Forest to purchase some of these private inholdings. However, TNF does not seem to appreciate the importance of this area, and the China Trail. I cannot help but think that, for the TNF staff in Nevada City, this area is far out of sight, and therefore far out of mind.
Wednesday, July 30, 2003
Re: Public Access: Lost?
Hi Bill, you wrote,
The historic trails can and should be protected from project effects under
NHPA. Do you have any particlar concerns within the Blue Canyon Project
area?
Yes, as mentioned in my recent letter, to District Ranger Vivian Kee, of about May 15. I mentioned the China Trail, the Bradley & Gardner Ditch, etc.
As to historic trails not in project areas, but that are being impacted by
various agents, we do have a responsiblity to address those situations. I
would like to get map locations of the trails you are concerned with and
work w/David Michaels to try and address the problems you are bringing to
our attention. From a heritage resources persprective it would be
important for me to get the historic trails on our hertitage resources
atlas as a first step in trying to protect them. David might be able to
get out in the field with you.
Most of these trails are depicted on your own TNF maps! This partly why my friends and I are so amazed and horrified by the *complete obliteration* of one trail after another! And, so far as timber harvests on private lands, you guys at TNF review and sign off on every such harvest plan within the broader outlines of TNF, right?
I would be more than happy, I would be ecstatic, to help identify these absolutely precious, historic trails. My friends and I sometimes GPS these trails. I can draw many of them in on maps. Heck, many are already on the TNF special 7.5 minute topographic maps. These once formed a large interconnected network of trails. Don't forget, among all these many historic trails is the one which goes through the Rawhide Mine up to Sawtooth Ridge. Suppose this one trail was still open to the public, as it should be. One could walk from Iron Point to Big Valley Bluff, Loch Leven Lakes, Devils Peak, and on to Cascade Lake and Soda Springs--that is, if the intervening trails had not been obliterated.
Currently we are working on trail development in Burlington Ridge area. We
are developing RR grades and ditches as trails. What has happened is that
members of the public have pioneered bike and motorbike trails, some of
which have impacted the grades and ditches, or are poorly engineered, and
we are trying to get the situation under control. Also we are planning
alterations to Loch Leven Trail. If you have concerns in these areas let
me know. I realize this is a different issue than the one you raise about
historic trails.
I absolutely hate the new Loch Leven Trail! What was wrong with the old one? The new one is in extremely bad repair, and is even dangerous to walk on in places; I was on it Monday, to my regret. I refer to the section between old Hwy. 40 and the railroad.
Thanks so much for taking the time to consider these issues, Bill, I greatly appreciate it.
Sincerely,
Russell Towle
The historic trails can and should be protected from project effects under
NHPA. Do you have any particlar concerns within the Blue Canyon Project
area?
Yes, as mentioned in my recent letter, to District Ranger Vivian Kee, of about May 15. I mentioned the China Trail, the Bradley & Gardner Ditch, etc.
As to historic trails not in project areas, but that are being impacted by
various agents, we do have a responsiblity to address those situations. I
would like to get map locations of the trails you are concerned with and
work w/David Michaels to try and address the problems you are bringing to
our attention. From a heritage resources persprective it would be
important for me to get the historic trails on our hertitage resources
atlas as a first step in trying to protect them. David might be able to
get out in the field with you.
Most of these trails are depicted on your own TNF maps! This partly why my friends and I are so amazed and horrified by the *complete obliteration* of one trail after another! And, so far as timber harvests on private lands, you guys at TNF review and sign off on every such harvest plan within the broader outlines of TNF, right?
I would be more than happy, I would be ecstatic, to help identify these absolutely precious, historic trails. My friends and I sometimes GPS these trails. I can draw many of them in on maps. Heck, many are already on the TNF special 7.5 minute topographic maps. These once formed a large interconnected network of trails. Don't forget, among all these many historic trails is the one which goes through the Rawhide Mine up to Sawtooth Ridge. Suppose this one trail was still open to the public, as it should be. One could walk from Iron Point to Big Valley Bluff, Loch Leven Lakes, Devils Peak, and on to Cascade Lake and Soda Springs--that is, if the intervening trails had not been obliterated.
Currently we are working on trail development in Burlington Ridge area. We
are developing RR grades and ditches as trails. What has happened is that
members of the public have pioneered bike and motorbike trails, some of
which have impacted the grades and ditches, or are poorly engineered, and
we are trying to get the situation under control. Also we are planning
alterations to Loch Leven Trail. If you have concerns in these areas let
me know. I realize this is a different issue than the one you raise about
historic trails.
I absolutely hate the new Loch Leven Trail! What was wrong with the old one? The new one is in extremely bad repair, and is even dangerous to walk on in places; I was on it Monday, to my regret. I refer to the section between old Hwy. 40 and the railroad.
Thanks so much for taking the time to consider these issues, Bill, I greatly appreciate it.
Sincerely,
Russell Towle
Public Access: Lost?
For several years now I have been urging Tahoe National Forest to try to acquire the private lands at the head of the trail from Lost Camp down to the North Fork of the North Fork American. This trail, in Section 23, T16N, R11E, quickly passes onto TNF lands as it proceeds south to the river. It is sometimes called the China Trail, or the China Bar Trail. It used to continue up the other side of the North Fork of the North Fork to Sawtooth Ridge, with one branch bearing east to Burnett Canyon, the other south to Helester Point, I believe, but over the past thirty years that area has been heavily logged, and that part of the old trail destroyed.
It is still intact on the Lost Camp side of the river.
This trail is depicted on the 1962 TNF map of the Foresthill and Big Bend ranger districts. It is also one of the sixty-odd trails declared to be public trails in the famous 1953 Placer County Board of Supervisors' ordinance. The Lost Camp part of the trail is also shown on the USGS 7.5 minute Westville quadrangle.
I am not aware that Forest Supervisor Steven Eubanks has ever responded to my letters regarding this trail.
Today I learned from someone who hiked the China Trail last year, and tried to reach the trail today, that the road down to Lost Camp and the trailhead is now gated closed.
This, if true, is intolerable.
I wonder whether, when CDF approves timber harvests, or TNF plans and approves timber harvests, which absolutely ruin and obliterate historic trails,--I wonder in what way such actions can be considered consistent with NEPA or CEQA.
It is still intact on the Lost Camp side of the river.
This trail is depicted on the 1962 TNF map of the Foresthill and Big Bend ranger districts. It is also one of the sixty-odd trails declared to be public trails in the famous 1953 Placer County Board of Supervisors' ordinance. The Lost Camp part of the trail is also shown on the USGS 7.5 minute Westville quadrangle.
I am not aware that Forest Supervisor Steven Eubanks has ever responded to my letters regarding this trail.
Today I learned from someone who hiked the China Trail last year, and tried to reach the trail today, that the road down to Lost Camp and the trailhead is now gated closed.
This, if true, is intolerable.
I wonder whether, when CDF approves timber harvests, or TNF plans and approves timber harvests, which absolutely ruin and obliterate historic trails,--I wonder in what way such actions can be considered consistent with NEPA or CEQA.
Public Access: Lost?
For several years now I have been urging Tahoe National Forest to try to acquire the private lands at the head of the trail from Lost Camp down to the North Fork of the North Fork American. This trail, in Section 23, T16N, R11E, quickly passes onto TNF lands as it proceeds south to the river. It is sometimes called the China Trail, or the China Bar Trail. It used to continue up the other side of the North Fork of the North Fork to Sawtooth Ridge, with one branch bearing east to Burnett Canyon, the other south to Helester Point, I believe, but over the past thirty years that area has been heavily logged, and that part of the old trail destroyed.
It is still intact on the Lost Camp side of the river.
This trail is depicted on the 1962 TNF map of the Foresthill and Big Bend ranger districts. It is also one of the sixty-odd trails declared to be public trails in the famous 1953 Placer County Board of Supervisors' ordinance. The Lost Camp part of the trail is also shown on the USGS 7.5 minute Westville quadrangle.
I am not aware that Forest Supervisor Steven Eubanks has ever responded to my letters regarding this trail.
Today I learned from someone who hiked the China Trail last year, and tried to reach the trail today, that the road down to Lost Camp and the trailhead is now gated closed.
This, if true, is intolerable.
I wonder whether, when CDF approves timber harvests, or TNF plans and approves timber harvests, which absolutely ruin and obliterate historic trails,--I wonder in what way such actions can be considered consistent with NEPA or CEQA.
It is still intact on the Lost Camp side of the river.
This trail is depicted on the 1962 TNF map of the Foresthill and Big Bend ranger districts. It is also one of the sixty-odd trails declared to be public trails in the famous 1953 Placer County Board of Supervisors' ordinance. The Lost Camp part of the trail is also shown on the USGS 7.5 minute Westville quadrangle.
I am not aware that Forest Supervisor Steven Eubanks has ever responded to my letters regarding this trail.
Today I learned from someone who hiked the China Trail last year, and tried to reach the trail today, that the road down to Lost Camp and the trailhead is now gated closed.
This, if true, is intolerable.
I wonder whether, when CDF approves timber harvests, or TNF plans and approves timber harvests, which absolutely ruin and obliterate historic trails,--I wonder in what way such actions can be considered consistent with NEPA or CEQA.
Glaciers; Another Abandoned TNF Trail
On Sunday I joined a field trip led by geologist Allan James ("AJ") as part of the INQUA 2003 conference in Reno. INQUA stands for INternational QUAternary Research Association. Members are engaged in active research bearing upon Pleistocene glaciations and climate fluctuations. The Pleistocene is considered to have begun around 1.75 million years ago, and to have ended a scant 12,000 years ago. Quite a number of glacial advances and retreats occurred. Then the climate warmed, the glaciers receded, and all this warmer period down to the present time is called the Holocene. Since there have been many such warm spells during the Pleistocene, there is nothing to suggest that the cycles of glaciations have actually ended; we are likely just in one more "interglacial" period.
At any rate, AJ has been mapping glacial moraines and till deposits in the upper Bear and South Yuba river basins for the past ten years. He is a professor back East and comes out here every summer to camp up in Rattlesnake Canyon, north of Cisco Grove, and wander the hills, GPS unit in hand, recording glacial features. The most easily recognized of these features derive from the last major glaciation, which in the Sierra is called the Tioga episode.
Around thirty-five people from all over the world were on the field trip. We began at Big Bend, then stopped at a hilltop overlook near Nyack, with fine views of Bear Valley and the Yuba Gorge. From there we drove west to Drum Forebay and caught the old Pacific Turnpike, a road from Dutch Flat to Virginia City, and followed it east into Bear Valley, stopping to examine a moraine deposit which AJ considers to predate the Tioga.
Now, I happen to disagree with AJ about the extent of the Tioga ice; he imagines Tioga ice to be smaller in areal coverage, and thinner, while I see it as somewhat larger and thicker. At every stop we would pile out of the vans and SUVs and AJ would explain this or that. Then I would sidle forward and disagree with most of what he had said. He tolerated this with amazing good grace.
We visited the Yuba Gorge, where the divide between the Bear and South Yuba has been reduced to a low ridge of polished rock of the Shoo Fly Complex. Here, as in many other places, ice from the South Yuba basin overflowed to the south, and broke down the dividing ridge. We then drove up to Rattlesnake Canyon and on to Fordyce Summit, where we visited a moraine AJ regards as especially significant. I offered my usual rebuttal, and then a thunderstorm drove us into the cars. It evolved into a knock-down, drag-out storm of epic proportion, lightning striking everywhere, deafening thunder following immediately after the brilliant flashes, and a truly torrential downpour of rain and hail, which made instant rivers of the dusty roads.
We waited it out and found another high vista point as the skies cleared a little and sunshine broke through. We could see the Sierra crest from Castle Peak down to the Crystal Range, Devils Peak, Snow Mountain, Duncan peak, Cisco Butte, Black Mountain, etc. etc.
We then enjoyed a picnic of wine and beer and crackers and cheese, high on the slopes of Red Mountain; conversation intensified, and debates ripened. I met many geologists, from Germany, Sweden, China, and elsewhere, and was able to learn a little about their own special areas of research. It was a great day.
On Monday I met Ron Gould for an attempt to find and follow an old Tahoe National Forest trail, from Big Bend to Devils Peak and Snow Mountain. We were hoping for a repeat of Sunday's rain, but, although cumulonimbus clouds did blossom, rain was confined to the crest and points east.
We popped into the Big Bend Ranger Station for a quick look at a 1916 map of Tahoe National Forest, which shows many but not all of the historic trails, and marks out areas as "Good Camping Ground" or "Deer" or "Grouse." Among the trails is the historic public trail from the Old Soda Springs Road down the North Fork to Heath Springs.
We had great difficulty, in fact, we failed, in locating the line of the trail on the north, Big Bend side of the railroad. We stumbled along, sweating, on a possible route, littered with logging slash, on an eastward bearing, and as we drew near to the tracks a lone duck appeared. We climbed to the tracks, crossed into a valley leading to a pass we saw as the most likely route, and began scouting back and forth, high and low, for the old trail. After perhaps twenty minutes we found it, marked by blazes on the trees. Soon it became quite well-defined, with many blazes and ducks, and the occasional brushy areas were usually easily passed.
The trail climbed in switchbacks across an open area of glaciated granite, where some blasting had taken place, way back when, to construct or improve the trail. It was by all appearances a large trail, a major trail. It looked as though it had seen fairly heavy use by horses and pack animals, long ago. However, when it passed east into Section 35, T17N, R13E--presumably, being odd-numbered, an old "railroad" section, part of the many many thousands of acres of public land given to the Central Pacific Railroad in the 1860s--the trail became almost impossible to follow.
It was the same old story: heavy logging, with bulldozers scrambling every which way across the terrain, had utterly obliterated the trail. Most of the trees which had borne blazes had been cut down. With great difficulty we continued east, often losing, but always eventually regaining, the line of the old trail. We saw signs, high on the trees, marking the Royal Gorge Co.'s ski trail to Rainbow Lodge. Everything seemed to suggest that this Section 35 was a railroad section which had passed into the ownership of the Royal Gorge Co., but, strangely, it is marked as TNF land on the "big" TNF map. On my special TNF 7.5-minute quadrangle, however, it is marked as private land. Neither map depicts the historic trail to Devils Peak from Big Bend.
At a certain point the trail coincided with a logging road, as evidenced by occasional blazes on roadside trees. This road-with-blazes led us to the northeast corner of Section 35, and into the southeast corner of Section 26 to the north, where two small glacial ponds are nestled in the forest. Continuing, we passed into Section 25 to the east, and stopped for a rest.
I suggested that a side trail must have led more to the south, into a pass between the South Yuba and North Fork of the American, where Nancy Lake is located. This pass is one of many carved by South Yuba ice flowing south into the depths of the North Fork canyon, here, by way of Big Granite Creek. We scouted east through rather hopelessly torn-up terrain, the legacy of logging, without finding anything.
On the way back we were able to recovered a few new strands of the historic trail, including its exact approach to the railroad, but lost it again as we traversed a high knoll of granite, somewhat over 6200' in elevation, due east of Big Bend. We were puzzled by two half-inch cables running up the north face of the knoll. Reaching Ron's truck, we had tallied up something like seven or eight miles on our hike.
However, the story of this old trail continues.
On Tuesday, I visited Eric and Paula Peach in Auburn, and asked Eric about some trails depicted on the "big" TNF map, in the North Fork canyon, near Lake Clementine, Ponderosa Bridge, and points upstream. Eric has a fine collection of maps. As he pawed through his neatly-rolled trove, I spotted an old-style TNF map, and pulled it out.
It was the 1962 TNF map of the Foresthill and Big Bend ranger districts. And there, plain as day, was the old trail from Big Bend to Devils Peak. It showed that, while crossing Section 35, the trail followed a slightly higher line than the road we had walked, and turned south into, and then north, out of, the very pass inhabited by Nancy Lake, before climbing to join the line of the road leading south to Devils Peak from Troy, at the north boundary of Section 6, T16N, R14E.
The map also solved the mystery of the half-inch cables on Knoll 6200; a tiny ski area had been there.
I immediately began poring over this 1962 map with a magnifying glass. I believe I once had my own copy of this map, thirty years ago. Some very intriguing trails were depicted, which I had never realized existed. Like the Big Bend-Devils Peak-Snow Mountain Trail, these trails no longer appear on TNF maps. One such followed the historic Iowa Hill Canal east from Beacroft Trail, past Tadpole Canyon, to the very terminus of the ditch. Another showed a variation upon the route of the Wabena Trail; rather than crossing Wabena Creek and following the east bank down to the North Fork, the trail was shown following the west bank down, and then paralleling the North Fork itself for a mile or so to the west. This lower reach of the trail is exactly that which Ron, my son Greg, and I followed on our recent visit to the Royal Gorge.
This 1962 map also showed the very same historic public trail registered on the 1916 map, from Old Soda Springs Road down the North Fork to Heath Springs. This wonderful trail has been closed to the public (illegally, I would say) for quite a few years now. I had the good fortune to hike it once, in 1979.
Eric kindly provided me with a copy of this 1962 TNF map.
At any rate, AJ has been mapping glacial moraines and till deposits in the upper Bear and South Yuba river basins for the past ten years. He is a professor back East and comes out here every summer to camp up in Rattlesnake Canyon, north of Cisco Grove, and wander the hills, GPS unit in hand, recording glacial features. The most easily recognized of these features derive from the last major glaciation, which in the Sierra is called the Tioga episode.
Around thirty-five people from all over the world were on the field trip. We began at Big Bend, then stopped at a hilltop overlook near Nyack, with fine views of Bear Valley and the Yuba Gorge. From there we drove west to Drum Forebay and caught the old Pacific Turnpike, a road from Dutch Flat to Virginia City, and followed it east into Bear Valley, stopping to examine a moraine deposit which AJ considers to predate the Tioga.
Now, I happen to disagree with AJ about the extent of the Tioga ice; he imagines Tioga ice to be smaller in areal coverage, and thinner, while I see it as somewhat larger and thicker. At every stop we would pile out of the vans and SUVs and AJ would explain this or that. Then I would sidle forward and disagree with most of what he had said. He tolerated this with amazing good grace.
We visited the Yuba Gorge, where the divide between the Bear and South Yuba has been reduced to a low ridge of polished rock of the Shoo Fly Complex. Here, as in many other places, ice from the South Yuba basin overflowed to the south, and broke down the dividing ridge. We then drove up to Rattlesnake Canyon and on to Fordyce Summit, where we visited a moraine AJ regards as especially significant. I offered my usual rebuttal, and then a thunderstorm drove us into the cars. It evolved into a knock-down, drag-out storm of epic proportion, lightning striking everywhere, deafening thunder following immediately after the brilliant flashes, and a truly torrential downpour of rain and hail, which made instant rivers of the dusty roads.
We waited it out and found another high vista point as the skies cleared a little and sunshine broke through. We could see the Sierra crest from Castle Peak down to the Crystal Range, Devils Peak, Snow Mountain, Duncan peak, Cisco Butte, Black Mountain, etc. etc.
We then enjoyed a picnic of wine and beer and crackers and cheese, high on the slopes of Red Mountain; conversation intensified, and debates ripened. I met many geologists, from Germany, Sweden, China, and elsewhere, and was able to learn a little about their own special areas of research. It was a great day.
On Monday I met Ron Gould for an attempt to find and follow an old Tahoe National Forest trail, from Big Bend to Devils Peak and Snow Mountain. We were hoping for a repeat of Sunday's rain, but, although cumulonimbus clouds did blossom, rain was confined to the crest and points east.
We popped into the Big Bend Ranger Station for a quick look at a 1916 map of Tahoe National Forest, which shows many but not all of the historic trails, and marks out areas as "Good Camping Ground" or "Deer" or "Grouse." Among the trails is the historic public trail from the Old Soda Springs Road down the North Fork to Heath Springs.
We had great difficulty, in fact, we failed, in locating the line of the trail on the north, Big Bend side of the railroad. We stumbled along, sweating, on a possible route, littered with logging slash, on an eastward bearing, and as we drew near to the tracks a lone duck appeared. We climbed to the tracks, crossed into a valley leading to a pass we saw as the most likely route, and began scouting back and forth, high and low, for the old trail. After perhaps twenty minutes we found it, marked by blazes on the trees. Soon it became quite well-defined, with many blazes and ducks, and the occasional brushy areas were usually easily passed.
The trail climbed in switchbacks across an open area of glaciated granite, where some blasting had taken place, way back when, to construct or improve the trail. It was by all appearances a large trail, a major trail. It looked as though it had seen fairly heavy use by horses and pack animals, long ago. However, when it passed east into Section 35, T17N, R13E--presumably, being odd-numbered, an old "railroad" section, part of the many many thousands of acres of public land given to the Central Pacific Railroad in the 1860s--the trail became almost impossible to follow.
It was the same old story: heavy logging, with bulldozers scrambling every which way across the terrain, had utterly obliterated the trail. Most of the trees which had borne blazes had been cut down. With great difficulty we continued east, often losing, but always eventually regaining, the line of the old trail. We saw signs, high on the trees, marking the Royal Gorge Co.'s ski trail to Rainbow Lodge. Everything seemed to suggest that this Section 35 was a railroad section which had passed into the ownership of the Royal Gorge Co., but, strangely, it is marked as TNF land on the "big" TNF map. On my special TNF 7.5-minute quadrangle, however, it is marked as private land. Neither map depicts the historic trail to Devils Peak from Big Bend.
At a certain point the trail coincided with a logging road, as evidenced by occasional blazes on roadside trees. This road-with-blazes led us to the northeast corner of Section 35, and into the southeast corner of Section 26 to the north, where two small glacial ponds are nestled in the forest. Continuing, we passed into Section 25 to the east, and stopped for a rest.
I suggested that a side trail must have led more to the south, into a pass between the South Yuba and North Fork of the American, where Nancy Lake is located. This pass is one of many carved by South Yuba ice flowing south into the depths of the North Fork canyon, here, by way of Big Granite Creek. We scouted east through rather hopelessly torn-up terrain, the legacy of logging, without finding anything.
On the way back we were able to recovered a few new strands of the historic trail, including its exact approach to the railroad, but lost it again as we traversed a high knoll of granite, somewhat over 6200' in elevation, due east of Big Bend. We were puzzled by two half-inch cables running up the north face of the knoll. Reaching Ron's truck, we had tallied up something like seven or eight miles on our hike.
However, the story of this old trail continues.
On Tuesday, I visited Eric and Paula Peach in Auburn, and asked Eric about some trails depicted on the "big" TNF map, in the North Fork canyon, near Lake Clementine, Ponderosa Bridge, and points upstream. Eric has a fine collection of maps. As he pawed through his neatly-rolled trove, I spotted an old-style TNF map, and pulled it out.
It was the 1962 TNF map of the Foresthill and Big Bend ranger districts. And there, plain as day, was the old trail from Big Bend to Devils Peak. It showed that, while crossing Section 35, the trail followed a slightly higher line than the road we had walked, and turned south into, and then north, out of, the very pass inhabited by Nancy Lake, before climbing to join the line of the road leading south to Devils Peak from Troy, at the north boundary of Section 6, T16N, R14E.
The map also solved the mystery of the half-inch cables on Knoll 6200; a tiny ski area had been there.
I immediately began poring over this 1962 map with a magnifying glass. I believe I once had my own copy of this map, thirty years ago. Some very intriguing trails were depicted, which I had never realized existed. Like the Big Bend-Devils Peak-Snow Mountain Trail, these trails no longer appear on TNF maps. One such followed the historic Iowa Hill Canal east from Beacroft Trail, past Tadpole Canyon, to the very terminus of the ditch. Another showed a variation upon the route of the Wabena Trail; rather than crossing Wabena Creek and following the east bank down to the North Fork, the trail was shown following the west bank down, and then paralleling the North Fork itself for a mile or so to the west. This lower reach of the trail is exactly that which Ron, my son Greg, and I followed on our recent visit to the Royal Gorge.
This 1962 map also showed the very same historic public trail registered on the 1916 map, from Old Soda Springs Road down the North Fork to Heath Springs. This wonderful trail has been closed to the public (illegally, I would say) for quite a few years now. I had the good fortune to hike it once, in 1979.
Eric kindly provided me with a copy of this 1962 TNF map.
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