Tim Lasko sent this excellent letter to CDF re the Lost Camp THP:
*******
August 13, 2003
William Schultz
CDF
6105 Airport Road
Redding, CA 96002
Timber Harvest Plan 2-03-040-PLA
Dear Mr. Schultz,
I am very concerned about the Timber Harvest Plan 2-03-040-PLA. My concerns
are as follows:
á Many are unaware of this plan and have not had an opportunity to comment.
I ask that he public comment period be extended until the end of September.
á Historic sites, such as the town of Lost Camp and historic trails, such as
the China Trail may be destroyed or lost forever during this timber harvest.
I ask that a CDF archeologist, such as Dr. Garrett Fenenga conduct a formal
site survey to identify and protect these important sites and trails. More
information on these sites and trails is available from Russell Towle (Box
141, Dutch Flat, CA 95714, 530.389.2872)
á The erosion caused by the removal of timber and the construction of roads
and skid trails, particularly in the small tributaries of Blue Canyon and
Texas Canyon, may have a negative effect on the immediate area and the wild
and scenic qualities of the North Fork American River, located downstream.
The effects of sedimentation on the trout and the endangered Foothill
Yellow-legged Frogs are of great concern to me. I ask that all-new road and
skid trail construction be eliminated, or kept to an absolute minimum in
this harvest plan. I ask that all harvest east of the main Lost Camp Road be
yarded by helicopter.
á The removal of the larger trees forming the forest canopy will promote
future fuel loading. I ask that the larger canopy forming trees not be
removed in this harvest plan.
á I ask that all old growth trees, particularly on the East Side of Fulda
ridge not be disturbed.
Thank you for your time and consideration.
Sincerely
Tim Lasko
*******
Let's hope that CDF will require modifications of this plan, which as it stands now is a virtual clear-cut (almost all large trees removed; many new roads, skid trails, landings). More letters would be a good thing. Joel Baiocchi wrote another good one.
Wednesday, August 13, 2003
Monday, August 11, 2003
Maps, Trails; Goshawks
[a letter to Forest Supervisor Stephen Eubanks of Tahoe National Forest]
Dear Supervisor Eubanks,
I had the pleasure of visiting TNF offices at Nevada City last Friday, and took a look at your remarkable collection of maps. Some TNF maps are old and fragile. It seems to me that your maps represent an important historical resource. I would like to see TNF obtain a grant to digitize the entire collection, beginning with such maps as are oldest and irreplaceable.
It was a little striking that, with all this wealth of maps, my guide, Bill Slater, could not put his hands on the 1962 TNF map of the Foresthill and Big Bend Ranger Districts. It would seem that no effort has been made to preserve the entire sequence of official TNF maps. This 1962 map is important because it shows the courses of many of the principal hiking trails on TNF.
I was also disconcerted to see, in Bill's office, a neatly-lettered list of map symbols to be used when preparing, I would guess, archeological surveys. There were special symbols for roads and railroads and ditches and so on. Strangely, there was no symbol for "trail," except, someone had at some later date drawn in a symbol for "linear feature." I have noted Bill Slater's penchant for calling a trail a linear feature.
Does such a list of map symbols betray a bias against trails? I would hope not. Yet it seems likely enough. My idea: add one map symbol which actually does mean "trail," and call it a "trail."
Yesterday (Sunday, August 10th), while on the way to explore a portion of the North Fork of the North Fork American in (mainly) TNF Section 34, west of Helester Point on Sawtooth Ridge, I took a wrong turn on the maze of logging roads and was briefly quite close to the section line between SPI Section 25 (just north of Helester Point) and TNF Section 26 (just northwest of Helester Point). Here I heard the sharp territorial peeping of a Goshawk, and then saw the bird itself. I have only heard this kind of vocalization near nest sites.
When I finally did reach the river, I found some interesting historic/archeological sites, involving the diversion dam for the powerhouse at the Rawhide Mine, a mile or so downstream. Narrow-gauge railroad track had been used as reinforcement in the low cement dam.
How I would love to see TNF acquire the SPI lands out on Sawtooth Ridge! The SPI clearcuts there are an abomination.
Thanks for your consideration of these matters,
Russell Towle
Dear Supervisor Eubanks,
I had the pleasure of visiting TNF offices at Nevada City last Friday, and took a look at your remarkable collection of maps. Some TNF maps are old and fragile. It seems to me that your maps represent an important historical resource. I would like to see TNF obtain a grant to digitize the entire collection, beginning with such maps as are oldest and irreplaceable.
It was a little striking that, with all this wealth of maps, my guide, Bill Slater, could not put his hands on the 1962 TNF map of the Foresthill and Big Bend Ranger Districts. It would seem that no effort has been made to preserve the entire sequence of official TNF maps. This 1962 map is important because it shows the courses of many of the principal hiking trails on TNF.
I was also disconcerted to see, in Bill's office, a neatly-lettered list of map symbols to be used when preparing, I would guess, archeological surveys. There were special symbols for roads and railroads and ditches and so on. Strangely, there was no symbol for "trail," except, someone had at some later date drawn in a symbol for "linear feature." I have noted Bill Slater's penchant for calling a trail a linear feature.
Does such a list of map symbols betray a bias against trails? I would hope not. Yet it seems likely enough. My idea: add one map symbol which actually does mean "trail," and call it a "trail."
Yesterday (Sunday, August 10th), while on the way to explore a portion of the North Fork of the North Fork American in (mainly) TNF Section 34, west of Helester Point on Sawtooth Ridge, I took a wrong turn on the maze of logging roads and was briefly quite close to the section line between SPI Section 25 (just north of Helester Point) and TNF Section 26 (just northwest of Helester Point). Here I heard the sharp territorial peeping of a Goshawk, and then saw the bird itself. I have only heard this kind of vocalization near nest sites.
When I finally did reach the river, I found some interesting historic/archeological sites, involving the diversion dam for the powerhouse at the Rawhide Mine, a mile or so downstream. Narrow-gauge railroad track had been used as reinforcement in the low cement dam.
How I would love to see TNF acquire the SPI lands out on Sawtooth Ridge! The SPI clearcuts there are an abomination.
Thanks for your consideration of these matters,
Russell Towle
The China Trail, and the NFNFAR
Two adventures:
Saturday some eight of us met at Alta, drove up to Lost Camp, and descended the China Trail to the North Fork of the North Fork American River (NFNFAR).
We took a look around Lost Camp first, examining some few of the 590 acres to be logged. Lost Camp was a boom town in 1858, but declined rapidly. Old house and cabin sites are common, and mining pits are everywhere. The THP specifically states that not all trees to be cut are marked, so it is a little strange, to drive past tall Sugar Pines, and know their death sentence hangs over them, even tho not marked with blue paint.
At the trailhead, many trees *are* marked, including one middling large Incense Cedar which escaped the last round of logging, only a couple decades past, and which holds a rare blaze marking the trail. We were surprised to find a bit of flagging marking the trail, although it is never mentioned in the THP.
Something near a mile of walking over a descent of 1300' brings one to the confluence of Texas Canyon and the NFNFAR, the Ladybug Capital of the Universe, where, true to this strangely special place, even tho it is not the time of winter hibernation, many thousands of ladybugs cover rock surfaces and tree trunks in tightly-packed almost motionless masses, while others more or less scamper about everywhere.
A ramble up the river led us to the Pool of Cold Fire, where the amazing Gorge of Many Gorges may be said to begin, and a few of us swam up the long, deep, cliff-bound pool of crystalline, cold water; I nobly swam with one arm above the water, camera in hand, determined to at last photograph the remarkable waterfall and pool in Fulda Canyon, a ways above. I fought against the rippling, ever-strengthening currents and finally dragged myself from the icy grip of the narrow pool, and, quite naked, made the somewhat perilous climb up angling ledges into the Fulda Gorge. Arriving at the great round pool, I raised the camera, clicked the shutter release, and--found that my batteries had expired.
We saw ouzels and heard wrens and there were flowers and cute little garter snakes and the renowned Foothill Yellow-Legged Frogs and the giant Indian Rhubarb with leaves larger than dinner plates, and it was a fine day if rather tame so far as gorge-scrambling goes, and then up the trail we slowly went, and home.
Sunday, I met Steve Hunter for a foray into the NFNFAR, some miles downstream from the China Trail. Last Friday I had visited the good offices of Tahoe National Forest in Nevada City and enjoyed a brief tour of their very remarkable collection of old maps. While leafing through an enormous volume of maps devolving upon the Lost Camp area, I saw several maps of patented mining claims. One of these caught my eye, a lode claim, on a gold-bearing quartz vein, since the map showed a foot trail descending from Sawtooth Ridge to the NFNFAR, crossing a bridge, and at least starting up the north canyon wall, towards Lost Camp Ridge (the divide between the NFNFAR and Blue Canyon). I called Steve to ask him about this trail, as he is the ultimate authority on this canyon, and, not knowing it, he felt, as I did, that it must quickly quickly be known. Hence our foray.
Steve and I drove up to Emigrant Gap and in Forest Road 19, stopping briefly to say hello to geologist Allan James at Tunnel Mills campground, and then continuing past Texas Hill to Sawtooth Ridge. A maze of logging roads was negotiated, past horrendous clearcuts in Section 35 near Helester Point, on SPI lands, and eventually we trundled down a switchbacking jeep trail which had some exciting sections, very jeep-ish, until we were stopped by a ravine. However, our tortuous course had worn away much elevation; we were deep within the canyon, and only about 700 feet or so above the river. We parked at 3150' elevation; the river was somewhat below 2400'.
A steep descent over slippery slopes in a mixed forest of Canyon Live Oak, Douglas Fir, and California Nutmeg, that yew-family conifer with the stiff stinging needles, brought is to the sparkling river about three-quarters of an air mile from the east boundary of the lode claim. The canyon here, as at the China Trail, is incised into almost vertical strata of the Shoo Fly Complex metasediments. They are wonderfully shaped and polished and threaded everywhere with quartz veins, large and small. Trout darted about or hung lazily in the current, facing upstream, easily seen in the clear cold water.
We had a good scramble downstream over the polished rocks, sometimes crossing the river, and admiring soaring cliffs of slate-like rock, with blade-like eminences hundreds of feet above us. We began to sense that we must be nearing our goal, and examined the cliffs and ramparts of rock for old iron pins or bolts, marking the site of our bridge, and thus, our trail. Eventually we set the packs down and struck out more swiftly downstream. Almost immediately we saw a cable stretched across the river, well downstream, and hurried towards it.
Terraces of glacial outwash deposits appeared along both banks, the flat tops about fifty feet above river level. These would date from the Tioga glaciation, around 12,000 years ago; the ice itself did not reach this far down-canyon, but sediments disgorged by the glacier were of such a quantity as to overwhelm the river's ability to transport them, and a kind of narrow floodplain developed. Then the ice melted away, the sediment load diminished, and the river carved quickly down to bedrock, leaving these terraces, wherever topography conspired to protect them.
We saw some small scars and hollows left by ground-sluicing, long ago, in these terrace deposits, and then a 6" riveted iron pipe, used in that ground-sluicing, and then, a chunk of concrete--the bridge! We had found the bridge! And we were directly below the old cable!
However, as we scanned the banks on both sides, what we found was no bridge, but a dam, a low dam, of concrete, reinforced with much odds and ends of iron and steel, including narrow-gauge railroad track, said dam breached by flood events and their tumbled boulders, in the center of the stream, but intact on both banks. Crossing, we found that the dam had diverted the river through a short tunnel, and soon all became clear.
What we had found was the "take" for the water supplying the powerhouse at the Rawhide Mine. There, twin Pelton wheels were fed by twin penstocks. I had always wondered where the water came from. It could only come from the NFNFAR, but, where? Usually Pelton wheels are set up with high "heads," so the water can drop a long ways into the turbine. If the Rawhide wheels were typical, well, a rather long ditch was implied, high on the canyon wall, and "taking" the waters of the NFNFAR far far upstream.
Yet, here were were, not an air mile from the powerhouse, and with utterly no question that this very dam was the one and only "take." Thus there was no very great "fall" to the Pelton wheels, perhaps as little as 100 feet, surely less than 200 feet. We were inordinately pleased by all this and sped downstream, past places where the iron penstock, around four feet in diameter, had been anchored to the very cliffs, past benches blasted out of the solid solid rock, and down to a meadowy area where the NFNFAR bends sharply to the south. There we called a halt. We found a cabin site, with a rather strange and ornate cast iron artifact nearby, and, just above the ditch-line--for here, at least, they had switched from a pipe to a ditch, to move the water along--just above, we found a sort of wagon road, badly overgrown, but suggesting that it was the way all these many materials had been brought upstream to the diversion dam.
So, it was all very good, and shows that, from the Rawhide, an excellent trail could be opened up to the old dam. This is all the more reason to try to secure the passage across private property at the Rawhide, for all this area (except the patented lode claim), like the trail from the Rawhide up to Sawtooth Ridge, is, thank goodness, Tahoe National Forest. But these old trails, open to our grandfathers, are closed to us.
While returning upstream to the dam site, Steve and I noted some large bolts let into the polished rock flanking a little inner gorge, and realized it was a bridge site, and very likely, the very bridge site, with its associated trails, which had lured us down into the magical canyon. But the sun was westering and a long hike led up to the jeep, so we did not take time to look for the trails.
In the fullness of my extreme genius I left the camera in my pack and obtained no photos of the dam or bridge site or wagon road.
I should say that in the vicinity of the dam, up and downstream, are some very nice pools. We swam one of them. They are deep and broad and cold and clear.
We swam one last time before making the steep climb to the jeep, and soaked our shirts in the cold water, and it was not too bad, and not too long, and not too hot, and not too buggy, and so, then, having arrived, it only remained to depart, and make the very long drive back to civilization, at Emigrant Gap.
Such were two great days in the NFNFAR.
Saturday some eight of us met at Alta, drove up to Lost Camp, and descended the China Trail to the North Fork of the North Fork American River (NFNFAR).
We took a look around Lost Camp first, examining some few of the 590 acres to be logged. Lost Camp was a boom town in 1858, but declined rapidly. Old house and cabin sites are common, and mining pits are everywhere. The THP specifically states that not all trees to be cut are marked, so it is a little strange, to drive past tall Sugar Pines, and know their death sentence hangs over them, even tho not marked with blue paint.
At the trailhead, many trees *are* marked, including one middling large Incense Cedar which escaped the last round of logging, only a couple decades past, and which holds a rare blaze marking the trail. We were surprised to find a bit of flagging marking the trail, although it is never mentioned in the THP.
Something near a mile of walking over a descent of 1300' brings one to the confluence of Texas Canyon and the NFNFAR, the Ladybug Capital of the Universe, where, true to this strangely special place, even tho it is not the time of winter hibernation, many thousands of ladybugs cover rock surfaces and tree trunks in tightly-packed almost motionless masses, while others more or less scamper about everywhere.
A ramble up the river led us to the Pool of Cold Fire, where the amazing Gorge of Many Gorges may be said to begin, and a few of us swam up the long, deep, cliff-bound pool of crystalline, cold water; I nobly swam with one arm above the water, camera in hand, determined to at last photograph the remarkable waterfall and pool in Fulda Canyon, a ways above. I fought against the rippling, ever-strengthening currents and finally dragged myself from the icy grip of the narrow pool, and, quite naked, made the somewhat perilous climb up angling ledges into the Fulda Gorge. Arriving at the great round pool, I raised the camera, clicked the shutter release, and--found that my batteries had expired.
We saw ouzels and heard wrens and there were flowers and cute little garter snakes and the renowned Foothill Yellow-Legged Frogs and the giant Indian Rhubarb with leaves larger than dinner plates, and it was a fine day if rather tame so far as gorge-scrambling goes, and then up the trail we slowly went, and home.
Sunday, I met Steve Hunter for a foray into the NFNFAR, some miles downstream from the China Trail. Last Friday I had visited the good offices of Tahoe National Forest in Nevada City and enjoyed a brief tour of their very remarkable collection of old maps. While leafing through an enormous volume of maps devolving upon the Lost Camp area, I saw several maps of patented mining claims. One of these caught my eye, a lode claim, on a gold-bearing quartz vein, since the map showed a foot trail descending from Sawtooth Ridge to the NFNFAR, crossing a bridge, and at least starting up the north canyon wall, towards Lost Camp Ridge (the divide between the NFNFAR and Blue Canyon). I called Steve to ask him about this trail, as he is the ultimate authority on this canyon, and, not knowing it, he felt, as I did, that it must quickly quickly be known. Hence our foray.
Steve and I drove up to Emigrant Gap and in Forest Road 19, stopping briefly to say hello to geologist Allan James at Tunnel Mills campground, and then continuing past Texas Hill to Sawtooth Ridge. A maze of logging roads was negotiated, past horrendous clearcuts in Section 35 near Helester Point, on SPI lands, and eventually we trundled down a switchbacking jeep trail which had some exciting sections, very jeep-ish, until we were stopped by a ravine. However, our tortuous course had worn away much elevation; we were deep within the canyon, and only about 700 feet or so above the river. We parked at 3150' elevation; the river was somewhat below 2400'.
A steep descent over slippery slopes in a mixed forest of Canyon Live Oak, Douglas Fir, and California Nutmeg, that yew-family conifer with the stiff stinging needles, brought is to the sparkling river about three-quarters of an air mile from the east boundary of the lode claim. The canyon here, as at the China Trail, is incised into almost vertical strata of the Shoo Fly Complex metasediments. They are wonderfully shaped and polished and threaded everywhere with quartz veins, large and small. Trout darted about or hung lazily in the current, facing upstream, easily seen in the clear cold water.
We had a good scramble downstream over the polished rocks, sometimes crossing the river, and admiring soaring cliffs of slate-like rock, with blade-like eminences hundreds of feet above us. We began to sense that we must be nearing our goal, and examined the cliffs and ramparts of rock for old iron pins or bolts, marking the site of our bridge, and thus, our trail. Eventually we set the packs down and struck out more swiftly downstream. Almost immediately we saw a cable stretched across the river, well downstream, and hurried towards it.
Terraces of glacial outwash deposits appeared along both banks, the flat tops about fifty feet above river level. These would date from the Tioga glaciation, around 12,000 years ago; the ice itself did not reach this far down-canyon, but sediments disgorged by the glacier were of such a quantity as to overwhelm the river's ability to transport them, and a kind of narrow floodplain developed. Then the ice melted away, the sediment load diminished, and the river carved quickly down to bedrock, leaving these terraces, wherever topography conspired to protect them.
We saw some small scars and hollows left by ground-sluicing, long ago, in these terrace deposits, and then a 6" riveted iron pipe, used in that ground-sluicing, and then, a chunk of concrete--the bridge! We had found the bridge! And we were directly below the old cable!
However, as we scanned the banks on both sides, what we found was no bridge, but a dam, a low dam, of concrete, reinforced with much odds and ends of iron and steel, including narrow-gauge railroad track, said dam breached by flood events and their tumbled boulders, in the center of the stream, but intact on both banks. Crossing, we found that the dam had diverted the river through a short tunnel, and soon all became clear.
What we had found was the "take" for the water supplying the powerhouse at the Rawhide Mine. There, twin Pelton wheels were fed by twin penstocks. I had always wondered where the water came from. It could only come from the NFNFAR, but, where? Usually Pelton wheels are set up with high "heads," so the water can drop a long ways into the turbine. If the Rawhide wheels were typical, well, a rather long ditch was implied, high on the canyon wall, and "taking" the waters of the NFNFAR far far upstream.
Yet, here were were, not an air mile from the powerhouse, and with utterly no question that this very dam was the one and only "take." Thus there was no very great "fall" to the Pelton wheels, perhaps as little as 100 feet, surely less than 200 feet. We were inordinately pleased by all this and sped downstream, past places where the iron penstock, around four feet in diameter, had been anchored to the very cliffs, past benches blasted out of the solid solid rock, and down to a meadowy area where the NFNFAR bends sharply to the south. There we called a halt. We found a cabin site, with a rather strange and ornate cast iron artifact nearby, and, just above the ditch-line--for here, at least, they had switched from a pipe to a ditch, to move the water along--just above, we found a sort of wagon road, badly overgrown, but suggesting that it was the way all these many materials had been brought upstream to the diversion dam.
So, it was all very good, and shows that, from the Rawhide, an excellent trail could be opened up to the old dam. This is all the more reason to try to secure the passage across private property at the Rawhide, for all this area (except the patented lode claim), like the trail from the Rawhide up to Sawtooth Ridge, is, thank goodness, Tahoe National Forest. But these old trails, open to our grandfathers, are closed to us.
While returning upstream to the dam site, Steve and I noted some large bolts let into the polished rock flanking a little inner gorge, and realized it was a bridge site, and very likely, the very bridge site, with its associated trails, which had lured us down into the magical canyon. But the sun was westering and a long hike led up to the jeep, so we did not take time to look for the trails.
In the fullness of my extreme genius I left the camera in my pack and obtained no photos of the dam or bridge site or wagon road.
I should say that in the vicinity of the dam, up and downstream, are some very nice pools. We swam one of them. They are deep and broad and cold and clear.
We swam one last time before making the steep climb to the jeep, and soaked our shirts in the cold water, and it was not too bad, and not too long, and not too hot, and not too buggy, and so, then, having arrived, it only remained to depart, and make the very long drive back to civilization, at Emigrant Gap.
Such were two great days in the NFNFAR.
Friday, August 8, 2003
Lost Camp THP Breaking News
I have this, from a good source:
CDF reports that, as a result of the 2 comment letters they've received on
this THP raising concerns relative to the plan's impact on historical and
archeological resources, the public comment period is remaining open
indefinitely.
In response to these two public comment letters (presumbably one of them is
Russell's), CDF has (1) requested the RPF that prepared the THP to respond;
and (2) assigned its inhouse archeologist from Redding to investigate for
the presence of archeological and historic sites, and how the proposed plan
would affect these resources.
I think Russell's efforts are having an impact, although it is unclear how
long CDF will keep the public comment period open.
Also, Jim Ricker has found, in recent conversations with CDF officials, that the public comment period is expected to remain open for as many as ten more days.
If anyone wishes to see Lost Camp and hike the China Trail, let's meet tomorrow, Saturday, 10 a.m., at the Alta Store, north of the Alta exit on I-80.
CDF reports that, as a result of the 2 comment letters they've received on
this THP raising concerns relative to the plan's impact on historical and
archeological resources, the public comment period is remaining open
indefinitely.
In response to these two public comment letters (presumbably one of them is
Russell's), CDF has (1) requested the RPF that prepared the THP to respond;
and (2) assigned its inhouse archeologist from Redding to investigate for
the presence of archeological and historic sites, and how the proposed plan
would affect these resources.
I think Russell's efforts are having an impact, although it is unclear how
long CDF will keep the public comment period open.
Also, Jim Ricker has found, in recent conversations with CDF officials, that the public comment period is expected to remain open for as many as ten more days.
If anyone wishes to see Lost Camp and hike the China Trail, let's meet tomorrow, Saturday, 10 a.m., at the Alta Store, north of the Alta exit on I-80.
Letter to CDF
Below, my somewhat hurried attempt at a letter to CDF re the Lost Camp timber harvest. The more letters we can get in to Schultz the better. Short letters are fine. Talk the historic townsite, the trail, the need for a longer public comment period, etc. Letters may also be faxed to 530.224.4841; but in any case, remember to use the THP number, 2-03-040-PLA.
*******
August 8, 2003
William Schultz
CDF
6105 Airport Road
Redding, CA 96002
re: Timber Harvest Plan 2-03-040-PLA
Dear Mr. Schultz,
I have now had an opportunity to review the actual Timber Harvest Plan, and the CDF PHI, with respect to the "Andy Siller THP," THP 2-03-040-PLA. I have a number of comments.
First, however, I ask that the public comment period be extended through at least the end of August, and preferably, the end of September, so that many interested citizens can have a better chance to become acquainted with the THP, and offer comments.
Second, I ask that CDF conduct an archeological review of the site. Although I am unable to examine the RPF's archeological survey-it is kept secret, and with good reason-from my reading of the THP and PHI I am inclined to think that his survey was inadequate.
Although historic and prehistoric sites are likely to be scattered across the entire area, the locus of historic mining and occupation was at the town of Lost Camp, in Section 23. From Lost Camp several trails led away to different places. One, the so-called China Trail, is a particular favorite of many people, and gives access to Tahoe National Forest (TNF) lands encompassing the North Fork of the North Fork of the American River (NFNFAR), to the southeast of Lost Camp.
I saw no reference to Lost Camp as a townsite-it "boomed" in 1858-and I saw no reference to the China Trail, in the THP. In fact, in the copy of the THP I obtained from Auburn-Bowman CDF, the trail seemed to have been, somehow, deleted from the more-detailed maps.
This trail is a very important component of our historic trail system in Placer County. The more southern part, across the NFNFAR from Lost Camp, climbing to the summit of Sawtooth Ridge, has already been effectively obliterated by timber harvests, on private lands, administered by CDF.
Concern for this trail goes back to at least 1953, when it was one of sixty historic trails listed in a Placer County ordinance, enacted by the Board of Supervisors, all formally declared to be public trails, and assigning misdemeanor-type penalties to whomever might block such a trail.
I do find the trail on page 30.2 of the THP, which shows the entire extent of the 600 acres involved in the plan, and distinguishes areas of tractor yarding, from areas of helicopter yarding, proposed in the plan. The trail and trailhead can be seen on this map, with difficulty, in the more southeastern portion of that part of Section 23 involved in the THP.
We have had tremendous problems, in Placer County, with our historic trails. They have been gated closed; they have been obliterated by timber harvests; and this process began before 1953. In the Placer County ordinance, each of the sixty trails is referenced to one or more old USGS maps, which depicted that trail. In this case, the China Trail shows clearly on the 1866 GLO map T16N, R11E. So does the town of Lost Camp.
In addition to the various intervening USGS maps of this region, the trail is also depicted on the 1962 TNF map of the Big Bend and Foresthill ranger districts. It is also shown on the current USGS 7.5 minute Westville quadrangle.
Because I am both interested in Placer County history, and concerned about the preservation of our historic trails, and public access to these trails, I have urged, for a number of years, that TNF seek to acquire all private lands in Section 23. By purchasing these lands, both the historic townsite, its associated mining areas, and the China Trail could be protected. They form an important part of Placer County's heritage.
By a twist of fate, as I understand it, the leader of the movement to protect our historic trails, in 1953, was Wendell Towle Robie, of the Auburn Lumber Company; and either Robie himself, or his lumber company, owned the very lands now involved in THP 2-03-040-PLA.
I have been informed by CDF archeologist Rich Jenkins that rather narrow conditions must be met for a historic trail to be treated as a historic trail, in the context of a timber harvest. Perhaps the China Trail does not meet the narrow criteria. However, I asked Rich, and he offered no response: where in the Forest Practices Act does it condone the destruction of "trails," whether they meet the narrow criteria or not?
Now, as to more specific components of the THP.
The Lost Camp mines, within Section 23, are of several types, but all involve placer deposits, likely Eocene in age, and the largest mining areas are relicts of hydraulic mining. Add to these a complex of gullies which look to have resulted from a related method, known as ground-sluicing. I believe there were some drift mines in the area. In both methods, the auriferous gravels were washed through sluice boxes charged with mercury. This mercury not only leaked directly from the sluice boxes, through cracks between the boards, but also leaked out the ends of the sluice boxes, where the tailings were discharged.
Hence many of the smaller ravines in the area are very likely contaminated with mercury, as are the larger streams below, such as Blue Canyon, Texas Canyon (not so named in the THP; Texas Canyon is identified as a Class II watercourse in the THP, and is that stream across which one of the new roads is proposed in the THP. It is to the east of Lost Camp, the town, and has many small tributaries, and many of these tributaries are likely to be contaminated with mercury), the NFNFAR itself (not within the THP boundaries), and Fulda Creek (partly within the THP boundaries, but not actually contaminated from the Lost Camp mines, but rather-and this is an outright guess-by placer mining on the creek itself, upstream.
Therefore, construction of roads and skid trails in the small tributaries of Blue Canyon and Texas Canyon in particular, may remobilize mercury, causing it to move downstream, or have local biological effects.
I have found it difficult to understand the THP, and have had little time to read it and make adequate notes. So, I sometimes recall reading some statement within the THP, but do not remember where in the THP that statement was made. Hence I will not reference many of my comments to page numbers in the THP.
One rationale given for the timber harvest is that, by removing overstory, the smaller trees will be released. This is true. However, this site has been harvested in the not-too-distant past, overstory removed, smaller trees released, and the result, in many areas, is a drastically overstocked stand of small conifers, such that high mortality is now occurring, and a tremendous fuel loading of dead and dry woody material exists. I see this especially within Section 23. The THP also asserts that harvest will reduce fuel loading and thus protect against wildfire. I see no provision for removing the existing dead and down small trees, and suppose that with further overstory removal, i.e., the harvest of the remaining larger trees, even more fuel loading will ensue. If anything, the larger trees should be left alone, and smaller trees removed.
In contrast to Section 23, lands in Section 24 to the east, on the ridge between Texas Canyon and Fulda Canyon (let us call it the Fulda Ridge), contain a nice stand of timber which has been more lightly logged, by selective means, in past decades. The forest canopy was left intact, and there is much much less understory, little brush at all, and every chance that a "cool" fire would leave the larger trees alive. However, being within the THP, this ridge-top stand will likely be decimated, sunlight will flood in on soils disturbed by tractor logging, and a very dense and overstocked stand of small conifers will ensue.
I have explored part of the east side of Fulda Ridge, and have found, on the steeper slopes, and along the area of inflection between gentler and steeper slopes which roughly coincides with the boundary between tractor yarding and helicopter yarding, as depicted in the THP, various old trails and ore-cart haul trails associated with hard-rock gold mining. I saw many large Douglas Fir, one ancient tree near six feet in diameter, and one Ponderosa Pin with an old blaze, and the large bark plates typical of an old-growth tree. I would call these trees "old-growth." There was never any commercial logging down there, only a minor taking of trees, principally Incense Cedar, I believe, for mining purposes, around a century ago.
Taking an educated guess, the lands within the THP, across Fulda Creek to the east, have likewise never been logged to any appreciable extent, and there might be regarded as old-growth stands. However, the THP specifically states that no old-growth stands are involved in the harvest.
The THP also declares that no scenic values are at stake, and that no one would even see the harvest area, except from a plane or helicopter. This is not true. I have been hiking in this area for thirty years, and the scenic qualities are very important to me. Much of this area, for instance, can be seen from Sawtooth Ridge. Fulda Canyon itself is quite remarkably beautiful, with many waterfalls. I much enjoy the views from the China Trail, for instance.
Please create a buffer zone around the China Trail, in which no harvest takes place. I suggest a radius of .25 mile from the trail.
I have been told, by someone long familiar with this area, that the trout fishery on the NFNFAR has been ruined by sedimentation on the main stem and tributaries. I do not doubt but that this is true. It is not mentioned in the THP.
The THP mentions probable negative impacts upon raptors, and states that no Northern Goshawk nests were found in the area. Two days ago, on Fulda Ridge, I was startled by a sharp peeping much like that of a Northern Goshawk, in a stand of pines. I could see no nest, and the bird moved away, down the slope, and I never saw it. It much reminded me of the peeping I heard last summer from Goshawks at a nest site in the North Fork American River canyon.
The THP does not mention the existence of Foothill Yellow-legged Frogs in the project area. I have seen these frogs in the NFNFAR, and in many other streams, large and small, and based upon my experience, would expect these frogs to live in Blue Canyon, Texas Canyon, and Fulda Canyon, and their tributaries, wherever accumulations of cobbly sediment are found, and also, in some areas of bare rock (adult frogs will inhabit bare rock areas). A better survey of both raptors and amphibians seems called for.
Finally, with respect to the proposed new roads, I am quite concerned. This seems an extremely heavy-handed component of what is in any case, in my terms, a rather drastic timber harvest. I have examined the course of the proposed road across Texas Canyon, with its associated steep slopes, where a very large culvert will be needed. This haul road is needed only because, it seems, the existing road over to Fulda Ridge, to the east, has been gated closed. I suggest that all harvest east of the main Lost Camp Road be yarded by helicopter; in fact, the entire project should be yarded by helicopter.
If I had more time I could do a better job of relating my comments to specific pages and sections of the THP. Please do extend the public comment period.
Thank you very much for your consideration of these issues.
Sincerely,
*******
*******
August 8, 2003
William Schultz
CDF
6105 Airport Road
Redding, CA 96002
re: Timber Harvest Plan 2-03-040-PLA
Dear Mr. Schultz,
I have now had an opportunity to review the actual Timber Harvest Plan, and the CDF PHI, with respect to the "Andy Siller THP," THP 2-03-040-PLA. I have a number of comments.
First, however, I ask that the public comment period be extended through at least the end of August, and preferably, the end of September, so that many interested citizens can have a better chance to become acquainted with the THP, and offer comments.
Second, I ask that CDF conduct an archeological review of the site. Although I am unable to examine the RPF's archeological survey-it is kept secret, and with good reason-from my reading of the THP and PHI I am inclined to think that his survey was inadequate.
Although historic and prehistoric sites are likely to be scattered across the entire area, the locus of historic mining and occupation was at the town of Lost Camp, in Section 23. From Lost Camp several trails led away to different places. One, the so-called China Trail, is a particular favorite of many people, and gives access to Tahoe National Forest (TNF) lands encompassing the North Fork of the North Fork of the American River (NFNFAR), to the southeast of Lost Camp.
I saw no reference to Lost Camp as a townsite-it "boomed" in 1858-and I saw no reference to the China Trail, in the THP. In fact, in the copy of the THP I obtained from Auburn-Bowman CDF, the trail seemed to have been, somehow, deleted from the more-detailed maps.
This trail is a very important component of our historic trail system in Placer County. The more southern part, across the NFNFAR from Lost Camp, climbing to the summit of Sawtooth Ridge, has already been effectively obliterated by timber harvests, on private lands, administered by CDF.
Concern for this trail goes back to at least 1953, when it was one of sixty historic trails listed in a Placer County ordinance, enacted by the Board of Supervisors, all formally declared to be public trails, and assigning misdemeanor-type penalties to whomever might block such a trail.
I do find the trail on page 30.2 of the THP, which shows the entire extent of the 600 acres involved in the plan, and distinguishes areas of tractor yarding, from areas of helicopter yarding, proposed in the plan. The trail and trailhead can be seen on this map, with difficulty, in the more southeastern portion of that part of Section 23 involved in the THP.
We have had tremendous problems, in Placer County, with our historic trails. They have been gated closed; they have been obliterated by timber harvests; and this process began before 1953. In the Placer County ordinance, each of the sixty trails is referenced to one or more old USGS maps, which depicted that trail. In this case, the China Trail shows clearly on the 1866 GLO map T16N, R11E. So does the town of Lost Camp.
In addition to the various intervening USGS maps of this region, the trail is also depicted on the 1962 TNF map of the Big Bend and Foresthill ranger districts. It is also shown on the current USGS 7.5 minute Westville quadrangle.
Because I am both interested in Placer County history, and concerned about the preservation of our historic trails, and public access to these trails, I have urged, for a number of years, that TNF seek to acquire all private lands in Section 23. By purchasing these lands, both the historic townsite, its associated mining areas, and the China Trail could be protected. They form an important part of Placer County's heritage.
By a twist of fate, as I understand it, the leader of the movement to protect our historic trails, in 1953, was Wendell Towle Robie, of the Auburn Lumber Company; and either Robie himself, or his lumber company, owned the very lands now involved in THP 2-03-040-PLA.
I have been informed by CDF archeologist Rich Jenkins that rather narrow conditions must be met for a historic trail to be treated as a historic trail, in the context of a timber harvest. Perhaps the China Trail does not meet the narrow criteria. However, I asked Rich, and he offered no response: where in the Forest Practices Act does it condone the destruction of "trails," whether they meet the narrow criteria or not?
Now, as to more specific components of the THP.
The Lost Camp mines, within Section 23, are of several types, but all involve placer deposits, likely Eocene in age, and the largest mining areas are relicts of hydraulic mining. Add to these a complex of gullies which look to have resulted from a related method, known as ground-sluicing. I believe there were some drift mines in the area. In both methods, the auriferous gravels were washed through sluice boxes charged with mercury. This mercury not only leaked directly from the sluice boxes, through cracks between the boards, but also leaked out the ends of the sluice boxes, where the tailings were discharged.
Hence many of the smaller ravines in the area are very likely contaminated with mercury, as are the larger streams below, such as Blue Canyon, Texas Canyon (not so named in the THP; Texas Canyon is identified as a Class II watercourse in the THP, and is that stream across which one of the new roads is proposed in the THP. It is to the east of Lost Camp, the town, and has many small tributaries, and many of these tributaries are likely to be contaminated with mercury), the NFNFAR itself (not within the THP boundaries), and Fulda Creek (partly within the THP boundaries, but not actually contaminated from the Lost Camp mines, but rather-and this is an outright guess-by placer mining on the creek itself, upstream.
Therefore, construction of roads and skid trails in the small tributaries of Blue Canyon and Texas Canyon in particular, may remobilize mercury, causing it to move downstream, or have local biological effects.
I have found it difficult to understand the THP, and have had little time to read it and make adequate notes. So, I sometimes recall reading some statement within the THP, but do not remember where in the THP that statement was made. Hence I will not reference many of my comments to page numbers in the THP.
One rationale given for the timber harvest is that, by removing overstory, the smaller trees will be released. This is true. However, this site has been harvested in the not-too-distant past, overstory removed, smaller trees released, and the result, in many areas, is a drastically overstocked stand of small conifers, such that high mortality is now occurring, and a tremendous fuel loading of dead and dry woody material exists. I see this especially within Section 23. The THP also asserts that harvest will reduce fuel loading and thus protect against wildfire. I see no provision for removing the existing dead and down small trees, and suppose that with further overstory removal, i.e., the harvest of the remaining larger trees, even more fuel loading will ensue. If anything, the larger trees should be left alone, and smaller trees removed.
In contrast to Section 23, lands in Section 24 to the east, on the ridge between Texas Canyon and Fulda Canyon (let us call it the Fulda Ridge), contain a nice stand of timber which has been more lightly logged, by selective means, in past decades. The forest canopy was left intact, and there is much much less understory, little brush at all, and every chance that a "cool" fire would leave the larger trees alive. However, being within the THP, this ridge-top stand will likely be decimated, sunlight will flood in on soils disturbed by tractor logging, and a very dense and overstocked stand of small conifers will ensue.
I have explored part of the east side of Fulda Ridge, and have found, on the steeper slopes, and along the area of inflection between gentler and steeper slopes which roughly coincides with the boundary between tractor yarding and helicopter yarding, as depicted in the THP, various old trails and ore-cart haul trails associated with hard-rock gold mining. I saw many large Douglas Fir, one ancient tree near six feet in diameter, and one Ponderosa Pin with an old blaze, and the large bark plates typical of an old-growth tree. I would call these trees "old-growth." There was never any commercial logging down there, only a minor taking of trees, principally Incense Cedar, I believe, for mining purposes, around a century ago.
Taking an educated guess, the lands within the THP, across Fulda Creek to the east, have likewise never been logged to any appreciable extent, and there might be regarded as old-growth stands. However, the THP specifically states that no old-growth stands are involved in the harvest.
The THP also declares that no scenic values are at stake, and that no one would even see the harvest area, except from a plane or helicopter. This is not true. I have been hiking in this area for thirty years, and the scenic qualities are very important to me. Much of this area, for instance, can be seen from Sawtooth Ridge. Fulda Canyon itself is quite remarkably beautiful, with many waterfalls. I much enjoy the views from the China Trail, for instance.
Please create a buffer zone around the China Trail, in which no harvest takes place. I suggest a radius of .25 mile from the trail.
I have been told, by someone long familiar with this area, that the trout fishery on the NFNFAR has been ruined by sedimentation on the main stem and tributaries. I do not doubt but that this is true. It is not mentioned in the THP.
The THP mentions probable negative impacts upon raptors, and states that no Northern Goshawk nests were found in the area. Two days ago, on Fulda Ridge, I was startled by a sharp peeping much like that of a Northern Goshawk, in a stand of pines. I could see no nest, and the bird moved away, down the slope, and I never saw it. It much reminded me of the peeping I heard last summer from Goshawks at a nest site in the North Fork American River canyon.
The THP does not mention the existence of Foothill Yellow-legged Frogs in the project area. I have seen these frogs in the NFNFAR, and in many other streams, large and small, and based upon my experience, would expect these frogs to live in Blue Canyon, Texas Canyon, and Fulda Canyon, and their tributaries, wherever accumulations of cobbly sediment are found, and also, in some areas of bare rock (adult frogs will inhabit bare rock areas). A better survey of both raptors and amphibians seems called for.
Finally, with respect to the proposed new roads, I am quite concerned. This seems an extremely heavy-handed component of what is in any case, in my terms, a rather drastic timber harvest. I have examined the course of the proposed road across Texas Canyon, with its associated steep slopes, where a very large culvert will be needed. This haul road is needed only because, it seems, the existing road over to Fulda Ridge, to the east, has been gated closed. I suggest that all harvest east of the main Lost Camp Road be yarded by helicopter; in fact, the entire project should be yarded by helicopter.
If I had more time I could do a better job of relating my comments to specific pages and sections of the THP. Please do extend the public comment period.
Thank you very much for your consideration of these issues.
Sincerely,
*******
Thursday, August 7, 2003
Lost Camp THP reconnaissance
I joined Steve Hunter of Colfax for a reconnaissance of the Lost Camp THP area yesterday. We left at 8:00 a.m. and drove up to the Blue Canyon exit on I-80, proceeding south and across the railroad tracks to the road fork leading east to the ridge (let us call it Fulda Ridge), in Section 24, between Fulda Creek and Texas Canyon (Texas Canyon is not so named on the modern USGS 7.5 minute Westville quadrangle, but is named on the 1866 General Land Office map of that area). We found this road gated closed with a sign reading "no trespassing" and "if you enter you will be shot."
Another road forked left near the gate and we tried it. It almost immediately leveled out and I realized it had been cut into the line of an old ditch, which could only be the historic Bradley & Gardner Ditch, or Placer County Canal, which drew from the East Fork of the North Fork of the North Fork, and went to the hydraulic mines of Dutch Flat and Gold Run, arriving in 1859. It was following almost exactly the 4680' contour where we met it. In a while we reached a locked gate, and, knowing the ditch must swing around Fulda Ridge, followed the road in. We passed a group of small cabins of recent construction, and then suddenly the road ended and we could follow the ditch itself. It is about five feet deep, and six or eight feet across at the top, and was said to have a capacity of 5000 miners inches, in the olden days.
A little less than a mile along the sinuous course of the ditch brought us to Fulda Ridge. Immediately below us to the south, a fine stand of coniferous timber had shaded out the brush, and made for easy going. We noted flagging where we left the ditch, marking it as a "truck road," and knew we were just entering the Lost Camp THP, on the north line of Section 24.
This forest had been logged at least twice, decades ago, we believed, but by a "selective" method, in which only the largest trees had been cut, and the forest canopy had remained largely intact, and no brush and relatively few small trees had become established, in the shade. So, it was a pretty patch of forest, and easy to walk through, and as we descended, the crest of the ridge flattened out to a dead level. Unfortunately this forest will be pretty well all harvested, according to the THP.
Steve has explored this area almost incredibly thoroughly over the past fifty years. He and his friends have pulled off some amazing adventures. For instance, Fulda Creek, below us to the east, has a steep gradient which only gets steeper as it approaches the North Fork of the North Fork, to the south. There is a series of high waterfalls along the creek, and essentially no way to hike up or down this section. Steve and his friends brought ropes and rappelled down the cliffs beside each waterfall in turn, all the way to the river, and then came back up the China Trail.
But this was only one of Steve's forays into lower Fulda Creek. On other occasions he had found an unusual old mining railroad. Since this is within the THP we wished to document it. I myself also hoped to discover some shred of the old trail from Lost Camp to Monumental Camp, constructed in 1862. However, in this I failed. The logging of decades ago had involved bulldozers, and the usual disruption of the land surface had effaced any sign of the old trail.
Reaching the southern end of the flat top of Fulda Ridge, where it drops away in ragged cliffs of the Shoo Fly Complex metasediments, into the main North Fork of the North Fork canyon, we veered east and began working down towards Fulda Creek. Almost immediately we struck a broad old trail or wagon road, which led back to the north and east. Following it, for a time I hoped it was my lost trail from Lost Camp, but soon it was obliterated by bulldozer skid trails from, what, 35 years ago. So we just angled on down the ever-steepening canyon wall, through a thinning mixed coniferouse forest increasingly dominated by Canyon Live Oaks, until another segment of broad trail or wagon road was reached, this, very nearly on a level.
Following it south, we passed sections of dry-laid stone walls, and finally reached a small mining area with abundant chunks of angular quartz scattered around. There the road-trail seemed to end. A sort of gully choked with angular talus was above the terminus, but no tunnel was visible. We made a short scramble beyond to some cliffy outcrops with fine views out into the main canyon, and we could see all the tributaries which make the Gorge of Gorges: Fulda, Sailor Ravine, the North Fork of the North Fork, the East Fork of the North Fork of the North Fork, Burnett Canyon and Wilmont Ravine, and Texas Canyon. Across the main canyon, Sawtooth Ridge rose steeply to Helester Point. There, a drastically ugly SPI clearcut made a square hole in the forest cover.
Fair-weather cumulus clouds graced the pure blue sky. It was cool, perfect for hiking.
Retreating north along the road-trail, I saw a faint old human trail leading down, and we followed it a short distance to a smaller trail, also about level, perhaps one hundred feet lower. This we followed south until it appeared to end at some cliffs. A bit of iron strapping stuck out of the trail at one point, of the sort one sometimes sees in old mine tunnels, a sort of poor man's railroad track, used for moving ore carts along the tunnel. Also, we saw an ancient cable stretching straight down the hill. Steve's recollection was that this cable led down to his mining railroad. However, our level old trail must be explored first, so we turned and followed it north.
It too had its dry-laid stone walls, and we walked it for a long distance, well, a quarter-mile perhaps, and saw Douglas Fir trees of increasing size, one, perhaps six feet in diameter. Strangely, the THP specifically states that there is no old-growth forest within the plan area. These large trees are clearly old-growth. The only logging which had ever occurred at this depth within Fulda Canyon (we were near the 4200' contour), was minor harvest of medium-sized trees, for mining purposes, around 100 years ago.
Suddenly, though, the old trail was crossed by what seemed to be a skid trail, which had been undoubtedly made by a bulldozer, and yet which looked very old. No stumps in the area signalled that it had been made for logging. Its rough steep bench cut had been much softened by the passage of decades. We tentatively ascribed an age of fifty years to it. The level old trail did not seem to continue, so we followed the steep bulldozer trail down a short distance. There we found large stockpiles of quartz ore, and a variety of mining equipment, including an ore cart, a sort of crucible, and several odd tubes of galvanized metal, something like water heater tanks, but meant to rotate on a longitudinal axis, some still having their axles. We could not imagine what they were for, but, clearly, it had to do with gold mining. They were of several different diameters.
We were now close to the creek, on a small flat, everywhere sloping, but not too far from level, and with a find stand of large Douglas Fir. Steve's sense was that we were far to the north of the mining railroad, which broke out onto the sunny cliffs we had visited earlier. So, with considerable difficulty, we contoured along to the south, while the creek fell away below us, and reached increasingly rocky areas with some rather large outcrops, almost house-sized. At one point Steve climbed up some shattered rock above me, and as I followed, I came within inches of a rattlesnake, which he had passed already. It was a calm snake, half-hidden in a hole, and did not rattle. I stepped away a few feet and climbed up after Steve.
After a time we found a great viewpoint and stopped for lunch. We reviewed the situation. It was impossible that the mining railroad had disappeared. It was virtually impossible that it could be below us. I suggested that perhaps his mining railroad was just the same as our lower level trail; but Steve recalled, vividly, railroad tracks crossing a cliff, and hanging into space. We had followed the entire length of the lower level trail, and had checked the slopes well for hundreds of feet below its line. So, what then?
As we continued, Steve saw a familiar-looking outcrop above us, and as we made for it, he saw a rail. A steep climb brought us to a gully where, perhaps a hundred years past, a trestle had supported narrow-gauge track. The trestle was gone, the track hung in the air, supported by cliffy outcrops at one side. So, we climbed over to the cliffy area, and, voila! There were the railroad tracks, winding sharply around a blasted-out bench on the cliff, and hanging into space at either end of this curved reach. Old cedar ties were still in place, with small railroad spikes, and round nails, and square nails too. It all suggested a turn-of-the-century date, around 1900. We had, again, tremendous views, very similar to those we'd enjoyed earlier.
It was hard to see how far the original line of trestle and track might have continued, to the west, but, as we climbed up above the tracks, the question was likely answered, for we caught sight of a steep-walled, steeply-plunging gully, which I recognized as a quartz vein complex which had been "stoped out" along the surface, to a depth of nearly if not more than twenty feet, measured perpendicular to the overall steep rocky slopes. This may well have been because the material closer to the surface was more weathered, and the gold easier to extract by ordinary, gravity-based methods, i.e., crushing followed by of a sluice box. Sometimes at greater depths, the gold is far harder to separate from other minerals.
We followed the stoped-out vein complex on up the cliff. I have seen very similar workings in the Stanislaus river canyon. At the top of the cliff, the stoped area continued down the far side, and we realized that we had returned to the southern end of our first, highest, level road-trail. Thus Steve's mining railroad was really part of the lower old level trail; and we had just been mistaken, when we thought it had ended at some rocks, earlier.
Thus, the two parallel, almost-level trails are ore cart runs leading from the stoped-out vein complex, north to the ore stockpiles in the little flat with the old mining equipment and the old bulldozed steep road.
Steve says there are other mining artifacts down along the creek itself. I want to emphasize that, not only are these artifacts on private property, but in any case, all such things should be left alone. Carry nothing home, no old railroad spikes, no arrowheads, nothing. Photograph them if you like. Be careful about even mentioning such sites to anyone. It is a shocking fact that many archeological sites have already been looted. This has to stop.
We climbed back to the level summit of Fulda Ridge and retraced our steps back to the ditch and to Steve's jeep.
Later in the day we took a look at various parts of the Lost Camp area, including the proposed new road, to cross Texas Canyon, which is detailed in the THP, and which will require rather extreme cuts on steep slopes and a huge culvert, and, all in all, I would like to see this and other new roads *not* constructed, for this timber harvest, instead, if any harvest occurs, let there be much more in the way of helicopter yarding, much less tractor yarding, and no new roads.
Later we drove down the Lost Camp Divide out of the THP area and into some horrible clearcuts on what I presume is SPI lands.
Such was a very interesting day.
Another road forked left near the gate and we tried it. It almost immediately leveled out and I realized it had been cut into the line of an old ditch, which could only be the historic Bradley & Gardner Ditch, or Placer County Canal, which drew from the East Fork of the North Fork of the North Fork, and went to the hydraulic mines of Dutch Flat and Gold Run, arriving in 1859. It was following almost exactly the 4680' contour where we met it. In a while we reached a locked gate, and, knowing the ditch must swing around Fulda Ridge, followed the road in. We passed a group of small cabins of recent construction, and then suddenly the road ended and we could follow the ditch itself. It is about five feet deep, and six or eight feet across at the top, and was said to have a capacity of 5000 miners inches, in the olden days.
A little less than a mile along the sinuous course of the ditch brought us to Fulda Ridge. Immediately below us to the south, a fine stand of coniferous timber had shaded out the brush, and made for easy going. We noted flagging where we left the ditch, marking it as a "truck road," and knew we were just entering the Lost Camp THP, on the north line of Section 24.
This forest had been logged at least twice, decades ago, we believed, but by a "selective" method, in which only the largest trees had been cut, and the forest canopy had remained largely intact, and no brush and relatively few small trees had become established, in the shade. So, it was a pretty patch of forest, and easy to walk through, and as we descended, the crest of the ridge flattened out to a dead level. Unfortunately this forest will be pretty well all harvested, according to the THP.
Steve has explored this area almost incredibly thoroughly over the past fifty years. He and his friends have pulled off some amazing adventures. For instance, Fulda Creek, below us to the east, has a steep gradient which only gets steeper as it approaches the North Fork of the North Fork, to the south. There is a series of high waterfalls along the creek, and essentially no way to hike up or down this section. Steve and his friends brought ropes and rappelled down the cliffs beside each waterfall in turn, all the way to the river, and then came back up the China Trail.
But this was only one of Steve's forays into lower Fulda Creek. On other occasions he had found an unusual old mining railroad. Since this is within the THP we wished to document it. I myself also hoped to discover some shred of the old trail from Lost Camp to Monumental Camp, constructed in 1862. However, in this I failed. The logging of decades ago had involved bulldozers, and the usual disruption of the land surface had effaced any sign of the old trail.
Reaching the southern end of the flat top of Fulda Ridge, where it drops away in ragged cliffs of the Shoo Fly Complex metasediments, into the main North Fork of the North Fork canyon, we veered east and began working down towards Fulda Creek. Almost immediately we struck a broad old trail or wagon road, which led back to the north and east. Following it, for a time I hoped it was my lost trail from Lost Camp, but soon it was obliterated by bulldozer skid trails from, what, 35 years ago. So we just angled on down the ever-steepening canyon wall, through a thinning mixed coniferouse forest increasingly dominated by Canyon Live Oaks, until another segment of broad trail or wagon road was reached, this, very nearly on a level.
Following it south, we passed sections of dry-laid stone walls, and finally reached a small mining area with abundant chunks of angular quartz scattered around. There the road-trail seemed to end. A sort of gully choked with angular talus was above the terminus, but no tunnel was visible. We made a short scramble beyond to some cliffy outcrops with fine views out into the main canyon, and we could see all the tributaries which make the Gorge of Gorges: Fulda, Sailor Ravine, the North Fork of the North Fork, the East Fork of the North Fork of the North Fork, Burnett Canyon and Wilmont Ravine, and Texas Canyon. Across the main canyon, Sawtooth Ridge rose steeply to Helester Point. There, a drastically ugly SPI clearcut made a square hole in the forest cover.
Fair-weather cumulus clouds graced the pure blue sky. It was cool, perfect for hiking.
Retreating north along the road-trail, I saw a faint old human trail leading down, and we followed it a short distance to a smaller trail, also about level, perhaps one hundred feet lower. This we followed south until it appeared to end at some cliffs. A bit of iron strapping stuck out of the trail at one point, of the sort one sometimes sees in old mine tunnels, a sort of poor man's railroad track, used for moving ore carts along the tunnel. Also, we saw an ancient cable stretching straight down the hill. Steve's recollection was that this cable led down to his mining railroad. However, our level old trail must be explored first, so we turned and followed it north.
It too had its dry-laid stone walls, and we walked it for a long distance, well, a quarter-mile perhaps, and saw Douglas Fir trees of increasing size, one, perhaps six feet in diameter. Strangely, the THP specifically states that there is no old-growth forest within the plan area. These large trees are clearly old-growth. The only logging which had ever occurred at this depth within Fulda Canyon (we were near the 4200' contour), was minor harvest of medium-sized trees, for mining purposes, around 100 years ago.
Suddenly, though, the old trail was crossed by what seemed to be a skid trail, which had been undoubtedly made by a bulldozer, and yet which looked very old. No stumps in the area signalled that it had been made for logging. Its rough steep bench cut had been much softened by the passage of decades. We tentatively ascribed an age of fifty years to it. The level old trail did not seem to continue, so we followed the steep bulldozer trail down a short distance. There we found large stockpiles of quartz ore, and a variety of mining equipment, including an ore cart, a sort of crucible, and several odd tubes of galvanized metal, something like water heater tanks, but meant to rotate on a longitudinal axis, some still having their axles. We could not imagine what they were for, but, clearly, it had to do with gold mining. They were of several different diameters.
We were now close to the creek, on a small flat, everywhere sloping, but not too far from level, and with a find stand of large Douglas Fir. Steve's sense was that we were far to the north of the mining railroad, which broke out onto the sunny cliffs we had visited earlier. So, with considerable difficulty, we contoured along to the south, while the creek fell away below us, and reached increasingly rocky areas with some rather large outcrops, almost house-sized. At one point Steve climbed up some shattered rock above me, and as I followed, I came within inches of a rattlesnake, which he had passed already. It was a calm snake, half-hidden in a hole, and did not rattle. I stepped away a few feet and climbed up after Steve.
After a time we found a great viewpoint and stopped for lunch. We reviewed the situation. It was impossible that the mining railroad had disappeared. It was virtually impossible that it could be below us. I suggested that perhaps his mining railroad was just the same as our lower level trail; but Steve recalled, vividly, railroad tracks crossing a cliff, and hanging into space. We had followed the entire length of the lower level trail, and had checked the slopes well for hundreds of feet below its line. So, what then?
As we continued, Steve saw a familiar-looking outcrop above us, and as we made for it, he saw a rail. A steep climb brought us to a gully where, perhaps a hundred years past, a trestle had supported narrow-gauge track. The trestle was gone, the track hung in the air, supported by cliffy outcrops at one side. So, we climbed over to the cliffy area, and, voila! There were the railroad tracks, winding sharply around a blasted-out bench on the cliff, and hanging into space at either end of this curved reach. Old cedar ties were still in place, with small railroad spikes, and round nails, and square nails too. It all suggested a turn-of-the-century date, around 1900. We had, again, tremendous views, very similar to those we'd enjoyed earlier.
It was hard to see how far the original line of trestle and track might have continued, to the west, but, as we climbed up above the tracks, the question was likely answered, for we caught sight of a steep-walled, steeply-plunging gully, which I recognized as a quartz vein complex which had been "stoped out" along the surface, to a depth of nearly if not more than twenty feet, measured perpendicular to the overall steep rocky slopes. This may well have been because the material closer to the surface was more weathered, and the gold easier to extract by ordinary, gravity-based methods, i.e., crushing followed by of a sluice box. Sometimes at greater depths, the gold is far harder to separate from other minerals.
We followed the stoped-out vein complex on up the cliff. I have seen very similar workings in the Stanislaus river canyon. At the top of the cliff, the stoped area continued down the far side, and we realized that we had returned to the southern end of our first, highest, level road-trail. Thus Steve's mining railroad was really part of the lower old level trail; and we had just been mistaken, when we thought it had ended at some rocks, earlier.
Thus, the two parallel, almost-level trails are ore cart runs leading from the stoped-out vein complex, north to the ore stockpiles in the little flat with the old mining equipment and the old bulldozed steep road.
Steve says there are other mining artifacts down along the creek itself. I want to emphasize that, not only are these artifacts on private property, but in any case, all such things should be left alone. Carry nothing home, no old railroad spikes, no arrowheads, nothing. Photograph them if you like. Be careful about even mentioning such sites to anyone. It is a shocking fact that many archeological sites have already been looted. This has to stop.
We climbed back to the level summit of Fulda Ridge and retraced our steps back to the ditch and to Steve's jeep.
Later in the day we took a look at various parts of the Lost Camp area, including the proposed new road, to cross Texas Canyon, which is detailed in the THP, and which will require rather extreme cuts on steep slopes and a huge culvert, and, all in all, I would like to see this and other new roads *not* constructed, for this timber harvest, instead, if any harvest occurs, let there be much more in the way of helicopter yarding, much less tractor yarding, and no new roads.
Later we drove down the Lost Camp Divide out of the THP area and into some horrible clearcuts on what I presume is SPI lands.
Such was a very interesting day.
Lost Camp THP Comments
Tim Lasko took the time to call Rich Jenkins and Auburn CDF and wrote the following:
*******
Russell,
I placed a call yesterday to Rich Jenkins and Gary - possibly Britner? and
received return calls from both today. They both told me to write a letter
to William Schultz CDF (6105 Airport Road, Redding, CA 96002.) In the
interest of time, Rich also recommended faxing a copy to 530.224.4841. The
faxed copy would be time / date stamped and placed directly in the file. I
was assured that any letters would receive an official response.
My conversation was lengthy and friendly with Rich. He admitted that he has
never been to the site and informed me that a relatively new CDF
archeologist covers the Central Sierra. Dr. Garrett Fenenga works out of
the Sacramento office, but lives in Placerville. Rich suggested that I
request Dr. Fenenga to review the site. Rich stated that by making that
request, in a formal letter, it would almost guarantee the CDF take the time
to send an archeologist to the site. He also stated that it would be
helpful to submit a map with the areas of concern shown, to ensure that they
are included in the review.
I will write a letter and send it today. What are you thoughts on
submitting a map? I think we should send more letters to William Schultz
CDF (6105 Airport Road, Redding, CA 96002.)
Thanks
Tim Lasko
*******
Tim is right, we need more letters ot Schultz, and we need an extension of the public comment period! And, as Tim found, we should and will request a CDF archeological review. And we should and shall make a map.
Thanks Tim!
*******
Russell,
I placed a call yesterday to Rich Jenkins and Gary - possibly Britner? and
received return calls from both today. They both told me to write a letter
to William Schultz CDF (6105 Airport Road, Redding, CA 96002.) In the
interest of time, Rich also recommended faxing a copy to 530.224.4841. The
faxed copy would be time / date stamped and placed directly in the file. I
was assured that any letters would receive an official response.
My conversation was lengthy and friendly with Rich. He admitted that he has
never been to the site and informed me that a relatively new CDF
archeologist covers the Central Sierra. Dr. Garrett Fenenga works out of
the Sacramento office, but lives in Placerville. Rich suggested that I
request Dr. Fenenga to review the site. Rich stated that by making that
request, in a formal letter, it would almost guarantee the CDF take the time
to send an archeologist to the site. He also stated that it would be
helpful to submit a map with the areas of concern shown, to ensure that they
are included in the review.
I will write a letter and send it today. What are you thoughts on
submitting a map? I think we should send more letters to William Schultz
CDF (6105 Airport Road, Redding, CA 96002.)
Thanks
Tim Lasko
*******
Tim is right, we need more letters ot Schultz, and we need an extension of the public comment period! And, as Tim found, we should and will request a CDF archeological review. And we should and shall make a map.
Thanks Tim!
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