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Dejá Vu Hike
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We’d reached the end of October and we knew we’d better make a last trek up to the mountains before winter weather set in and covered the trails with snow. Good thing, too, since it’s raining now as I write this. Rain here could mean snow up higher, although so far it’s a warm storm. Drought-stricken California desperately needs a good snowpack, so I’ll keep my fingers crossed.
Our usual hiking group could not reach consensus on where to hike, so we ladies were on our own heading into the Grouse Ridge area while the guys took off to Loch Leven Lakes. Their trail had an easier, quicker access.
We were treated to some beautiful fall color, just as a teaser, on our way into the mountains.
We encountered a bit of road construction and had a half hour of rough dirt road to traverse. Personally, I enjoy the dirt roads. They take me back to my days of learning to drive, when we kids would spend hours on the dirt roads, learning to shift in an old pick-up truck.
We crossed the Yuba River on our way in; you can see how low the water level was. Mostly you can see the large boulders and very little water. Rain, snow, we need it all!
Annie Oakley was with us and had not been on these trails. My camera was still at the factory being repaired so all of the photo credits go to Annie and Ali. It was actually kind of fun to let someone else be responsible for the photography, even though I did keep reaching for my camera every time I saw another beautiful scene. Ali offered me the use of her camera time and time again, but I made myself say, “No, thank you.” I knew I could count on the two of them to come up with some beautiful shots and, as you will see, they did not disappoint.
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don't forget the hiking sticks
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Once we’d finally reached the trailhead we geared up and got ready to hit the still dusty trail.
First things first – Ali pulled out her topo maps to see if she could find the elusive Sand Ridge trail. We were familiar with the Glacier Lake Trail, but wanted to make a loop and on prior hikes had not seen signs for this other trail that we knew existed and wanted to find.
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off into the wilderness we go
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We headed off down the trail, knowing that at the very least we could do an “out and back” on the Glacier Lake Trail. At best we’d find the Sand Ridge Trail and be able to make a loop by taking it to Glacier Lake and return on the Glacier Lake Trail. It was all an adventure to us.
There was plenty of eye candy to be seen along the way.
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we wouldn't let Butterfly get on this one
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This area has many little lakes and ponds, even during this time of drought. In the summer it’s a great place to enjoy swimming and fishing.
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the gnarled trees are an indication of the rough winters
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Ali has been known to spend a hot summer day hiking to as many lakes as she can, swimming in each one.
We were pleasantly surprised to find that some kind soul had hand-lettered “Sand Ridge Trail” one of the signs at an important intersection of some trails. We had suspected this was where we needed to make our break off the main trail, but now we had the evidence we needed. Ali and I had found ourselves at this very intersection once before on another hike, very confused (even with maps), so signs with lots of information were very appreciated.
Since we had started hiking a little late, due to a delay caused by road construction, we did not reach Glacier Lake at the time our stomachs told us it was time to eat. We did, however, reach another lake (name unknown to us) that served as a beautiful dining location.
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what can I say - just pretty and calming
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Annie calls this "Ansel Ali"
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get a load of "mystery woman in white"
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Since we had no impatient men along with us, we had time to play with cameras, balancing them on rocks and experimenting with their self-timers. Amazingly, we actually got photos with all of us in them! Case in point:
Rita, the dog, is even in the photo!
As much as I hated to stop sunning on a rock, we eventually moved along on the trail, only to encounter even more stunning sights.
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we admired this for a long time
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Mama Nature was out-doing herself
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It wasn’t too long before we reached Glacier Lake.
Butterfly and I plopped on a log to take a quick rest.
Annie Oakley had not seen these sights before and for some reason she broke out into a crazy dance.
Loyal Rita stayed close, but even she thought her mistress had lost her mind.
The next thing we knew, Annie ran down the hillside, stripped off her clothes, and leaped into the freezing lake. The lake called GLACIER Lake! Wouldn’t you think the name alone might have given her a clue? Her screams echoed off the mountainsides – the solid rock mountainsides.
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imagine the screaming from the cold
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Poor Rita became so concerned about her lunatic mistress that she forced herself to follow her into the freezing water to find out what was causing her distress.
Both quickly came back out of the water, shivering and dripping icicles. But Annie said the dip in Glacier Lake made her whole summer. Summer? I reminder her it was fall as I handed her my fleece to use to dry off, but nothing could wipe the grin off her face.
We gathered up our gear and got ready to once again hit the trail when Ali asked, “Has anyone seen my sunglasses?”
Oh. No. She’s lost her sunglasses. Not just any sunglasses, either, but the very expensive sunglasses her husband gave her for her birthday.
There is much discussion. She rifles her waist pack and all her pockets, looking for them, all in vain. She tries to remember when she last had them. Annie Oakley even starts looking through pictures on her camera to see if she has a photo of Ali that shows the elusive sunglasses. The last time any of us can remember them for sure is at our lunch spot, and those are the only photos where they show up.
We decide that we need to start hiking back to our lunch spot to look for them, although Ali protests when she hears this plan, saying she can do without them. All of us, though, know what it feels like to lose the perfect sunglasses. We’re not going to let that happen if we can help it.
Off we go, retracing our earlier steps.
“Haven’t we seen these spots before?” I joke, as we went along. “I’m going to call this the ‘Ground Hog Day Hike’ when I write about!” We all laughed and I seriously was going to name this blog that … until I talked to Queenabelle on the phone the other day. We were sharing hiking stories and I was telling her about this one and how it was a “Ground Hog Day” hike. She had no idea what I was talking about. That got us (me and Queenabelle) laughing even harder than usual (we always laugh ourselves silly on the phone) and finally I decided it was better to use the “Dejá Vu” title for the hike.
Ali searched at every place along the way where she had left the trail to take photos. I, however, turned out to be the one who spied her glasses on the trail, still attached to the thingy that hangs around your neck to keep you from losing them. They were no worse for wear.
Now we had a decision to make. Should we continue in this direction, retracing the trail all the way back to the car? Or should we turn around, go back to Glacier Lake, and continue on Glacier Lake trail, making the loop? This way would take longer. I was a bit concerned about the second choice because it was already almost 3pm and it was a good 5 miles from Glacier Lake, part of which would be strenuous. I like to allow time for unexpected problems (this was the same trail where Butterfly fell, cut open her head and required 8 sutures). I didn’t like the idea of racing against the setting sun if we had any issues. So I voted against the Glacier Lake route.
Butterfly, however, insisted that we take the Glacier Lake route because she did not want to retrace the route we had already hiked. Plus, she said, it had only taken us 10 minutes to hike to where the glasses were! Ali was willing to do whatever anyone else wanted to do. Annie Oakley was not willing to get between me and Butterfly. I gave in and we headed back to Glacier Lake.
“Haven’t we seen this part of the trail before?” I asked, again, as we hiked along.
Ali and I were in front, with Butterfly and Annie lagging behind us.
Ali said, “Tammy, you’re going to have to explain to Annie about not letting Butterfly slow down and talk or we’re never going to make it before dark!”
“I know, I know – problem is, she’s being nice and letting Butterfly run the show … I know exactly what’s happening: Butterfly is stopping to tell her stories!”
We waited for them and when they finally caught up I rattled off some instructions.
“Annie, you can’t let her stop to tell you a story! You have to tell her, ‘Walk and talk!’”
“Butterfly, no slowing down while you talk!”
Annie said, “Well, we were just meandering along, enjoying ourselves.”
“Yeah, well, we have no time for meandering!”
We reached Glacier Lake and with only a little searching found the Glacier Lake trail and took off. We pointed out to Butterfly that it took us 25 minutes to reach the lake, not the 10 minutes that she claimed it would. I was beginning to think we’d made a mistake to go this route.
We couldn’t resist stopping for a photo in all this pretty color.
After the photo stop Butterfly, still busy talking, took the lead. I could see the sun going down farther and farther on the horizon, so I said over my shoulder, “I’m going to pass her and try to pick up the pace.”
Off I went, zipping around Butterfly and heading down the trail faster than she was moving, hoping she would move along a little faster. I think she gets distracted in her storytelling and forgets to keep moving at a good clip.
“It worked!” Annie yelled. Hallelujah! We might not have to pull the flashlights out of our backpacks at this rate!
Actually we made it back to the car in plenty of time. Really I just wanted to be able to navigate the nasty part of the dirt road with plenty of light, and I had that in spades.
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won't be long before they'll be snow-covered
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There’s an old truck near the trailhead that’s always amusing. A tree fell on the cab and it’s been left to rust.
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I have no idea why we did this - blame it on fatigue
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Doesn’t Rita look as if she’s thinking we’ve lost our minds?!
As we left the mountains behind us, the setting sun gave us one last blast of glorious color on the trees. I hit the brakes and the photographers jumped out of the car.
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Annie, get back in the car!
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Is it possible to have too much fun on a hike?
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