Capay Valley Hiking Club-- Sunday, 8 Oct, Redbud Trail
Sam Bledsoe
There really will be a hike schedule this coming Fall, Winter & Spring-- starting this next Sunday, 8 October, with a walk over the Redbud Trail to Baton Flat, optionally across Cache Creek (and a further optional trek to Wilson Flat), and return to the BLM parking lot on State Highway 20.
This will be a great early autumn walk, about 3-4 miles if you don't cross the creek. If you do cross, we have usually gone about a mile along the S side of Cache Creek (CC) before turning back, making this a 5-6 mile hike. If you should choose to go all the way to Wilson Valley, it's about 3 miles from creek crossing to the valley-- that would make a 9-10 mile walk. We'll each have some options about how long we want to walk-- for myself, I'll probably take the 3-4 mile option and, if I do cross the creek (assuming the water is low, as it usually is this time of year) just walk a little ways along the S side of Cache Creek.
The map on Andy's web site shows the Redbud Trail winding S-bound up a ridge (about 500' climb) and then meandering eastward on a steep ridge top paralleling and to the N of CC-- great views of a wild and nearly inaccessible stretch of CC. Finally it switch-backs downhill to the creek. If you cross you find yourself initially in a flat, open-forest riparian area. Further along, the shoreline becomes steep and several scrambles around gullies are necessary. The final 2 miles of the trail to Wilson Valley includes quite varied terrain, some forested and open, some more scrubby and several areas topping out into chaparral brush vegetation. But its all on a "good" trail. Finally you come out on a down-hill ridge to a little plateau overlooking Wilson Valley across the mouth of Rocky Creek as it enters CC-- breathtaking!
Returning from Baton Flat, we may be able to take a short cut and not re-climb the ridge. For a time guide-line, I find a relaxed hike with rest stops goes along at about 2 miles per hour, not including lunch. So those electing the shortest route can plan on about three hours on the trail, including an hour lunch break to schmooze or snooze along the shoreline. However the catch in this excursion is the ~40 drive to the trail head from our rendezvous in Guinda-- nearly an hours drive, 22 miles N to SR 20, then about 18 miles W to the BLM parking area (with well-maintained pit toilets) where the N fork of CC crosses SR 20. If you're coming from Napa, the trail head is about 8 miles E of Clearlake Oaks on SR 20. The Ukiah BLM website offers some information about the Redbud trail and some maps .
I get lots of questions about "When will we get back?"-- you'll have to compute it yourself using the above info with your choice of options. As the sign in the lobby of the Saratoga, WY, Wolf Hotel says "If you're in a hurry, you're in the wrong place."
That's the current event, now what about the rest of the year? The Yolohiker web site Calendar of Hikes is not updated for 2006-7, mainly because we don't yet have a schedule. The problem is that we leaders, mainly Andy and myself plus Carol, Herb and Andrea, need to expand our inventory of hike leaders-- so listen up, here's the plan:
We will have hikes on the second Sunday and fourth Saturday (with exceptions-- see calendar below) of each month through early next June. As usual, they will all start with a 9am rendezvous at either the Guinda Post Office or the Winters public parking lot at the intersection of Railroad and Russell. We have a large inventory of past hikes and a similar inventory of able-bodied hikers who know them and are capable of leading others on these hikes. All we need to do is match-up the dates, hikes and leaders. The Trail maps page of Yolohiker shows 15 hikes and Cross-country page shows 6 more. And there are a half-dozen or so additional, eg, Long Canyon, Zim-Zim Falls, etc., not yet on the website. Here's the bottom line: If you know one of these hikes (or a new one, not yet in our repertoire) and want to see it on the list, then pick a date and email me volunteering to lead the hike. If you've been on a hike with me or Andy, you know how it's done and we'll be happy to provide pointers, guidance etc. As these come in, Andy will replace To Be Announced on each date with the hike title and leader. I'll include it in this newsletter writeup and schedule. But we need to make Yolohikers and the Capay Valley Hiking Club into more of a DIY adventure (instead of a DIMyself venture). Several people have already volunteered but now is the time to get the specifics to me-- where will we be going on Oct 28??
A little retrospective-- it has been a great and exemplary year for outdoor enthusiasts in N California--
- Mike Thompson's Wilderness Bill passed (29 Sep) both houses of Congress ;
- Tuleyome freed Beryessa Peak;
- Cache Creek is a California Wild and Scenic River (one year ago today, thank you Lois Wolk!);
- The BLM's Record of Decision opened up vast areas of Lake Beryessa shoreline to the public.
These are only a few milestones-- I see a greatly invigorated public interest and activity in bringing the joys of our natural environment into the realm of availability to all of us. Check out the organizations linked in the bulleted items above if you'd like to know more and get involved.
See you on the trail-- and I hope to hear from you about leading a hike! --sam
Carpool from Davis--
Our car-free participants from the Davis area would appreciate a ride from
anyone driving from Davis with an extra seat. If you can offer one, stop by the Big 5 lot (in the Mall at the NE corner of Covell Rd and Highway 113)
and check for vagabundos who will be there by 8:00. Thanks!
Rendezvous in
Guinda, post office parking lot, * 0900*; we'll carpool from there to the trail head. This Sunday we'll be joined by participants visiting the
Hoes Down Celebration on Saturday at Full Belly Farm in the Valley. If you want a pre-prepared lunch delivered to you at the rendezvous,
check with the Hoes Down crew on Saturday. Don't forget the usual
essentials-- lunch, water, appropriate protective gear-- rain, sun and/or wind gear, sturdy footwear.
The Boilerplate:
As usual, we will need to collect your signature on a
"Waiver of Liability, Assumption of Risk, and Indemnity Agreement" for the Tuleyome group which has taken the Capay Valley Hiking Club and Yolohikers (one and the same) under its wing. Why Tuleyome? One of my objectives in leading these hikes is to get myself out into the countryside more often and to get more countryside on which I can inflict myself and you folks-- Tuleyome is helping to
Free Beryessa Peak !, (which has actually happened
!). Please download (you will need Acrobat PDF file reader installed), print out, sign and bring along the Waiver from the link above, but we'll have plenty of copies
if you have trouble. Thanks!
Check yolohiker web page for a map for most hikes and email or call me (cell phone, below) if you need further information.
This schedule is on the web (as soon as we get the info, that is) , linked from the yolohiker page, with lots more hike information.
The usual rendezvous and time is the Guinda Post Office on Highway 16 (you don't need a map of Guinda!), 9 am, unless otherwise noted* below. Alternative rendezvous for hikes in the S and SW parts of our area is
Winters parking lot at intersection of Railroad and Main. Hikes will be held rain or shine, with possible alternates or
no-go's decided at the rendezvous. Kids and dogs always welcome-- an early return is always a possibility if you or your companion don't feel like making the complete route.
Calendar: 2006-7 Hike Schedule
(If I've made a mistake in picking 2nd Sun and 4th Sat, make an adjustment-- suggest an alternative date for your hike, as appropriate --sam)
Oct 8 Sam Redbud Trail
Oct 28 TBA
Nov 12 TBA
Dec 2 (because 25 Nov is Thanksgiving) TBA
Dec 10 TBA
Dec 23 TBA
Jan 1 TBA (Third annual New Years Day excursion)
Jan 14 TBA
Jan 27 TBA
Feb 11 TBA
Feb 24 TBA
Mar 11 TBA
Mar 24 TBA
Apr 8 TBA
Apr 28 TBA
May 13 TBA
May 26 TBA
Jun 10 TBA
*Rendezvous in
Winters, not Guinda
or go to the Google Group < http://groups.google.com/> site and do it
yourself --sam]
--
Dr. L.J. (Sam) Bledsoe sble...@gmail.com
Winter Creek Ranch < http://wintercreekranch.com>, N7DTW
18080 County Rd 70 (530) 796-3723, Skype I-net +1 530 554 2796, Cellphone (916) 207-4086
Brooks CA 95606