I continue to explore the Grouse Lakes region of the Sierra, and Tuesdays seem to be the day for that. I can’t think of any songs about Tuesday mornings, but this one comes close:
So I looked at a very useful map of the area and decided to visit Lake Spaulding, a large reservoir owned by PG&E, the monopoly power company here in California. Naturally, I chose the most difficult route, a three mile walk with 1200 feet of elevation gain, instead of the much more popular and easier one-mile slightly downhill stroll. This trail starts off by going up the north side of a fork of the Yuba River. There are several swimming holes there, but they are very popular, especially later in the day (as I saw on the return trip), so I didn’t stop.
Lake Spaulding turned out to be very clear and accessible for swimming, and it was completely deserted when I was there:
The water was cold, but not painfully so.
Just to the left of the picture there is a PG&E power plant that is fed by an aqueduct, but it didn’t seem to be running; perhaps that only happens during spring runoff.
One the hike back I passed two large groups of girls doing backpacking and day hiking. They were starting pretty late; the temperatures were up in the 80s by then. You have to hit the trails early in the morning to get the best hiking conditions here.
Pretty place! Could almost forget it’s a reservoir