Fourth of July, my one day off from the 33-day marathon of teaching summer field geology. A precious resource. A chance to recover from the first half and rejuvenate enough to take on the second. We took off the afternoon of the 3rd and headed north stopping in at Travertine Hot Springs near Bridgeport where I had not been in well over a decade. We enjoyed wondering around the extensive travertine ridges indicating a past time when the springs must have been considerably more active and sampling the temperature of the many pools tucked away at various locations over the hillside. Being the day before a holiday it was quite busy so we did little more than dip feet before heading off to find a camp spot. A slow bumpy dirt road brought us to Buckeye Campground where thankfully there were still open spots. After setting up camp and dinner we drove down the road to Buckeye Hot Springs where we had a nice long soak at the upper pool, enjoying the stars.
In the morning we opted for a soak in the lower Buckeye pool nestled between the snowmelt swollen creek and a giant pumpkin-colored travertine mound. I spent most of the time in the shade beneath the natural overhang out of the sun. We drove on for Sonora Pass with an unfortunate setback. As we hit the highway the lower tire pressure light signified a critical leak. Another 20 minutes of changing the tire and we were back on our way limping on the spare. The drive up and over Sonora Pass was more scenic than I remembered. With the atypical snow year everything looked more like early spring than mid-summer.
Over Sonora Pass we dropped down into Deadman Valley, which had some remarkably scenic stretches of steep-walled Sierra granitoids. Eventually we hit the Stanislaus and drove up to the roadend at Kennedy Meadow. We took our time studying the river in sections, driving and stopping to get out, the full stretch all the way to Dardanelle. Of note were a few major rapids and a few pesky log jams that would need to be portaged. The gorge below the Eureka Valley Campground was particularly notable as a place we did not want to end up. We had a suitably "country" 4th of July meal at a food truck at fire-ravaged Dardanelle. We then drove up to our put-in upstream of Deadman Campground.
After one of the bigger and more sustained rapids of our entire run we had about a mile of moderately moving crystal-clear Class II to enjoy. One of the roads, campgrounds, and cabins were nearly always in sight, which did a lot to reduce the commitment and adventure. The water temperatures were comfortable and the river was overall relaxing. We did have a couple portages to contend with around log jams. At the one blind corner we couldn't see from the road a downed log the full width of the river sneaked up on us. In the mayhem to get to the side of the river my paddle was dropped and rapidly floated downstream. Heather opted to hike with her boat down to the picnic area while I borrowed her paddle and tried my luck at recovering mine.
Through a rapid and a full 1000 feet past the log mishap I spotted my colorful paddle waylaid on some vegetation on a side channel. Thrilled, I quickly collapsed the paddle and stroked on to the picnic area where I arrived just in time to catch Heather. Back to two paddles she jumped back on the river to paddle another mile. The last 0.3 mi had a chain of some of the larger features on the run (Class III+) in short duration with a now miss exit after so Heather portaged herself and I got to run it, hike back up, and run again with the second boat. It was certainly my favorite whitewater of the short 4 mile run we eeked out.
We scored the easiest hitch ever. As I pulled my boat into the takeout eddy at the Eureka Valley Campground a second time the friendly camp host walked over and asked us if we needed a ride. Wow that was easy! We happily took her up on her offer, deflated boats, and drove in her pickup straight back to our vehicle. What luck! We were soon back on our way. We stopped briefly at Sonora Pass proper for a short walk in the snow to a waterfall and then to the Leavitt Fall overlook. , then onto Bridgeport which was in full Independence Day mode. We ate at the local burger joint, had another stop at Travertine Hot Springs (this time soaking in the squishiest mud pool), then onward back to Convict Lake. I slept well that night.
We drove on to Bridgeport which was in full Independence Day mode. We ate at the local burger joint, had another stop at Travertine Hot Springs (this time soaking in the squishiest mud pool), then onward back to Convict Lake. I slept well that night.
