Headin' South

Yesterday I took a drive up the Janesville Grade to see if there were any open spots on the road so I could go bike riding. Beyond the upper Clarks Loop road, where they stopped plowing, it looked like solid snow cover on the road, so no bike riding up there yet. Plan B for me was to head out to the valley to a place I had been to about 30 years ago. There is a road that comes off of the road going to the top of Shaffer Mountain that a friend of mine took me on with his new 4-wheel drive truck, back in the 70's. I never have been back all these years even though it's right in my back yard, so-to-speak. It turned out to be a great place to ride my bike, totally closed off to the public from the bottom due to fences and gates.. which don't give me much of a problem when I'm bike riding.

There were many flowers growing out there, these were the prettiest but I guess I need to get myself a good flower book so I can start identifying them. Right Tom? Anyway, the temps were in the mid 60's, the sun was out all day even though there were some clouds in the sky, and life was/is good. Today I have to get ready for my trip down south to the desert where I hope to be wearing shorts and t shirts every day for the next week.

Sun bathing

Yeah, that's right, sun bathing in the middle of March. I took a long walk today up to the first tunnel on the Bizz. I ran into a couple who were walking very close together when they passed me... must be love. They were the only people I saw up there even though the trail was in pretty good shape. I don't subscribe to the bullshit idea that the sun is bad. I tan myself slowly every year, carefully timing my exposure until I can stay out in the sun for several hours before burning. In fact, last summer I never got burnt by doing it that way and I got a killer tan as a result. I never use sunscreen anymore except on rare occasions. All things in moderation I always say, and the sun is actually good for you. Sure feels good too.

As you can see, there is a lot of open ground up there with most of the snow left in the shady spots. Mid 50's today so tomorrow I'm planning on driving up the Janesville Grade to see if I can ride my bike up there. Film at 11:00.

The Ides of March

I remember having to explain the Ides of March to an old supervisor years ago. He had heard of it but didn't know it was the 15th of March. There is some historical significance to this date concerning a Roman emperor, in fact that's where the phrase comes from, but the personal significance of it for me is that we are approaching the Vernal Equinox. The equinox, March 20 this year, is the first day of spring. Yesterday we had a storm blow through here and it snowed an inch or so but we are supposed to warm up again next week. Wild weather swings are expected this time of year and the temps here in Susanville can change 30° or more between the night time and daytime.
Last year I was down in Saline Valley camping at the hot springs on the equinox with my friend Chris who is the star of this video. This year I'm heading down to Death Valley on the 21st to meet Chris for some more camping and I hope to end up in Saline at the end of that trip.

Warning!!

If you happen to be looking at my blog and see comments you want to view, be aware that there is a spam thing going on here. If the comment has links to another site, don't click on them. I don't know if it's malware or just spam, but in either case, comments should show up on the first try and if they don't, then I would advise against clicking on any links.

Lookin' for spring

The last 3 days I have been out looking at stuff, riding my bike around and I had a nice long walk up the Bizz a few days ago. All that time I was busy looking at the trees and shrubs to see any sign of life. I actually found that there are many things starting to grow now. Trees in several places were starting to sprout as well as the rose bush in my back yard.

So on one of my bike rides I went out Wingfield Road to where it meets the Bass Hill Road and then came down Highway 395 to Johnstonville. At the juntion of Wingfield and Bass Hill Rd's I got that picture of Thompson Peak. Sure was a pretty day that day.

Today I took a trip down memory lane and went up by the "L" and then out to the old dump. Back in the 70's there was a dump up above the college. The road still goes out there but it's closed and gated. I went out there and tried to remember what it used to look like. They have covered the site with construction debris so it didn't look the same. There is a lot of ground back in those hills where there are roads I can ride in the summer when it's dry. There were way too many muddy areas today so doubtless I'll be back.

This second picture is one I took at the end of a street up near the "L" looking back toward the big town of Susanville. Still lots of snow around. Got another storm coming this weekend that is supposed to drop the temps 20° so winter is not done yet.

Out in the desert...

Went up Janesville Grade this morning to see how much snow there is. It had been plowed to the upper Clarks Loop road but impassable beyond there. The snow is so solid you can walk on it with no problem and it's not going to be melting very fast since its almost solid ice. It was nice to get up in the woods but I was heading for the desert today. I went out on the back side of Shaffer Mountain and did a loop ride that was pretty flat. There are many places where you can find artifacts out there and I found this grind stone and many more in various places. There is something kind of special to find stuff like this out in the areas where people used to live.

Here is an arrow head I found. After I was done photographing it I carefully replaced it where I had found it. I know it's illegal to pick these things up but I put this one back, honest. I'm sure anyone else who finds it will pick it up and take it.


I'm going to have to get out there a little more, I never saw a soul all day and it was good to be in the wide open spaces.

Gnarly..

What else can you say about a pine cone like that? You wouldn't want to get hit on the head with one of these. The Digger Pine, which is the name I know it by, has been renamed by the Forest Service or someone and my friend Bob tries unsuccessfully to correct me when I call them Diggers. I'll have to have him remind me of the illegal name again when we go fishing at the end of the month, I don't remember it.


There were a few more flowers today than there were last week, this one was new. I guess I should start carrying a flower book around with me so I can identify them. Not only were there more flowers, but the water has come up about 4 feet since last week and that made a difference. You have to drive way out at the place we usually camp to get to a place where it's deep enough to launch a boat.



This last picture is of my nemisis. That vile weed severely limits my cross country treking when I'm down here. One thing about it though is that it is absolutely stunning when it's just bursting out in the spring. It's bright red color makes it really easy to spot right now but eventually the leaves turn green and they blend in more. My last year firefighting I got into it down in southern California on a fire and got a great rash. I hate this shit but it sure is purdy!