February 24, 2018 - Corrine Lake

Title: February 24, 2018 - Corrine Lake
Hike Info : Description :  Background :  Flowers and Plants

 

 Trail head: Road 222 and Corrine Lake Road, North Fork

Hike Info:

Type: Hiking

Trail: Corrine Lake Road

Destination: Corrine Lake Road

Distance:  6.53 miles

Start Time: 8:06

End Time:  11:23

Travel Time:  3:16 (2.00 mph)

Moving Time:  2:21 (2.78 mph)

Elevation Rise:  736' ¹

Descent: 453‘

Maximum Elevation: 2,555'

GPS Tracks

 
  ¹For once, the elevation rise seems more correct than the descent. I am including the profile from Google Earth as well, which confirms this.

Stopping by Corrine Lake

Description:

It rained, and then snowed up in the mountain Thursday. Friday, it turned pretty cold. Our original destination was the Merced River Gorge, starting at Briceburg. First, one of the people said they would be going to Mariposa via a different route. Then I saw a picture on Facebook of the snow in oakhurst-about 6”. Then all the highways in the area had some sort of chain control at some point. So we decided to move the hike to Corrine Lake from Briceburg. Then to confirm our decision, I saw an article about the many traffic accidents along 41. So spent a good part of Friday night notifying people of the change in plans.

Towers on a mountain-maybe Black Mtn

Saturday morning breaks and it is COLD down here in Fresno. Below 30 degrees. This California boy is feeling it. But we meet people in the parking lot-there are seven of us going. I think the weather and all got people to reconsider. Looks like an enjoyable group though. Only Carol and Eileen we have hiked with before. But looking forward to hiking with Marie, Thomas and his friend Robin. It is time to leave at 7:00am. We go up 41 until the North Fork turn off. Then follow that road for 16 miles, until right before North Fork. We follow Road 222 for a couple of more miles until we see the flume and turn onto Corrine Lake Road. You can drive this road in all the way to the Lake, but we only go in about a quarter mile to a wide spot on the road.

View to the North

 
We could have driven all the way in, but what fun is that? The seven of us get out. I make my speech-really quick for me, after it is cold, and then we take off on our walk. It looks like going over I am walking at close to a 3mph pace. I am content with that. Not breathing hard and the legs are not complaining. I talk with Robin a lot-we have been involved in similar occupations. Much better than Wednesday’s hike where about half way through my legs gave out. By the way, there are spots of snow in the shadows, but nothing on the road.

Exiting the lakte

Either because of the conversations, freshness of the air, or I am stronger than last Wednesday, the miles seem to be rolling by. I notice I am not taking many pictures, but that may mean I have not had a need to stop very often. We hit a part of the road which is paved. This leads us right to the pumphouse by Corrine Lake. There is a clean outhouse here which many of us find convient. Then we wander to the far side of the lake.

Flume entering lake

From here, we have a discussion of the various peaks around us. We think there is something towards the Southeast. Maybe a lookout? But maybe not. Thomas knows the area pretty well-I do not know it by sight. So he starts to name off the peaks and stuff. I make a comment that the center of California is just down the hill from here. In looking at some maps, I think I had the right idea, but maybe not the right direction or distance.

The lake itself is small, maybe a football field plus in length and half of a football field in width. With little or no wind, the streams of clouds reflected on the water-I think Sherri was able to capture some of that.

After talking a bit at the lake, we started on our trip back. Coming over, we only saw some barking dogs and a few hawks as far as animals. Coming back, we saw one hiker crossing our road and taking off up a hill. None of us gave chase, but all were wondering where was he going. Also two vehicles traveled the road-both seemed to be intent on fishing the lake.

Spotted Slash Pile Smoke

We are a bit slower coming back. Not so much from being tired, but stopping to look at a few things. Such as there was several slash fire burning. So we tried to identify places where they were. On one of them, flames could be seen. But then a building caught my attention. Its golden, pointed roof is unusual. Some kind of temple or something, I think. Or maybe an alien spaceship in disguise. I do not know. We also talked about some of the fires in the area, both around Corrine Lake and at Cascadel Woods.

We get back to the car pretty early for our hikes-about 11:20. We suggest that we can eat at La Cabana in North Fork. Seems like a good idea to all, so we head over there. Lunch is good; all are content. Then off we go, back to Fresno. Sherri and I get home at the remarkable early hour of 1:30.

Background

Center of California. The exact geographic Center of California is at 37°09′58″N 119°26′58″W. It is about 50’ off of the road and requires a bit of stair climbing to get there. To find Cal Center, travel 4.7 miles east from downtown North Fork along County Road 225 toward the Sierra Vista Scenic Byway, then turn right onto Italian Bar Road (still Road 225) toward Redinger Lake. Travel about 2.7 miles and watch for the CAL-CENTER sign on the left. The stairway rises about 21 feet to reach the compass rose at the exact center of the state. From the Sierra News Online. There is also a Huell Howser episode on this spot from 1995. 

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Gold Topped Building

The golden topped building we see off in the distance is called Dhamma Mahāvana, a branch of the California Vipassana Center. From their web site, it means: Vipassana, which means to see things as they really are, is one of India's most ancient techniques of meditation.

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Fires. There is several fires which has gone through the area where we hiked, or close by.

• Mission Fire: September 2017. Burnt about 1,035 acres at Cascadel Woods area. Inciweb report. Wikipedia
• Willow Fire: Burnt in July 2015 Map of Willow Fire
• Corrine Fire: June 2015. Burnt 920 acres along Corrine Lake Road from Road 222 to Box Canyon Road. CalFire info.

Sierra News Online article on Sept 11, 2017.

 
Flowers and Plants

Lupine