Gary-Summer: March 17, 2018 - Million Dollar Mile, Stevenson Falls and Beyond

Saturday, March 17, 2018

March 17, 2018 - Million Dollar Mile, Stevenson Falls and Beyond

Title: March 17, 2018 - Million Dollar Mile, Stevenson Falls and Beyond
Hike Info : Description : Background : Extra Photo's : Waterfalls : Flowers and Plants

Trail head: Italian Bar Road

Hike Info:

Type: Hiking

Trail: Million Dollar Mile

Destination: Powerhouse #8

Actual Destination: About a half mile short of Powerhouse #8

Distance: 13.95 miles

Start Time: 8:43

End Time: 1:54

Travel Time: 5:11 (2.69 mph)

Moving Time: 4:39 (3.00 mph)

Elevation Rise: 1,481'

Descent: 1,506‘

Maximum Elevation: 2,397'

GPS Tracks

Description:

This hike is in our series of preparations for the California Classic half marathon. I think that people may be scared away by the thought it's a training hike, or it may have just been the weather Not too many people have signed up on our meet-up site. But come Saturday morning we had four people signed up besides Sherri and myself. The weather has been bad for a few previous day's. When we got to the site where we were meeting everybody, we had one more person, Mike. On a hike which left earlier that morning, he did not want to drive three hours by himself, so he waited for us. He is the only one who we do not know as we do know, the rest, Pam, Marie, Bill and Mary.

We leave Fresno at 7 a.m. And head towards Prather where we stopped for a small break. Mostly because this is last bathroom which we will see for the next several hours. But our adventures does not start at the trailhead. A little past Aubury we hit snow on the road. It's not bad but still cautious particularly for us California drivers. A few minutes later we find a snowplow is ahead of us clearing the road a bit. Once we drop below about 2800 feet the snow clears up and the pavement is good again. There is some eye candy when we look toward Redinger-clouds are just hanging over the lake below us, looking like cotton in the canyons. I was driving, so no opportunity for a camera shot. We get to the trailhead around 8:30 and take a few minutes to prepare, hitting the trail at 8:40.

I give my pre-hike talk-this time moved to where the sun shines. It is short-shouldn’t all of these be? Just pointed out if you are off of the paved road, you are going wrong. Also there are some steep drops, so be careful. That this is a timed hike, not distance. At the 150 minute mark, we turnaround. And then we are off.

Jose Creek: December 2017 and March 2018

The first thing we do is cross Jose Creek. There is a nice big, strong bridge across the creek, complete with grates capable of holding those big SCE trucks. But what about Pam’s dog. The dog is smart enough to say to himself, Hey Wait! My paws will go right through those openings, there is no way in the world I will go across that bridge. Shagaf is pretty friendly and compliant, so I carry him across the bridge.

But as I was crossing over, I looked down and was not finding any of the nice, calm pools I saw just a couple of months ago. What happen to them I wonder? (As a note, I just came across some pictures from the same spot last year about this time-same rushing rivers. So do not fear, those gentle pools will return.)

These wondering drops me a bit behind, so I now need to walk a bit faster to catch up. To my surprise, I start gaining on them. Two reasons for the surprise: first, the last several days on my morning walks it has been a struggle to maintain any kind of speed, and second, this is going up a hill and for the past nine months I have struggled going up hills. But today, it seems like I am doing well at this. But for how long?

San Joaquin River Canyon and Ely Mountain

The canyon which the San Joaquin River has cut looks impressive in the early morning light. Our road is about 600’ above the river. From here you can see upwards to Mt Ely and then down the penstocks going to a powerhouse below us. Now that we are doing the rolling ridges part of the hike, I am starting to get my stride going. This in turns is helping me to walk at a more consistent pace. Plus, I get to enjoy how pretty the area looks.

Roadside Falls

Roadside drops

By the time we approach the highest point, I had caught up with Marie, Mike and Pam, the three who were in front. A short time later, we started the long descent into the Stevenson Creek. There is a bit of “wait for it”, “wait for it”, “wait for it”, on this section of the road. I know the falls are coming. Since most have not seen these falls, it is a bit of a must experience for them and some satisfaction of bringing something new and beautiful to me.

Stevenson Falls

And Stevenson Falls did not disappoint. Not the overpowering, pounding the bridge we saw last year, but the more sedate and elegant falls I am used to seeing. It is flowing well, with water covering the rock making for a magnificent apron. There is a bridge across the creek, so Shagaf gets carried again. Looks like he is getting used to it. We also take a few minute break by the adit and then continue on.

The question now arises, how far can we go? Will we be able to hike to Powerhouse #8? Or will the self-imposed 150 minutes stop us? The road starts with a long, but gentle downhill and has us round a cliff, hiding Stevenson Falls from sight. By now, whenever Shagaf finds a bridge, he looks around for me. There are two in a row, so not only do I get my walking in, but lifting as well.

East looking up the San Joaquin River Canyon

When turning the corner mentioned above, we re-enter the canyon. This time around, there are waterfalls coming down rocks both on our side and the other side of the San Joaquin. All of these are off of unnamed creeks or even water sources not on a map. The advantage of coming in right after a rain. This continues on all the way up the road.Yes up the road as we now follow the route of the River going upstream. Somehow, when there is plenty of eye candy around, it makes the step a bit more lively.

Powerouse #8 and Dam #6

Our time runs out about half of a mile before Powerhouse #8 or if you prefer, Dam #6. We have gone a lot farther than I thought I would be able to. After taking a couple minute break, we turn around. Now for the true challenge of returning at the same rate as we came. A short distance later, there is a long set of steps going down to the San Joaquin. Looks like there is a cable and platform just above the river. I speculate that it is one of those pull yourself across the river thingy’s. But why? (When I got home, I found out that there is a gaging station at the bottom of the steps.)

Stairs down to Gaging Station

We continued on. The conversation goes from silent to a bit on the craic side (yes, I just learnt what this word meant, so I had to use it.) Delightful. Going in the opposite direction, it is not that you see things backwards, but that you get to see things differently or another side. This gives a whole different view of your route.-I do not think I will be hiking backwards though.

We round the corner and there is Stevenson Falls again. In case you think that I did not give enough credit to Stevenson Falls on our trip going out, after all, according to the World’s Waterfalls database, it is the third most beautiful falls in California. Of course, how can you measure beauty? Anyway-this blog entry is getting pretty disjointed. I think this approach gives a lot better view of Stevenson then our initial view. You can see down into the creek below the bridge, which is pretty nice and the face of the lower falls is there for your honoring. Even as the waterfalls, your eyes get naturally raised to the one who created the rock and water.

Gary with Marie, Pam and Shagaf

We pick up Sherri as we rise out of the ravine of Stevenson Creek. Still feeling good about my walking, but maybe not as strong, looking forward to finishing these last three miles. Marie had not seen the adit about a mile and half from the end, so she got a tour. SCE has done some work so it is not as damp and the berry vines have been pulled out. In a short while, we receive inspiration from the skies to hurry our walk along-it starts to hail. When we get to Jose Creek, it is time for my last Shagaf lift and then it is a short uphill to the car.

As it says in Proverbs, I must have been a bit too full of myself at the end of the hike-even though I was not conscience of a Haughty spirit. But Proverbs does say:

Pride goeth before destruction,

and an haughty spirit before a fall.

And fall I did. As we were rounding the gate to get back to the car, my foot slipped in the mud and I quickly went down onto my seat. Nothing hurt, except pride and between the pride and the pants, they both got muddied.

We return to Prather and all, except for Pam stops at Velascos for an after hike meal. Then back to the Corner Bakery and home. On our way along 41, a truck kicked up a rock and now we have a crack in the window. Oh well, it has been a good day, anyway.

Background

Adit. (from Latin aditus, entrance) an entrance to an underground mine which is horizontal or nearly horizontal,[2] by which the mine can be entered, drained of water, ventilated, and minerals extracted at the lowest convenient level. Adits are also used to explore for mineral veins.

Penstocks. a sluice or gate or intake structure that controls water flow, or an enclosed pipe that delivers water to hydro turbines and sewerage systems. The term is inherited from the earlier technology of mill ponds and watermills. The penstock pipes for the original two units at Big Creek Power Houses One and Two, built 1912-13, were purchased from the Krupp Works in Germany because at that time that manufacturer produced steel pipes of the tensile strength needed to contain the very high water pressures in the pipes in the 1,500 foot (460 m) drop down to Power House One. These pipes were purchased twenty one years before the Nazi Party came to power in Germany, and before the NSDAP party even existed. There is visual evidence of swastikas (once used as a Hindu symbol of good luck) on Big Creek penstock pipe headers at Powerhouse 1 and 2. All post-World War One penstock pipes were manufactured in the United States.[6] In addition, Big Creek is the hometown of Carver Mead, a Caltech electrical engineering professor who is responsible for developing the first Gallium Arsinide metal-semiconductor field-effect transistor (GaAs MESFET) and for his pioneering contributions to Very-large-scale integration (VLSI) design. From Wikipedia.

Extra Photo's