Gary-Summer: May 24, 2018

Thursday, May 24, 2018

May 24, 2018 - Davis Road

Title: May 24, 2018 - Davis Road
Hike Info : Description : Extra Photo's : Animals : Flowers and Plants

Trail head: Mill Flat Campground

Hike Info:

Type: Hiking

Trail: Davis Road

Destination: Davis Fire

Actual Destination: about a quarter mile short of the fire site

Distance: 9.14 miles

Start Time: 8:32

End Time: 2:29

Travel Time: 5:57 (1.54 mph)

Moving Time: 4:16 (2.12 mph)

Elevation Rise: 1,403'

Descent: 1,423‘

Maximum Elevation: 2,285'

GPS Tracks

Description:

Just be forewarned if you are looking at this road to hike, to check with the Hume Lake Ranger District of the Sequoia National Forest. Davis Road has been closed to public use due to landslides. See closure order 0513-17-21.

Sherri and I was able to get permission by being the Lookouts who spotted the Davis Fire last September. Judy is coming along as a fellow lookout and one who assisted in the communications through Delilah Lookout for the fire.

------------------

We meet at my home and then drove up to Mill Flat Camp to the east of Pine Flat Dam. This is about a two hour drive. So we got there at 8:25. Everybody made due with whatever arrangements they needed, some walking to the campground.

Mill Flat Creek

Gary, John, Cathey, Sherri, and Judy

So a little after 8:30 we take-off. The first obstacle was to get around the gate. Just a minor concern.But within about 40 yards we have our first excitement. On the side of the road is a snake, a young one. One with three rattles on it. All of us back away-prudent aren’t we?

On we go, walking the road. The road follows Mill Flat Creek, inside a pretty steep gorge. Sometimes the road rises 30-40’ above the creek and then other times the creek rises up to close to road level. Our road is mostly a gentle grade. But how the creek has chosen its route with the vegetation along its side makes for a pleasant viewing along our way. Still a little bit earlier would have been nicer. The hills would have more of a greenish emerald look than the golden dried grass.

Rattlesnake

One thing you have to say, is we are getting our fill of snakes. I see another snake stretched out on the road. It has the markings of a rattler. But then upon closer examination, there are not rattles and the head is not shaped right. So we just gawk. A ways further, we come across a pile of feathers. Both wing or tail as well as down. Maybe a hawk? Or an owl? But nobody knows. A mystery for us to ponder..

Mystery Feathers

More of Mill Flat Creek

Marching along the road

Until we reach Crabtree, the road goes on a gradual elevation gain. We cross Davis Creek and arrive at Crabtree. This is a small bit of private property in the middle of Forest Service land. It looks like someone may have been here recently as the curtains are open. But we do not stop to investigate and continue on, after all, it is a private dwelling.

Sherri

In a quarter mile we get to the part which David, Sherri and I got to last January. The road curves back around and we pass the four-wheel drive road to Rancheria. And now our road starts to go uphill a bit more vigorously As the road climbs up we gaze at the tops of the unnamed hills surrounding us and wonder how high up this road will go in relationship to them. Part of what the road is doing is moving away from Mill Flat Creek and back towards Davis Creek. In doing so, it goes around a knoll along a ridge and then we come into the Davis Creek drainage-well that statement may be a bit of wishful thinking. We still have over a mile to go before getting to Davis Flat.

Delilah

Delilah Lookout

As we enter the Flat area, we catch our first glimpse of Delilah Lookout through some trees. Then a short ways away, we get a good look at it. Here two of our group said they would turn around as they have an appointment for later on in the day. So that leaves Judy, Sherri and I to continue on. Now the road is shaded and runs along the side of Davis Creek.

Davis Creek

We are at Davis Flat and it is time for lunch. There are some rocks across the creek. So we cross and have lunch. A peaceful spot. Judy spots a hole in the side of a hill close by. I think it's a mine-there are a lot of them in this area. This may be the Davis Flat Mine It looks more like a 4’ hole than anything else. But there is remnants of a shack nearby which Judy goes over to look at, but not enter.

Sherri and Gary

Judy at the Miner's Shack

Also at our lunch spot, Judy spots a black snake. But it does not stick around long enough for us to identify or take a picture of it. It may have been a racer or garter snake. Then as she was looking in a pool just below our lunch spot, she spots a turtle which promptly dives below the surface, not to be seen again, no matter how much we look for it. Judy also identified several flowers on the way up. A good person to have along-much better than my, it is a purple flower!

Time to move on. We decide to go at least up the road a ways until we reach the trail which goes up to the fire. It is about 100 yards up the road. From my view, it looks more like a bunch of dried grass, but you can see some remnants of a trail. The give away is that there is a dried up creek right before the trail.

Cow at lunch spot

Did I mention we have been seeing cattle? First by our lunch spot-they go out of their way to avoid us. But at the trail junction, there is a mama cow bellowing that we are coming between her and her calf. We hear the calf crying out as well. The cow decides to go around us and resume her motherly duties.

Start of Trail

After our interlude with the cow, we decide to go up the trail a bit towards where the fire occurred. I am hoping to make it as far as where we saw the truck parked last September. As we go up, you can see where it has been driven. But it definitely takes more than my Rav4 to do it. I am even more impressed by the firefighters than I usually am. They had to climb this same hill and beyond, in full gear in the heat. We are in our hiking gear and I am thinking how far up do I want to go?

Location of Davis Fire

View of Davis Fire area from Delilah

View of Davis Fire on Sept 12, 2017

Patterson Bluffs and Rodgers Ridge

We do get to the hilltop where the forest service truck was parked last September. I think that is all the farther we will go today. It is a good view. Seeing the terrain from down below looking up has a different feel. Up in the lookout looking down, the area where we are at has a tendency to flatten out. But lookout up at Delilah, we see the relief and the ridges appear higher than when at Delilah. If for no other purpose, this is a good reason to be on the ground, exploring places we can see from a lookout.

One of the exercises which we do is to figure out where does Davis Road go to from here. Judy thinks it goes more towards Delilah from our perspective. I think it curves more to the east from here. When I got home and followed a map, Judy was correct.

West looking from close to the Davis Fire

Sherri and Judy on way back

Gopher Snake peaking at us

Now it is time to make our way back to the car. It is a lot easier going back than coming up the road. But it certainly is warmer. There is a different view of things. While coming up the road, we see the narrowness of the cut of Davis Creek. But coming back we are treated to a view looking down into the Kings and then across to Rodgers Ridge and Patterson Bluffs. While the return trip covers the same ground, many times it is worthwhile taking just for the difference in views.

While our trip back is faster, it is not without adventure. Judy spots a snake on the side of the road.Looks like a gopher snake. Still it does not seem to like to be stared at. So it turns around and goes back up the road. Then it stops and acts like it is going into a hole. Inside it slithers under some grass and hides. We go on.


Last Snake

The rest of the trip is pretty much uneventful and we return to the car by 2:30. Then Judy gets to drive the long road back to our house. I can get used to this business of being chauffeured! We get back around 4:45, ready for a shower. Another good day of hiking, seeing an area we have only observed from afar.