Gary-Summer: July 17, 2020

Friday, July 17, 2020

July 17, 2020 - Balch Camp

Title: July 17, 2020 - Balch Camp
Hike Info : Description : Background : Extra Photo's :Flowers and Plants

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Type: Car

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Another In Search Of… adventure. Last time we were at Delilah Lookout, we found out that Balch Camp has a Heliport. We spent some time looking for it and maybe saw a spot of a road going into it. So Balch Camp has been put onto our list of places to go to. Not that we are expecting anything real scenic, but more so we can have an understanding of what we are seeing from Delilah.

Note: usually I write my blog as a diary form. On this one, it is more of a series of incidences. Each Incidence is preceded by a number which corresponds to the number on the map.

We left our house in Fresno around 10am with Sherri driving. She drove around about two-thirds of Pine Flat Reservoir and then turned over the driving to me.
Trash. On July 4th, we were listening to the radio at Delilah. A patrol passed over the first bridge after Pine Flat. He saw two parties which had an illegal fire and had trashed the place. We passed by the area and now had a better understanding of what the patrol saw.
Balch Camp Heliport. A couple of things, Delilah looks right down onto Balch Camp. So we were interested in seeing it. From Delilah, I could not make out what the buildings looked like-it is 7 miles away. But the housing looks pretty modern, maybe nothing fabulous, but definitely not slum housing. One of the things we do in the tower is make sure we know our territory. In going through my list of places on July 5th, I came across Balch Camp Heliport. I had not seen a Heliport down there before so we started looking closer, even using Celeste to assist us. Nothing definite. So we visited the Heliport. It is across Dinkey Creek and up a ways. It definitely looks like a place for a helicopter to land. I think it is mostly a place PG&E uses as there were some insulators laying on some pallets. Could we see Delilah? A big maybe.
Penstocks. These pipes seemed to be a favorite of Brent’s when he was training us at Delilah. One of the orientation points we verify our firefinder with are a set of penstocks on Patterson Bluffs. To get here, we recross Dinkey Creek and travel up Black Rock Road (Road 11S12). Let me just say, I am glad I do not travel this every day. It is paved, with potholes. But they are not bad. I am just glad we did not meet another vehicle coming down. The road is that narrow. One side is granite, the other side is a drop off of several hundred feet. Not many alternatives. Now the penstocks themselves are impressive. There are two of them, about five feet in diameter. They run from the top of Patterson Bluffs to the North Fork of the Kings, at least a 4,000’ drop. It is about 95^o F where we are at. But touching the penstock, they are cool from the water rushing through them.
Bicyclist. Another impressive thing is while we are going up this narrow road, we meet a bicyclist. He is sweating like crazy. Did I say it is hot? He admits his craziness in doing this. He is heading towards Black Rock Reservoir. We ask if he needs anything? He wonders if we have some spare water? Yes, we have a litter bottle of water and give it to him. We then continue on our way.
PG&E We meet our only vehicles within a couple of miles of the bicyclist. We tell them that there is a bicyclist up ahead. They look at us like we are crazy.

Black Rock Reservoir
Black Rock Reservoir. We came up this road because of being interested in seeing Black Rock Reservoir. Now the question is, do we want to go down the two miles to get to it? We hemmed and hawed about this decision. The decision is that we would continue to go on up the road, 11S18 and see how far we get on that dirt road.

Black Rock Reservoir
Haas Penstock. These are the penstocks we learned about last year when the sun hit them just right. This penstock is maybe 4’ in diameter and only goes down about 3,000’-only 3,000’-into Black Rock Reservoir. Not as photogenic as the Patterson penstocks, still impressive enough.
Rancheria Creek Falls

Rancheria Creek Falls. This dirt road is not too bad. Not very many ruts or potholes. It does climb pretty good to get up to the level of Wishon Reservoir-we do not go that way. We come to a place which has a lot of flat rock and a small ridge. Sounds like a good place to stop and look out over the canyon we climbed up. When I looked across the canyon, there was a waterfall which Iam surprised at. I was not expecting anything like it. Really a good fall.

Flat Place
Patrol 43. After leaving our falls, we drive for another couple of miles. We see a Sierra National Forest patrol parked by the side of the road. I think he was surprised anybody would come up that way. We introduce ourselves saying we sometimes hear him on the radio when we are at Delilah Lookout. Sherri and him talk for a few minutes and then we are on our way.
Sequoia at McKinley Grove

McKinley Grove. This is by Dinkey Creek. We get out and enjoy the Sequoias. A few other people are there. We take a stroll on the paved path around the grove, just soaking in the tree’s beauty. Sherri thinks we have been here before, I am not so sure. She is probably right-I just do not remember.
Hungry Hut. I am hungry. We have not had lunch, so an early dinner is in order. There is no indoor seating. But about half the people have masks and the other half do not. Sherri goes and orders our meal. Mine is a classic cheeseburger, Sherri’s is a tri-tip sandwich. We go over to the Shaver Lake Library and park in the shade and enjoy our dinner.
Buckeye Heliport. You would think we would be tired of heliports by now. On July 3rd we heard a report of a smoke at a Buckeye Heliport. Where in the world is this? After hearing a bit more, we found out it is most of the way up the four-lane going to Shaver Lake. We did not see smoke and they did not find anything either. But we at least figured out where it was and what it looks like now.

We continued on home. It was decided that stopping at Costco for gas could wait another day since it was Friday and 5:15 already. We made it home by 5:30, tired, but glad we did this.

Background

Penstock From Wikipedia: 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

Haas Penstock. This penstock is part of PG&E’s system on the North Fork of the Kings River. This includes Courtwright and Wishon dams, whih is where the water which feeds this penstock and others comes from. (Wikipedia) In the May 2011 Currents magazine, which is PG&E’s rag, it has a picture of the Haas Powerhouse.

Extra Photo's