Gary-Summer: June 19, 2024 - Shaver Lake, Musick Meadow

Saturday, June 22, 2024

June 19, 2024 - Shaver Lake, Musick Meadow

Title: June 19, 2024 - Shaver Lake, Musick Meadow
Hike Info : Description : Trail Lessons : Background : Extra Photo's : Flowers and Plants

Hike Info:

Type: Hiking
Trail head: Dinkey Creek Road and Nevins Road
Trail: Musick Mountain Loop Trail
Destination: Loop
Actual Destination:
Distance: 1.74 miles ¹
Elevation Rise: 214 '

¹I forgot my GPS. The above readings is from Steven’s tracking. MTB Project has the loop being 1.6 miles with 82’ rise.

Description:

Not sure what it was, but I slept in a bit until 6:20. First thing I do is to check for lighting, there is none-seems like I start each of my blogs this way. When people started getting up, I made us all French toast for breakfast. David and Kevin get their car loaded for Shaver Lake. They take off a few minutes before us-leave at 9:20. We meet them at Trader Joe’s. Then we are off go with Steven driving us, followed by David and Kevin. We take Auberry Road up to Prather, then keep going up highway 168.

When we get to Shaver Lake, the town that is, we take off on Dinkey Creek Road. We go about three or four miles until Steven finds the trail to the Lake. We park across the road from Niven Road. We noticed a sign saying Musick Mountain Loop Trail. We have barely enough signal to see if there is any information on this trail. Found that it is about 1.6 miles and an easy walk. Sounds like this is a possibility, particularly since it is 11:00 and Kevin and David want to be at their place in Shaver by 1:00.

Many times a mystery trail is OK. The trail starts off with a bit of “Oh No!” as there is toilet paper behind a log. The trail morphs into an old Forest Service road. We go about a third of a mile with a little downhill with much better ambiance than at the start. It is an easy and delightful stroll.

And then we see the meadow. While the meadow is called Musick Meadow, I think of it as Magical. The meadow is much larger than what I am expecting. But the size is not what made it magical. It was the sea of whites and purples which are bending to greet us. Shooting stars and yarrow, plus the emerald grasses makes me just want to stay here and enjoy. And that is what we do. What makes all of this possible? Musick Creek runs through this meadow, providing the water source.

We probably spent 20 minutes just enjoying the scene before us before moving on. The trail continues on the edge of the meadow until the meadow disappears behind some trees. We also cross through a leg of the meadow where gravel has been placed along the road tracks. After this we come into sight of some buildings. We have an option here, continue to the buildings or follow the loop.

We follow the loop. The big blue buildings were a towing service, close to a CalFire station. But like I said, that is not our way. This is where the loop turns around and goes back to the car. The return leg wanders close to Dinkey Creek Road and then away. Unlike the out leg, the return leg you are aware of the presence of the road and the cars, even those much of the time we do not see it.

The return trail is a single track trail. It rolls with the hills, never steep, but enough of a rise to let you know that you have to work for a short way. There are different wildflowers than what we saw in the meadow. Probably because this is dry soil while the meadow has. Enjoyable, but I would not do this part in the afternoon on a hot day.

We got back to the car a little before noon. And then it is off to get pizza at Shaver Lake Pizza. Like the last time here, the pizza is pretty good. We met a couple from Merced who are celebrating their third anniversary. They are pretty happy and we were happy to have them share a table with us. After we have gobbled up the pizza, we split. David and Kevin are off to the cabin they will be staying at for the next couple of days; we go back home. Steven drives us back and we arrive a little after 2:00pm. For such a short hike, I feel tired. But good. Speaking of goodness, it was good having Kevin and David with us.

Trail Lesson: Sometimes it is good to let an unplanned adventure guide you.