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'
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.
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| 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.
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| Sunrise over ridge above us |
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| More Sunrise over ridge above us |
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| Road we travel |
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| West looking along the San Joaquin River Canyon |
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| Mary and Bill |
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| Stevenson Falls |
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| Trees against clouds |
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| Gary |
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| Wet rocks and our route |
Waterfalls
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| Falls across the canyon from us |
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| Same falls lower down |
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| Falls a little bit before we stopped |
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| Water on Rock |
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| Stevenson Falls |
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| Stevenson Falls |
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| Stevenson Falls |
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| Stevenson Falls |
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| Top of Stevenson Falls |
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| Top of Stevenson Falls |
Flowers and Plants
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| Redbud |
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| Lupine and maybe some onion? |
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| Redbud |
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| Indian Paintbrush |
