From Truckee to Sierra Buttes
Bassets, Calif - Sat, 25 Sep 2021, 11am
The first day of our weekend trip to the Sierra Nevada began when I awoke to my usual Saturday alarm at 8am. Well, so much for getting an early start on the day, as I hoped when we arrived before 11pm last night. But hey, being able to sleep in a bit was the main reason we stretched the driving (and the hotel cost) to stay here, instead of somewhere an hour closer to home, last night. We did at least get rolling before 9am.
I titled last night's blog "Over the Mountain and Through the Woods" because this hotel is in a nice, wooded area on the outskirts of Truckee. I couldn't convey the nice setting in a picture taken at 11pm, so here's one from just before 9 this morning. With such a nice hotel it's a shame most of our time in it is a) in the dark and b) unconscious. 😜
Just north of Truckee along CA-89 is a picnic site whose name always gives me a chuckle.
The Donner Party made history in California in the 1800s for getting stuck in a blizzard near this area and resorting to cannibalism to survive. At this picnic area you better bring enough food to share with everyone- or else!
After a brief stop for that photo we continued north on CA-89 to the small town of Sierraville in a picturesque high valley, then west on CA-49 past the tiny, tiny town of Satterly (pop. 47!) to Bassets, where we turned north on the Gold Lakes Highway. Along the drive we started to fret about the amount of smoke visible in the air. AQI measures I'd watched over the past 2 weeks suggested that the smoke was basically gone. Apparently it's merely not a big factor at ground level but it's still up in the air graying out long distance views.
Just above Bassets is a roadside pull-out that offers a great view of the Sierra Buttes. These volcanic spires rise to over 8,500' elevation. Smoke interfered with our view. I've cleaned most of it out of this picture... so let's just say this is one of those cases where the reality doesn't do the picture justice. 😔 OTOH at least it's not as smoky as the last time we were here, in 2018. That blog (linked) shows what it's like when the smoke is pretty bad... and also what it's like when the air is clear.
Our first hike today will be to the top of the Sierra Buttes. Atop the tallest spire is a fire lookout station. You can just make it out atop the ridge in the telephoto picture above. In particular that is what we'll climb to.
The adventure continues! Keep reading in Hike Sierra Buttes? Nah, Let's Drive!
[This entry was cross-posted from https://canyonwalker.dreamwidth.org/120291.html. Please comment there using OpenID. That's where most of the action is!]
The first day of our weekend trip to the Sierra Nevada began when I awoke to my usual Saturday alarm at 8am. Well, so much for getting an early start on the day, as I hoped when we arrived before 11pm last night. But hey, being able to sleep in a bit was the main reason we stretched the driving (and the hotel cost) to stay here, instead of somewhere an hour closer to home, last night. We did at least get rolling before 9am.
I titled last night's blog "Over the Mountain and Through the Woods" because this hotel is in a nice, wooded area on the outskirts of Truckee. I couldn't convey the nice setting in a picture taken at 11pm, so here's one from just before 9 this morning. With such a nice hotel it's a shame most of our time in it is a) in the dark and b) unconscious. 😜
Just north of Truckee along CA-89 is a picnic site whose name always gives me a chuckle.
The Donner Party made history in California in the 1800s for getting stuck in a blizzard near this area and resorting to cannibalism to survive. At this picnic area you better bring enough food to share with everyone- or else!
After a brief stop for that photo we continued north on CA-89 to the small town of Sierraville in a picturesque high valley, then west on CA-49 past the tiny, tiny town of Satterly (pop. 47!) to Bassets, where we turned north on the Gold Lakes Highway. Along the drive we started to fret about the amount of smoke visible in the air. AQI measures I'd watched over the past 2 weeks suggested that the smoke was basically gone. Apparently it's merely not a big factor at ground level but it's still up in the air graying out long distance views.
Just above Bassets is a roadside pull-out that offers a great view of the Sierra Buttes. These volcanic spires rise to over 8,500' elevation. Smoke interfered with our view. I've cleaned most of it out of this picture... so let's just say this is one of those cases where the reality doesn't do the picture justice. 😔 OTOH at least it's not as smoky as the last time we were here, in 2018. That blog (linked) shows what it's like when the smoke is pretty bad... and also what it's like when the air is clear.
Our first hike today will be to the top of the Sierra Buttes. Atop the tallest spire is a fire lookout station. You can just make it out atop the ridge in the telephoto picture above. In particular that is what we'll climb to.
The adventure continues! Keep reading in Hike Sierra Buttes? Nah, Let's Drive!
[This entry was cross-posted from https://canyonwalker.dreamwidth.org/120291.html. Please comment there using OpenID. That's where most of the action is!]