Cheers

Greg Visits Several Northern California Campgrounds:

I left Lake Minden on Thursday and headed east to Lake of the Springs near Oregon House, CA. This is another Thousand Trails campground and is quite nice. The tent area is right next to the lake while the RV’s are farther away.

On the left side of the photo is the lake. Here is a better view, my view actually.

Walking straight ahead takes you to the beach and swim area.

These photos were taken on Sunday morning as I was doing laundry. All day Saturday that beach was packed with folks enjoying the water.

I am using this campground as a base to go visit the Little Grass Valley Recreation Area 40 miles farther east near the town of La Porte, CA. I went there on Friday knowing it was going to be filled with campers. Unfortunately there was a problem with the water supply and all the restrooms were closed and there was no drinking water or dump stations available. This will be fixed by now but what it meant is that the campgrounds were almost empty, which is better for photos anyway.

There are campgrounds on the east and west sides of the lake. Let’s start on the east side. First up is Little Beaver.

All the campgrounds on the east side have lakeside campsites. Really nice big ones. Next up was Red Feather.

The three campgrounds are situated next to each other along the shore. There are bike paths and hiking trails that link them together. Finally I went to Running Deer.

It was weird to see all the empty campsites at this time of year. There are over 220 on the east side with maybe 30 campers using them.

I was a bit disappointed with the smaller campgrounds on the west side, Wyandotte and Peninsula Tent.

Wyandotte is set on a ridge without direct lake access. It does have a very nice day use beach that it shares with Peninsula. It is more open and sunny as well.

Peninsula is a walk in tent campground. Supposedly there are 25 sites but I could only find about 20 of them. The walk is at most 200 feet and there is lake access from here.

I camped at Little Beaver in 2006 and 2008. I really like this place. You can get basic supplies in La Porte which is only 4 miles away. The water level can fluctuate a lot. The next two photos are from 2006.

I had a blast canoeing around the trees. These photos are from 2008.

In 2006 I had the pleasure to meet Tim and his wife Barbara who were reopening a historic building.

I hung out there for a couple of days taking photos of old photos and retouching them so they could be printed and displayed on the walls. The history in this area is quite fascinating. One of my favorites was of Reilly, the original owner.

So I tried to recreate it as best I could with Tim.

If you go camping in the area be sure to stop by here for a great meal or a cold drink. Look at all the old photos on the walls that I remade. Tell Tim you know me and he will give you a free lunch…just kidding.

One final thought about the age we live in. Saturday evening I was sitting in my chair reading my Nook while looking out over the lake. A man was fishing on the shore and yelled out to his sons who were walking by if they knew what time it was. They replied that they didn’t have their phones with them and didn’t know. I tapped the screen of my Nook and hollered that it was 6:15pm.

I don’t have a watch. The man did not have a watch. The kids didn’t either. Does anyone still wear a watch? I find myself looking at people’s wrists now. I can’t stop.

Regards, Park Ranger