Loch Leven Lakes Backpack Trip 2004 Pt 1.
Outpost 193 of Southpointe Christian Center in Sacramento went on a backpack trip to the Loch Leven Lakes Basin in the High Sierra Nevada Friday thru Monday, May 28th-31st. There were 2 commanders, 1 Expedition Ranger, 1 Adventure Ranger and 3 Discovery Rangers. As usual with Royal Ranger trips, folks who were coming didn't and folks who weren't did. Good thing that Joe Dean, one of our Outpost Councilmen, donated a small trailer to the Outpost. We loaded up our backpacks and miscellaneous supplies into the now needed trailer and left sunny Sacramento right on time at 12:00 noon and drove up Interstate 80 thru the Mother Lode foothills and caught a quick lunch at McDonalds in the historic Gold Country town of Auburn. As we rose higher and higher in elevation and passed thru 2000 feet, then 3000, then 4000, the trees and the nature of the rocks began to change. We left the dusty red dirt of the foothills and entered into the hard gray granite that composes most of the Sierras. As we went thru 5000 feet, we passed a massive burn area at Emigrant Gap where a forest fire had cindered an entire area right down to the granite. We camped at Indian Springs Campground at 5600 feet and let the boys loose to do some fishing and exploring along the South Fork of the Yuba River. Snowmelt! COLD water! As we feasted on campfire-cooked hotdogs, a storm blew in and rained like the dickens on the higher elevations. We got sprinkled and tinkled on and then a brief but steady rain. Went to bed. In the morning, it was clear and beautiful. We packed everything back into our backpacks and drove the mile or so to the Loch Leven Trail Head. We began our trip by climbing up a dirt and boulder wall and rose a hundred feet in a very short time. After a little over a mile, we had climbed 400 feet in elevation and were resting on a railroad bed that had been constructed by Chinese laborers in the 1870s during the Great Railroad days. Those tracks are still a major thruway for trains today and, as luck would have it, a hundred car train carrying new cars rumbled past. From here, the trail got steeper!Kenneth Komoto, Commander mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Adventure Rangers Outpost 193 Phone: (530)752-7197
Southpointe Christian Center Fax : (530)752-0329
Sacramento, Ca 95828
