DAY 2

I slept peacefully last night, only the sounds of the creek and the 360 view of the stars and the trees.  I will need to reposition my tent though.  Humans were not meant to sleep downhill.  Dreams of rolling off cliffs and going down slides….

I unzipped out of the tent and was immediately greeted by rabid mosquitoes.  The clerk who I bought the bug spray from said its so much worse now due to the drought.  I refused to spray OFF on me at 7 am so I went for a walk to wash up and get ready for the day.

Coffee has been the most excellent part of this morning’s activities.  Check out my collapsible cone and titanium insulated mug.  This is all it takes, along with my Jetboil.  Titanium is wonderful, but I suggest getting the insulated version if you don’t want to burn your lips off.  Another benefit is that it keeps your coffee hot too.  They’re a little spendy ($34 for the mug) but if weight is important to you, it’s worth it.After coffee and a bit of writing, I headed to the Indian Outpost for breakfast.  The owners, Dave and Karla just bought this place four weeks ago.  Even their grand kids get in on the business.  Their 11-year old grandson took my order while their 14 year old granddaughter poured me coffee.  Karla told me all about the area while I waited for my breakfast.  Great people and high quality food.

Indian Valley Outpost

Dick rolled in right at 9:30 and by that time, I was ready to go.  It was already about 85 degrees and looked to be another hot one.  It ended up not being quite as bad as yesterday though, peaking out at around 94.  We took 49 further north and up towards the Sierra Buttes.  We took a pit stop for some water and snacks and ran into this guy.  It is his valley….

Dick and I next to the owner of Indian Valley

We stopped for lunch at Graeagle Mountain Frostee.  Ice cream, burgers, fries…what more could you ask for? 

Graeagle Mountain Frostee

We were treated to curvy roads and beautiful views of the Buttes and the Yuba River.  On the way back we saw a pretty bad motorcycle accident.   It looked like the guy was on a sport bike but really couldn’t tell, it was a mangled mess of metal on the side of the road.  Likely he took the corner too hot–they had him laid down on the other side of the road and were talking to him  so that’s a good sign.  Always puts me in a somber mood to see something like that.

We rode back towards camp, and through Downieville, one of my favorite little gold mining towns.We arrived back to camp around 2ish and Dick headed home for his 2 hour ride back.  I went for a swim and then went for a hike to go see the waterfalls up above the camp.  It was a beautiful walk through a shaded tunnel of trees and ferns.  I thought for sure the falls would be dried up, but to my surprise they were flowing.

Fiddle Creek Falls

Wooden chute carrying water from Fiddle Creek

After my black mystery “things” in my freeze dried food incident, I headed to the Outpost for dinner.  I was grateful the AC was on and I finished writing today’s entry while enjoying their special for the night; vegetable medley on a bed of black beans.  Super fresh veggies sauteed in garlic butter.  If I don’t smell enough now, wait until morning.  Yeah!

The evening ended with a nice fire and the creek bubbling in the background.  Time went too fast but I enjoyed my little weekend excursion even in the heat and amongst the killer mosquitoes.  Thankfully the breeze kicked up and pushed the little buggers out.  A wonderful evening wrapping up a great weekend.