3/26 - 4/15 High Spring in the Diablo Range
4/1 - Well, this may not quite qualify as an adventure, but we have news
in any case. The road from the Livermore Valley up to my daughter's place
is itself an adventure. In retracing it last weekend, I was appalled remembering
that I had driven up that road in the stormy darkness in December. Ignorance
is indeed bliss sometimes. It's nearly 30 miles of mountain driving, very
winding. The middle third is one lane with turnouts & occasional wide
spots. It's quite scenic & could be a lovely drive, but it is frequented
by kamikaze motorcyclists who love the curves. There are blind hairpin
turns, some with overhanging rock walls. Being concerned about oncoming
traffic, I cut one of these turns too close & clipped the rocks. From
the impact & loud whack, I knew I'd hit the wall & the new banner
waving from Gypsy's starboard side indicated that the awning took the
brunt. It was destroyed & I am making arrangements to have it replaced.
Fortunately there was no other damage, but I am really unhappy about wrecking
that beautiful awning that we've only used twice.
The Diablo Range stretches east of San Jose & Salinas, separating the
Salinas & northern San Joaquin valleys. It is little known even to
many San Francisco Bay Area residents. Summers can be brutally hot here
& the terrain is generally very rugged. South slopes are mostly chaparral,
with manzanita, deer brush & other shrubs adapted to arid conditions.
North slopes and valleys are more forested with gray pines, juniper, scrub
& blue oaks predominating.
It is high spring here in the Diablos. The creeks are still running strong
because of the wet winter & recent rains, but they have cleared. The
hills are radiant with lush green grasses & fresh spring growth on
the trees. The soil here is generally rather poor, so we don't have masses
of wild flowers, but poppies, lupines, gilias, hyacinths & perennial
daisies brighten the landscape in many places. Goldfield highlights some
fields with masses of bright yellow, as if air brushed. We'll be here
for three weeks except for a three-day round trip dash to our Eugene base
to take care of a few items that can't wait for our May homecoming.
I prefer not to reveal too much about my daughter's location, but I do
want to describe our camp here. We're parked next to Sweetwater Creek,
babbling pleasantly just outside. We are tapped into a spring that originates
further up the watershed & the water is noticably sweet, perhaps due
to some of the minerals, particularly magnesium, that were once mined
in this area. The stream bisects their property which straddles the valley
here. A hundred yards or so beyond our camp, it flows into their pond.
We are serenaded by frogs in the evenings & the pond is also home
to turtles, mallards & red-winged blackbirds. Nights are pretty crisp,
frost is still common, but except when it rains, the days are balmy. I
don't plan to visit them in the dry season, but being here in the spring
is delightful.
4/4 - Timmy's namesake & my lifelong friends Tim & Sandy visited
us on the
weekend
& spent the night Saturday... Gypsy's first overnight guests. A fine
time was had by all. The weather was kind, allowing us to hike all over
the property & some surrounding area.
4/15 - Tax day! Nuff said... We'll be moving on tomorrow after a very pleasant stay here in the Diablos. It continues to be quite cool overnight, with several hard frosts the last couple of weeks. But with the bountiful sunshine, we've had battery reserves to allow us to warm up the "homestead" in the mornings using the furnace. Our catalytic heater keeps the overnight temperature within the sleep comfort zone.
It has been a great joy to spend extended time with my daughter & son-in-law here, the most time together we've had in years. Morpheus accompanied me on the run up I5 to Eugene last weekend, where we enjoyed a brief but fun reunion with our family there & took care of some pressing business.
Next stop: Sacramento Valley. We're headed for the Spenceville Wildlife Area east of Marysville to check out free camping there. I've arranged to have Gypsy's awning replaced at the Sacramento (Rocklin) Camping World next weekend. After another week or 2 in the upper Sacramento Valley, we'll be moving on to southern Oregon, then back to Eugene in early May. Stay tuned...
<< prior adventure next adventure >>
