Protector II
- 8,868
- First Name
- Dave
- Last Name
- Addington
- Member #
-
10123
- Ham/GMRS Callsign
- KN6BKH
I went up to Stanislaus National Forest this past weekend, I didn’t realize I have such a great playground in my backyard! Growing up in the Bay Area of California, and being new to the Central Valley, I knew nothing about this national forest. Wow! Hundreds of miles of forest roads, mountian tops, rivers, and ravines. And that doesn’t include all of the designated OHV trails.
I drove to Tuolumne City to enter SNF from the west to maximize my drive in the forest towards Cherry Lake. Being a NF dispersed camping is allowed so my plan was to camp near Cherry Lake but not at the campgrounds. It was such a fun drive jumping off the main road to various dirt forest roads and seeing some great sights. All day long I saw only 2 other vehicles. I even tackled a steep Jeep trail in my Tacoma and had a blast. My plan was to see Willow Meadows, Bourland Trestle, and Jawbone Falls. Didn’t make it to any of those! The last couple storms have downed a lot of trees which is a bummer when you’ve driven 5-10 miles in! I found a stellar sight up above Cherry Lake and soaked in the view as I made dinner. That night I marveled at the silence and the vast array of stars overhead wondering “have these always been there?” Sometimes it’s good for my soul to feel appropriately small.
The next morning, determined to see Jawbone Falls, I set out until I hit a “sleeper snow drift” that looked level with the road but ended up being 2.5 feet deep. 3.5 hours later I shoveled my way out, lesson learned! The time working to get my truck free gave me plenty of opportunity to reflect on how good God has been to me and how life’s experiences shape us and who we are becoming. Today I found this quote I had saved years ago and it appropriately applies:
You gain strength, courage and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. You are able to say to yourself, "I lived through this and can take the next thing that comes along." You must do the thing you think you cannot do.
Eleanor Roosevelt
Clavey River
Before the axe...
After the axe
Cherry Lake overlook camp
An opportunity to reflect...aka being really stuck :)
If you have recommendations of places to visit in SNF send them my way! Thanks for the read
I drove to Tuolumne City to enter SNF from the west to maximize my drive in the forest towards Cherry Lake. Being a NF dispersed camping is allowed so my plan was to camp near Cherry Lake but not at the campgrounds. It was such a fun drive jumping off the main road to various dirt forest roads and seeing some great sights. All day long I saw only 2 other vehicles. I even tackled a steep Jeep trail in my Tacoma and had a blast. My plan was to see Willow Meadows, Bourland Trestle, and Jawbone Falls. Didn’t make it to any of those! The last couple storms have downed a lot of trees which is a bummer when you’ve driven 5-10 miles in! I found a stellar sight up above Cherry Lake and soaked in the view as I made dinner. That night I marveled at the silence and the vast array of stars overhead wondering “have these always been there?” Sometimes it’s good for my soul to feel appropriately small.
The next morning, determined to see Jawbone Falls, I set out until I hit a “sleeper snow drift” that looked level with the road but ended up being 2.5 feet deep. 3.5 hours later I shoveled my way out, lesson learned! The time working to get my truck free gave me plenty of opportunity to reflect on how good God has been to me and how life’s experiences shape us and who we are becoming. Today I found this quote I had saved years ago and it appropriately applies:
You gain strength, courage and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. You are able to say to yourself, "I lived through this and can take the next thing that comes along." You must do the thing you think you cannot do.
Eleanor Roosevelt
Clavey River
Before the axe...
After the axe
Cherry Lake overlook camp
An opportunity to reflect...aka being really stuck :)
If you have recommendations of places to visit in SNF send them my way! Thanks for the read
