Middle Fork American River Fun Adventure/Fiasco/Learning Experience

[EasternSierra]

PART 1

We're pretty new in the Sacramento area in northern California, though I've been through the area and up in the mountains on the major highways many times. My back-road explorations in the state have almost all been in other areas, though. Now I'm gradually exploring my new local mountains, looking for good places to go in the future for wheeling, camping, nature photography, and just getting away from it all.

We'd already been to Loon Lake and Union Valley Reservoir to the south earlier in the summer in our van. I'd been exploring dirt roads in the headwaters of the North Fork American River just a little farther north only a week earlier.

So, I took my wife on an exploration of paved (don't leave just yet, it gets more fun than you might expect!) roads to get a feel for some more areas I mostly hadn't been to yet. My wife hates bumpy dirt roads/trails which is why I was sticking to paved roads on this trip. This was also to be the final break-in for the Bronco as it went over 1K miles by the end of the day, though I hadn't expected that at the beginning. I didn't bother packing emergency gear because this ride was going to be a day trip on well-traveled paved roads, or so I thought.

The trip started fine. We went up the hill to Auburn on I-80, then turned off and drove to Foresthill where I hadn't been since 1980 or so. From there we went up the Mosquito Ridge Road (Forest Road 96), dropping down into the canyon of the Middle Fork of the American River then climbing up to Mosquito Ridge.

After a while we turned off for the Placer County Big Trees, the northernmost natural grove of giant sequoias, for a picnic. Since you get to the trees by hiking and my wife has a bad foot, I reserved the trees themselves for a later trip on my own. We just had a nice quiet picnic with almost nobody around. That's our Bronco in the background. Wife picks the picnic gear. Where are all the people on a Sunday?

So far this is pretty tame and wouldn't really merit a mention on this forum. Anyway, we continued up the road to French Meadows Reservoir and tooled around a bit there. Then we were off to Hell Hole Reservoir on the Rubicon River. Yes, that Rubicon River. The Rubicon Trail crosses the river about 5 miles upstream of the far upper end of the reservoir, but is accessed from roads farther south. The road to the dam was in pretty bad shape with loads of potholes, but they were merely an inconvenience. The dam itself had washed out when it was under construction in 1964 (thanks to an extreme flood) but was rebuilt in 1966.

My plan was to loop back on Forest Road 23 which runs along the top of Ralston Ridge, connecting back to the Mosquito Ridge Road and Foresthill. It looked like a nice loop on the map and the fastest way back. According to the map it was paved all the way though really winding towards the end.

Well, first I missed a turn and drove for about five miles on the wrong road, Forest Road 2. Our travel direction looked wrong after a while which is when I discovered my my mistake. So, I turned around and took a shortcut back to the correct road. We continued along the top of Ralston Ridge, mostly through privately held timberland (Sierra Pacific Industries).

The wild bitter cherries alongside the roads were having a good fruiting year. My wife is scared of bears. So of course we saw several piles of bear scat on the road, clearly marked by the abundance of cherry pits in them. She could no longer maintain the comforting semi-serious fiction that 'there's no bears in these woods'. Later, I saw a rattlesnake crossing the road, and at a bathroom break she heard a rattler making its rattle after I got out. I was extra careful at that stop, but we never actually saw the snake in the vegetation.

The overall area, far beyond our immediate ridge, had been hit hard by a forest fire in 2022. This fire burned partly on US Forest Service land and partly on private timberland. You'll see some of this in the photos.

Here's a general view of the countryside down in the canyons:

Most of this had burned only three years ago. That road at the bottom of the canyon on the left is where we're planning to go, to be followed by climbing to the ridge on the horizon via Forest Road 96.

Well, this isn't hard:

At this point were were accustomed to poorly maintained roads with very little traffic.

Hey... if you're going to leave your gear unattended and partly blocking a public road, it ain't my fault if I have to drive over the hose and the rope to get through. I'm sure not driving dozens of miles out of the way to get around this. Anyway, nobody was there and we kept on going.

Hmmm.... they're really not maintaining this road! At least I can see there's still a little traffic now and then.

To be continued.....

Sponsored

 

[Nacl_Wander]

Welcome to the area. Sacramento is just close enough to a whole host of really awesome quick adventure locations.

 

[FamilyFunHaver]

Bridge out from Pollack Pines is fun if you’re looking for something slightly more challenging.

 

[Beach_Bum]

PART 1

...

To be continued.....

Good read. Looking forward to Part 2.

 

[EasternSierra]

PART 2

[TL,DR at post #10]

Aw heck, it 's the end of the road, looks like. Not even a Bronco can get me over that without rolling all the way down to the river. And no, the road doesn't go off to the left around the dirt. I checked.

Here's the Middle Fork of the American River below us. The continuation of the closed road is visible to the right, and you can see a parked car that came in from the other way. After coming about 25 miles from Hell Hole Reservoir, we were only two miles from the road junction we needed to get to!

At this point we were both plumb tired. The temperature was 102-104 F. because we'd come down so far down in elevation from the cooler high country, plus we were on a sunny, brushy hillside instead of in a cool forest.

I realized we were getting short on water, something I normally try hard to avoid. We'd started with 4-1/2 quarts total of water and drinks for two people and now we were down to just over half that, in 100-degree weather. I had a new and untested vehicle and we were out of cell range. Getting stuck from a stupid move or a breakdown would leave us in the heat with no emergency gear and not enough water. There was a river below us, but I'm old and my wife has a bad foot. The slope (out of sight) would have been iffy but doable for me when I was younger, but was really too risky for me now.

We weren't actually in trouble, but I suddenly realized there was not much of a margin of error. I shouldn't have gotten us into this situation.

On top of that, my arms were sore from old injuries combined with a lot of steering input for these roads. My wife doesn't drive so she couldn't relieve me. The last thing I wanted to do was to drive all the way back the way I came in. My compromise was to go out the south way to the Wentworth Springs Road, still a long way but at least we'd get to see some new country.

First I had to turn around. I was grateful for the short wheelbase and tight turning radius. Even a four-door Bronco is a lot better in this respect than my old truck, or the newer trucks I'd been considering last year. Then, we stared backtracking to get to our connection southward.

At one point there was a dead tree across the road, where enough of a piece had been taken out so you could squeeze through. We passed through just fine on the way in, though with some minor cat's claws on the paint.

However, on the way back out there was suddenly a bunch of noise from under (?) the Bronco like branches being dragged. I stopped and got out right away, and found a branch in the wheel well. The big end was wedged into the upper control arm and the rest between the tire and the wheel well. Worse, there was a sharp broken side branch resting on the surface of the tread at an angle, and poised to punch into it any moment as the tire rotated into the sharp point. I got that out and avoided worse problems. Phew!

We continued onward to the road I'd previously taken by mistake, took it again, crossed the Rubicon some miles later, and finally got out to Wentworth Springs Road which took us back to Georgetown and civilization.

When I got home I checked Google Earth, and it turned out that the landslide that closed the road happened in 2017 (which was a really wet winter here), and another one happened in the same spot in 2019 during another wet winter. The second slide put a 30-foot boulder in the river at the base of the slide.

This road had been a dead-end for a long time! Neither map we had was new enough to show the closure, though typically national forest maps come out a decade or more apart. Apparently the road is still used for regular access as far as the big water tank at the rim of the canyon, only a mile and half back from the landslide.

POSTMORTEM

What the heck happened? Well, once we got to the dead end, my wife remembered the sign she'd seen on a tree off to the side, many miles back at an earlier junction. The sign that said "Dead End". I'd caught a glimpse of it myself and thought it was for a side road, not the road we were on, then forgot about it. Oops... really careless of me. We both felt stupid. That was the immediate goof on our part. There wasn't a good clear sign saying something like 'Road Closed 15 Miles Ahead' or something like that, but you have to expect the unexpected out in remote areas.

So what were the larger problems here? We ended up fine, but got too close to having big problems. That wasn't just from carelessly misinterpreting the sign, but also from not taking hints that maybe this road wasn't really in regular use anymore and might not go through like it was supposed to. I was determined to take the most direct route back to give my arms a rest. That's one way people get in trouble - being too unwilling to change their plans.

Beyond that, there were the foundational problems of complacency and resulting lack of preparation on my part. My wife gets a pass because she isn't really an outdoors person and doesn't have a good handle on this stuff, so the responsibility is all mine.

I've been camping and hiking since I was a little kid, started backpacking when I was a teenager, and started wheeling soon after I reached adulthood. I've had classes, with days of field practice, in snow camping, mountaineering, and survival. I've spend decades priding myself on being well prepared when I head out into the outdoors. Sometimes I've wondered if I'm over-prepared for some trips. So how did I get it wrong this time?

Where I used to live in the San Francisco Bay Area, even relatively remote paved roads in the daytime were just not the kind of places you were going to get stranded for long. This was thanks to the regional population density that meant that even remote roads had people coming along every so often. That meant that I didn't need to carry much along on a day trip. The rough and remote stuff was too far away for a day trip, or else was parkland open only for hiking, horses, or mountain bikes. I'd carry emergency gear on a hike, sure, but that was different from a paved road.

In the past I've been doing plenty of remote areas, often with dirt roads and trails, on multi-day trips much farther from home. I'll have camping gear, loads of water, and redundant emergency gear with me as a matter of course.

Now we're living next to the Sierra Nevada, a large mountain range 400 miles long with a lot of really remote places close by, that in past decades were too far away from me for day trips. This is actually the situation for a lot of western cities and towns - hundreds of thousands or millions of acres of public land fairly close to where people live.

At least I did carry emergency gear suitable for an overnight, and my emergency beacon, but not enough water or food in retrospect, on my dirt-road trip to the North Fork American River the previous week. This time around, not only was I not properly prepared, but I should have kept that in mind and turned around once we were on a road that clearly got next to no use.

WHAT I DID RIGHT

This has lessons, too.

-Brought maps, both of them current versions.
-Brought at least some water and drinks, plus a little extra food.
-Had cell phones, even if they were usually out of range.
-Sunhats and sunscreen.
-Warm shirts in case we ended up being out late.
-Full tank of gas at the start.
-Kept track of where we were, responded to gut feeling of going the wrong way at one point.
-Immediately dealt with noise from under vehicle, possibly avoiding a flat.
-Kept calm and collected at all times.
-Took the narrow and rough sections slowly and easily.
-Kept away from where my wife heard the rattlesnake, staying away from vegetation.

THE FUTURE

I haven't really set up the Bronco yet for its future use, with stuff like a permanent first aid kit, tools, recovery gear, etc. This summer and fall it's going to be getting some significant mods installed including a little storage space. I have some existing gear and I'm getting some new gear as well for future trips. I still need to unpack some stuff from our move last year.

I already had the intention of taking overnight gear for any winter-time day trip into or over the mountains. That's except when we're on major highways with plenty of traffic, the road is clear, it's daytime, the weather is going to be perfect, and the trip is just a few hours. Anything that doesn't meet those criteria, you have to assume there's a chance you'll be marooned by snow and have to spend the night in the vehicle. In the very worse cases this can even happen on the interstate, when heavy snow falls faster than they can clear it away over many hours.

Going forward, I'm going to make it a point to be better equipped for even a summer day trip in the mountains unless we're staying on major highways. A few gallons of water, overnight clothing and gear, and emergency supplies should be in the vehicle, along with our emergency beacon. It's true that we could have used the emergency satellite access on our cell phones to get help if there really had been an emergency, but that was our last chance in that case. Not even taking a first aid kit along was just plain stupid on my part.

Sometimes you learn from mistakes that had serious consequences. Other times you have a chance to learn when you or someone else got away with making potentially serious mistakes but it all worked out in the end. This was a warning to 'up my game' when it comes to casual trips into the mountains.

I hope you found this a worthwhile read.

POSTSCRIPT

To a few this might seem like 'city boy gets out in the forest and gets scared'. Well, no. My wife was impressed by the way I stayed cool and rational even when we got a bit discouraged, but she stayed calm too. She was also impressed by the performance of the Bronco, even though I never actually put it into 4WD. Those impressions will have the good effect in the future of giving her less reason to worry when I go off on my own in the Bronco!

 

[22Badskwatch]

Welcome to Sacramento - I'm in North Natomas... and a member/admin of Gold Country Broncos - we have a really good group of Bronco owners in and around Sacramento - there are a ton of trails we have access to, living here - and some are cool for driving solo, but there are some that you should go with a friend in case a recovery is needed. check us out on Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/groups/504030094727180 ... my name is Mark, I'm on there often. I usually lead the easier drives, and am kinda the unofficial photographer for the group

 

[superchar1982]

Welcome to Sacramento - I'm in North Natomas... and a member/admin of Gold Country Broncos - we have a really good group of Bronco owners in and around Sacramento - there are a ton of trails we have access to, living here - and some are cool for driving solo, but there are some that you should go with a friend in case a recovery is needed. check us out on Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/groups/504030094727180 ... my name is Mark, I'm on there often. I usually lead the easier drives, and am kinda the unofficial photographer for the group

Is Facebook the only page you use to put events together? I found an Instagram account but nothing posted in a year. I want to join but I haven’t had a Facebook account in years!

 

[EasternSierra]

Welcome to Sacramento - I'm in North Natomas... and a member/admin of Gold Country Broncos - we have a really good group of Bronco owners in and around Sacramento - there are a ton of trails we have access to, living here - and some are cool for driving solo, but there are some that you should go with a friend in case a recovery is needed. check us out on Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/groups/504030094727180 ... my name is Mark, I'm on there often. I usually lead the easier drives, and am kinda the unofficial photographer for the group

Thanks for the invite. I've avoided Facebook ever since it started but I'll consider your suggestion. I do want to hook up with local people, because once you get past the easier stuff it's better to have a buddy.

 

[22Badskwatch]

Is Facebook the only page you use to put events together? I found an Instagram account but nothing posted in a year. I want to join but I haven’t had a Facebook account in years!

we tried a forum a couple years ago for the people who don't use facebook, but 98% of the members use facebook, so there was no engagement on a forum, so we shut it down. There is an IG page, but the owner doesn't post there too often.

 

[EasternSierra]

TL, DR:

It turned out that the road was blocked by a landslide. We'd misunderstood an earlier sign and didn't know the road wasn't open all the way through.

At that point, we were in a remote canyon in 100-degree heat (hotter than forecast), limited water, and no emergency gear. I suddenly realized that we weren't really prepared if something went wrong like a breakdown, making a stupid move and getting stuck, etc. We had little margin of safety. However, we got back out with no real problem, other than having to drive dozens of extra miles to go out another way. I wasn't happy, though, over the risk I'd created with my complacency.

At home I went through an analysis of the mental errors that went into making this situation happen. I'd been lulled into complacency and lack of emergency gear because this was a day trip on paved roads. If you're planning to go far off the main highways in even semi-remote areas, even if it's a day trip on paved roads, it's a good idea to have emergency gear and extra food and water sufficient for an overnight stay. In winter, depending on your climate, you may want to always have these in your vehicle on trips outside of urban areas.

 

[stampede1]

Thank you for sharing your experience and after-action insight. It looks like you and your wife and your bronco will have many great-and safe-adventures ahead. If you ever get down to SoCal, check out the off road opportunities in Anza Borrego.

 

[userdude]

Something else you might consider is whether you should go out with your wife without another able bodied person to help if you become incapacitated. If you're far enough away from cell phone access and/or other means of getting help and you get injured or otherwise, it sounds like she'd be hard pressed to do anything about it if the conditions are right. Glad y'all are ok, but close calls should make a mark nevertheless. Because nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition.

 

[jtgensler]

one of my favorite mods is having a starlink mini for the Bronco. if I can get line of sight to the sky, I can get internet & reach someone.

 

[Xinnes88X]

@EasternSierra Welcome to Sacramento! I have been here since 2013, transplanted from Southern California. I am always exploring along the western front of the Sierras and there is some great 4x4 opportunities in our area. One easy day trip I would suggest....head up 80 (EB) and in Truckee take 89 North to Kyberz Flat Interpretive Area. From here you can take dirt roads down to Verdi, Nevada. Some great scenery, meadows, and lots of forest. Once you get into Verdi, I would suggest stopping at the Sasquatch Bar and Grill @ 775 Highway 40 W, Verdi for a great bite to eat and cold beer.

I would love to hang out with fellow Bronco 4x4ers in my area too.

 

[EasternSierra]

Something else you might consider is whether you should go out with your wife without another able bodied person to help if you become incapacitated. If you're far enough away from cell phone access and/or other means of getting help and you get injured or otherwise, it sounds like she'd be hard pressed to do anything about it if the conditions are right. Glad y'all are ok, but close calls should make a mark nevertheless. Because nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition.

I'm now in recovery and becoming more active after some years of poor health. I don't know how much more able I'll get so I'm gradually and carefully finding out.

My wife won't be with me on the trail since she doesn't like being bumped around - I tried long ago and found out. That means that anything I do alone has to be fairly easy like Forest Service roads. I do carry a satellite beacon when I get off pavement.

When it comes to more challenging or really remote roads/trails, then yes, I should have a buddy. I'll be working on this in coming months.

Sponsored