Solo in the Sierra

It is not often that I get to visit Dad's special little spot in the Sierra twice in one year, and I suppose that technically this year is no different, since we were foiled in our first attempt to reach camp by trees down over the road.

Our effort to clear the 96 trees we'd counted when we'd flown the drone down to camp was futile from the start, and we wondered through the rest of that trip if our days at this favorite spot were over.

Then - as we were driving out - we ran into Aldo.

Aldo's little helper.

One of two USFS employees that made up the road crew for the entire Sierra National Forest, he was headed up to continue work clearing a nearby road. Chatting for a few minutes, we explained the situation and wondered if there was any chance that they would be clearing ▮▮▮▮  at some point. He didn't see why not, but he also had no firm timeline, given that he'd need to work out priorities with his manager.

Naturally, Pops exchanged a few emails with this manager, and six weeks later, received a very welcome email (which I've heavily redacted to preserve his, and the locations, privacy).

From: ▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮  - FS, CA <▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮ @usda.gov>
Sent: Friday, August 29, 2025 8:57 AM
To: ▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮ 
Subject: RE: [External Email]Forest Service Road ▮▮▮▮  inquiry.

Well ▮▮▮ , I ‘ve got some great news for you!! 3 days and 449 trees later we finished yesterday afternoon.😊 Hoping to get back in after some rain and do another pass to firm up some water bars and drainages. The dirt is very soft but 4x4 vehicles can get through no problem. Take care and enjoy!!!!

▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮ 
▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮ 
Forest Service, Sierra National Forest, ▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮ 

449 trees! That was a lot more than we'd counted with the drone, but no matter; we immediately made plans to visit the following week! Then, as the moment of my departure approached, I got a call from Pops. He was worried about smoke from the Garnet Fire making camp unpleasant and so - 15 minutes before I was set to start my 18-hour drive down - he bailed!

This was rather unfortunate, and over the course of the next 10 minutes, I made no fewer than three additional phone calls to propose alternatives.

You see, I'd already made plans to leave the Tacoma at his house in the Bay Area after our trip - flying back home for a couple weeks before flying back down to shuttle the truck the rest of the way to Las Vegas for the winter - so after unsuccessfully trying to convince him to check it out for even a single day, I decided there was no better option than to head down solo!

As I cruised through Northern California, it was already smoky on the eastern horizon.

The drive down is not a short one, and I made it to Mt. Shasta around midnight, found a spot to sleep for about a few hours, and ended up at my favorite Mexican restaurant - La Morenita - just as they opened at 10:00am. A few hours later - after a quick stop for groceries and to fill up the gas tank - I was plowing my way through fog-like smoke as I approached the foothills of the Sierra. It wasn't looking good.

All I could hope was that the western flank of the Sierra would confine the smoke to the Central Valley, or that I'd climb through the smoke - eventually getting above it - by the time I got to the camp site. And, after another hour of driving, things actually started to look better!

Looking promising.

Cautious optimism.

This bridge burned in the 2020 Creek Fire and still seems to be years from being repaired.

I reached the trailhead at 2:45pm and smiled as I spotted Aldo's little helper nestled into what had been a bypass around the blockage when we'd been here earlier in the summer. Hopping out to take a look, I realized that this thing was a beast, the front able to push monster trees out of the way, the back able to chew up terrain like nobody's business.

Trail guardian.

I can only imagine how deadly this is when it gets spinning.

After checking out the trail dozer for a bit, it was back into the Tacoma with high hopes of getting to camp. In fact, as I started down the road, I was a little concerned that too much grading work had been done to the road itself, making it extremely inviting for folks who were just out-and-about to explore, something they may not have done in the past when it was in rougher shape. But beggars can't be choosers, and having the road open at all was certainly better than the alternative. Plus, as much as we like to keep this place special, it is important to remember that it is not ours alone.

The spot where we cut a single round from a pair of 30+ inch trees over the road, now completely clear.

Halfway down the road, it was definitely a little smoky.

My first peek at ▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮  through the smoke.

Even with the USFS crew wrapping up their work less than a week beforehand, the road was not without its obstacles. The longer so many standing dead, burned trees line the sides of the road, the more of them will begin to fall, and after five years, it's obviously becoming a regular occurrence. Of course, knowing that this would be likely, I'd brought along the chop-chop wand, and over the course of only a couple miles, I cleared no fewer than five trees that were already blocking the road.

Not every down tree required Sir Chops-a-Lot to clear.

The situation in camp was an entirely different story. Aldo's little helper had cleared the main road, but - thankfully - hadn't visited our little spur at all. That meant there were several trees blocking the way in, not to mention more than half a dozen more in camp itself that needed to be cleaned up. It was time to get to work!

Camp cleanup!

Looking back on it now, I wonder if Pops decided to sit this one out not because of the smoke - we'll get to the smoke situation in a moment - but so that his son (aka "free labor") would take care of tidying things up before he arrived at some future time. Genius. I'll need to file that away for decades from now when @mini.turbodb is older and I need similar work done.

Regardless, I had a good time wielding the Wood Whisperer - a Stihl MS-261 - for the next few of hours as I made quick work of the trees that were already down, as well as a couple that could pose a safety hazard in the future.

Before.

During.

After.

The "work" behind me, I had a decision to make. Namely, where to setup camp for the night. I'd talked to Pops about possibly setting up closer to the camp site and fire ring - since I'd have easier access to the fridge and kitchen gear for making meals - when we were going to camp together, but now that I was alone, I found myself drawn to my usual spot, out on the edge.

The view up at camp is nice.

But it's hard to beat the view out in the open.

I realized - as I took a few pictures of ▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮ , Lost Knife Knoll, and the surrounding area that the not-great-but-not-terrible smoke from a few hours earlier had improved significantly; that - along with my solo status - made my decision to setup the tent in a spot with a view much easier.

Smoke in the distance, but not too bad between camp and ▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮ .

It was downright clear up on Lost Knife Knoll.

I've got a lot of photos of this camp site over the years, so I went for a couple "through the trees" shots this time. First from the left...

...then from the right.

By now it was getting on dinner time, but not knowing what the smoke situation would be the following day, and - perhaps more embarrassingly - having forgotten to bring anything for dinner, I decided that the best thing to do was to go for a hike! My destination - naturally - would be Lost Knife Knoll, so I could take a few photos of the knife to send Pops, in an effort to make him wish he'd come along!

Knowing I didn't have much time before sunset, I grabbed the camera and zipped out of camp. My two-hours-later self would wish that I'd grabbed a few more things, but we'll get to that in due time.

Long light.

The ▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮  Wilderness sign no longer needs redacting, the bears have done that for me! (left) | One of many. (right)

To the ridge.

Thunderstorm developing over the Eastern Sierra and the ▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮  watershed.

I made great time getting over to Lost Knife Knoll, a surprise given my lack of sleep and hours of work clearing trees prior to setting out. I'd soon realize that it was only my physical body that was still going strong; mentally, I'd already lapsed.

My first order of business, naturally, was to check for the lost knife. Technically, this knife was placed here rather than being lost, but the story goes that back in the day, a knife - that someone lost - was found in this general location. Surprisingly, that knife - stashed under a rock by Pops and his buddies - later disappeared, and since losing the original, this knife has performed stand-in duties.

Still there. Perhaps a Lost Knife Logbook should be a future addition.

Even before uncovering the knife, I'd noticed that the tree we usually eat lunch under had died since our visit the previous summer. So, after putting a quick call into Pops - which turned into a FaceTime Video Message, since he failed to pick up a call from his own son (!) - I wandered over to take a look and see if there was any obvious reason for the untimely passing.

Lunch tree sadness.

Looking extra orange as the last light of the evening streamed through the smoke.

Nothing stood out as to the cause of death, so it was likely a combination of hot, dry summers and less snow and rain over the last several decades that contributed to its unfortunate demise.

With the sun only halfway above the horizon, it was time to get a move on. At this point, it was obvious that I'd be returning to camp in the dark, but I still hadn't put two and two together that I should have brought along a flashlight or headlamp or something of that sort. And so, I hung out for another 15 minutes or so, snapping shots of the domes that decorate the landscape.

Last rays.

A smokey sunset behind Sleeping Bear.

With the sun now completely gone, I began my trek back to camp. Headed down off the knoll, I finally realized I'd brought nothing in the way of light for my return trip. An oversight for sure, but ultimately not one of much consequence; this is a hike I know well, and there was a nice moon to light the way.

Plus, with no light, how would the bears be able to see me? Turns out I was actually planning ahead!

Moonrise.

And so came to an end my solo day - afternoon, I suppose - in the Sierra. A few weeks earlier we'd been worried that we might not ever make it back to this place, but with a bit of luck and a lot of hard work by the good folks at the USFS, here I was. Still, the situation next year - and most probably for the next several - will likely be the same; we'll be battling fallen trees for the foreseeable future.

 

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