Out West Adventure: Part 2--Leaving Yosemite and a night at Bear River

Wed. May 29: It rained a little bit before we got up and that kept the temperatures in the fifties, like the night before. After breaking camp, Marv decided to take Highway 49 north, which is a Scenic Byway and runs up and down the foothills. It was a beautiful drive with very few towns along the way. We passed two reservoirs, one of which was clearly marked as waterworks for San Francisco. Going down one very curvy stretch we had a scary moment when we were met by a large fifth wheel which couldn’t take the hairpin curve without using our half of the road. He seemed unaware of the problem as Marv frantically backed up, honking at the guy to give us time to get out of his way. Not an easy thing to do with the trailer, believe me!! Soon after that excitement, we decided to head over to Highway 99, which is limited access and lower in the valley so we made good time. After it joined I80 we knew there were several State Parks listed as having camping so we thought we'd stop at one for the night. We headed to Auburn State Recreation Area but couldn't find the camping in the huge area. So we went to Travel Information in Auburn where we found out they only have a very few primitive sites. The woman there thought we’d be happier at Bear River campground and gave us the directions to find it. The very sketchy directions, which didn't include any distances, took us on what we began to think was a Wild Goose Chase. As we went down a very narrow but paved road we were nearing panic when we opened onto the campground. It turned out to be about 20 primitive sites, lined up along the Bear River where several people were panning for gold. We self-registered for Site 16 and, once we were set-up, began to appreciate the lovely setting in which we found ourselves. The river was babbling, the sun was shining, and we began to relax and enjoy ourselves. Marv built a fire (our first of the trip!) while I grilled the chicken tenders we had bought a few days ago so that we could refreeze them. Then we cooked brauts over the fire. We had lots of free firewood from Bass Lake so we had a good roaring fire for the evening as the sun set and the stars came out. The only sounds were the river and the noisy croaking of frogs. The few other campers present went to bed long before we did and it felt like we were all alone in the dark and silent woods.

Campsite by the Bear River

The Bear River

Evening campfire

Valley overlook