Lake Anna

I’ve started reading my old journals and am realizing that if I hadn’t kept them, much would be lost in my memory chips. I’ve never been one to get very philosophical in my writings because there was seldom enough time I suppose. And there have been times when days, months, even a year or two have gone by with no pages written. I am thankful for those jottings that I did make, however. I can say to myself, “Oh, I’d forgotten that” or “where did I get the energy” or “so THAT’S the year we went there”. Here are a couple of trips from 1964. We were very busy working on our cabin but took some time to explore.

South Fork of the Trinity-Saturday, August 8, 1964
We drove over to the S. Fork by way of Corral Bottom-a three-hour drive. It’s a winding, dirt road that pretty much follows the powerline. There are frequent patches of private land, all heavily logged.

This is a very beautiful river—green water, rocky and sandy shores, big deep pools. It made me think very much of the Smith River. We ate lunch at Underwood Creek where a suspension bridge crosses the river (footbridge). Then we packed down river about a mile, crossing one small bluff where the only thing to hold on to seemed to be poison oak! We camped on a gravel bar and then went swimming. Small rapids came into this pool and the current carried you around the edge of a big boulder and then into quiet water again. Bob fished for about 10 minutes and caught one fish. We saw one fisherman. Went to bed at 8:00 o’clock. Heard a deer snort and crash off, late.

Sunday
Up around 9:00. The sun was just beginning to hit our gravel bar. I went swimming, very briefly, before breakfast. The dry driftwood makes a very quick, very hot blaze. We swam some more and then packed and walked back up the other side of the river, reaching the pickup around 2:30.

Behind our camp was a cold little spring that tumbled down a rocky, grass-covered slope. We kept our food cold in this and drank this water. Quite a pretty spot—small yellow monkey flowers, occasional ferns, etc.

We saw water ouzels, a heron, sandpipers, a pair of kingfishers. On the way home—deer and a bear.

Lake Anna -September, 6, 7and 8—1964
We backpacked in to Lake Anna by way of Bowerman Meadows. Rather steep toward the end but otherwise no problem. We had the lake to ourselves and enjoyed a beautiful sunset with pink thunderheads. Also a very pretty sunrise. Saw a porcupine swimming in the morning. Quite cold.

On the second day we hiked as far as Van Matre Meadows and ate lunch at Echo Lake. Camped up where springs start from under a huge rock slide. One of the most beautiful campsites we’ve seen. Again, we had it to ourselves. (I had to look up Echo Lake in Wayne Moss’ book–I don’t remember what it looked like. I’m  hoping that someplace I have some slides–somewhere among all those little yellow boxes. ) Next morning hiked out and down Red Mountain to where Florence had left our car. A perfect trip except for the cold and lack of sleep.