My travel on September 23, 2015, seemed to also be focused on visiting drought-stricken reservoirs, although not so intentionally. On the holy day of atonement for Jewish people called Yom Kippur, my family has carried on a tradition of spending the day out in the solitude of nature rather than with other people, food, and stressful distractions, because it is a day of fasting and quiet reflection. It also, for me, leads to a more spiritual connection with God through nature. However, choosing a location that is less than a day's drive, beautiful, not crowded, not strenuous to get to, and that has a nice place to sit in the shade most of the day with some hiking opportunities can be a challenge. I also seem to gravitate towards a place with water when I take the initiative on deciding where to go.
That year, I chose New Melones Lake because I had seen it from the air during a flight over the delta and other parts of central California. My colleagues on that flight wanted to see New Melones from the air to get a good picture of how low the water in the reservoir actually was. The scenery was pretty spectacular because of the way New Melones spreads and fingers out amongst and between the rolling green and brown hills. I though if it was this pretty from the air, it would be a cool place to go to on land. New Melones Lake is on the Stanislaus River in the central "gold country" foothills of the Sierra Nevada range in the counties of Calaveras and Tuolumne. It is about a three-hour drive south of the Sacramento area, off of State Highway 49, between the towns of Angels Camp and Sonora. It is not only scenic, but a lake enjoyed by many for recreation and water sports such as boating, fishing, water skiing, and camping. It is also very large, with 100 miles of shoreline and an area of about 12,500 acres. We found our ideal spot in the Tuttletown Recreation Area, with shady oaks, picnic tables, and trails that wound down towards the lake.
 |
| Oak woodland at the Tuttletown Recreation Area |
After many hours of peaceful and lazy reflection on the past year with thoughts of how I may do better in the year to come, we decided to drive around and explore a bit. We drove out to the southern tip of the Glory Hole Recreation Area. What was utterly shocking was how far out we walked into what is usually deeply underwater. While theming on how this historic drought was affecting the state of California, I'd be remiss to mention how walking into the middle of a giant reservoir is likely a once-in-a-lifetime experience. The scenery was also uniquely fascinating--steep, striated slopes of the basin, now shades of green and brown soils, jetting high above the water line and telling the story of where different water levels over time reached the shorelines. Similar to how it felt at Folsom Lake a week before, it was an eery kind of fascination.
Towards late afternoon and getting very hungry, it was time to wind our way back out to Highway 49 and head north to break our fast in the town of Angels Camp. I think we chose the Angels Creek Cafe to fill our empty tummies, then headed back towards the greater Sacramento area. The skies were filled with a spectacular red sunset. The beauty of the sunset was unfortunately enhanced by the smoke from the wildfires that were raging in north central California, likely accelerated by the drought. It was another delicate balance between feeling the somberness of a state of disaster while at the same time enjoying the scenically unique sights that otherwise would not be experienced. It is one of those emotionally ambivalent dilemmas often encountered in life.
No comments:
Post a Comment