Crocker Park to Discovery Park

Did the Sacramento Hiking Group Meetup from Crocker Park to Discovery Park and then across the Tower Bridge to West Sacramento's Riverwalk Park, where we listened to the the Mighty Delta Roadmasters. (They were really good!)  I took my seven-year old along and he enjoyed both the hike and the music.

This is a 4.13 mile walk that takes you to the point where the American River meets the Sacramento River.  It is a nice mid-week walk.  You may come across some homeless people on this walk, but the bike path is traveled pretty regularly by people, so it should be safe.   Even so, walking with others may make some people feel more comfortable.

Park your car at Crocker Park (parking is free after 6:00 p.m. and free on Sunday). Walk across overpass (over I-5). Follow sidewalk. To avoid crossing the street at the I Street bridge, take the walkway under the bridge to the moored boats. Walk through Old Sacramento to the end of the Railroad Museum. Follow the bike path to Discovery Park. Cross the Jiboom Street Bridge to cross the American River.  Return following the same route.








A shot of the Tower Bridge from the West Sacramento side of the river.

Lake Tahoe - Fallen Leaf Lake

We spent three days camping at Fallen Leaf Lake campground in South Lake Tahoe.

We did a two-hour horseback ride to Fallen Leaf Lake. 

Horseback riding to Fallen Leaf Lake.

Creek exhibit

Convict Lake Horseback Trail

While staying at Mammoth Lakes, we rode horseback on a trail that took us almost halfway around Convict Lake.  This was a two-hour ride with a $60 fee. 

Yosemite - Dead Giant Tunnel Tree

While driving from Mammoth Lakes through the Tioga Pass, we stopped in Toulamne Grove and did the trail that leads to a grove of Giant Sequoias and the famous Dead Giant, the first "tunnel tree."  The trail is a now closed road. The hike is two miles up and back with a 400' elevation.  The Tunnel Tree was hollowed out in 1878. 

CathedralGrove.eu has some interesting information about this tree. 

The "Dead Giant" is a famous Sequoia stump located on the first stage road into Yosemite Valley, in the Tuolumne Grove of what is now Yosemite National Park. The veteran Sequoia tree had been struck by lightening but was still living when she was cut down at 90 ft from the ground and debarked. Tunneled c. 1875 to entice stagecoach tourists from San Francisco, this was the first of California's "Drive Thru" trees - macabre roadside displays created to provide entertainment and recreation.

YosemiteHikes.com has this map.

Mono Lake

While staying at mammoth Lakes, we drove 40 minutes to Mono Lake.  We hiked the South Shore to Navy Beach trail. 

Mammoth Lakes - Devil's Postpile to Rainbow Falls

While staying in in Mammoth Lakes, hiked the Devil's Postpile trail to Rainbow Falls and then to Red's Meadow Resort.

Euche Bar - American River Canyon

On Monday, June 28, 2010, G.H. and I hiked the Euche Bar Trail. We hiked across the bridge and then to the left until we came to a point where a creek flowed into the river.  I filled my two Nalgenes there. and then on the way back at the bridge.  

Directions To trail head:
Take I80 to the Alta exit, turn right onto Morton Road and immediate left onto Casa Loma. Drive 2.7 miles to the second railroad crossing, the trail head is .75 miles past this. The parking area has two pit toilets. The trail head is about 500 feet east of the parking area.

An old car that fell off the road at what it now the start of the trail

Move to the right of the Euche Bar Bridge to access the water

View from the bridge

The remains of some mining machinery

The trial.

This snake was swimming in the water as I went to fill my Nalgenes.

Where the creek flows into the river.