Hoyt's Crossing Trail

Today I'm making a big loop through Hoyt's Crossing and Edward's Crossing via Nevada City. Hopefully I will be able to make a charging stop at Marriott Court Yard in Grass Valley to power the loop and then make it back to Loomis supercharger. Maybe I'll also stop at The Range in Grass Valley for a shooting practice while waiting till 4PM. I don't want to get to Mountain Dog swimming hole off Edward's Crossing too early; it is Saturday and there will be no place to park till late in the afternoon.

The road to Hoyt's Crossing from the campsite was a lot better than the one from Edward's Crossing. The Grizzly Hill Road out of the camp ground is unpaved for only about a mile and it was infinitely more passable than the one from Edward's Crossing. Then it is paved all the way to Route 49, a scenic highway adorned with rolling granite/volcanic rocks. 

I got to Old Route 49 Bridge Crossing at 10AM. It was Saturday and the parking was already getting scarce. I managed a spot on a pull-over stop about 100 yards away on the north side of the bridge. Another 30 minutes, it probably would've been impossible to find a parking spot and I would've had mosquitos to blame then. They stayed active till past 8AM and I had to wait till they died down. I really have to get a DEET spray for the next time.

It was just a beautiful day. Bright, hot and beautiful. The bridge over the canyon, the river and emerald pool underneath all came together under the exploding sun.

As tempting as the emerald pool under the bridge was, I hopped on the trail without making a stop. This sparrow in the granary had bigger fish to fry this time -- he read about many secluded pools up the trail. It is an in-and-out trail  for the total 1.6 miles, but it was steeper than I expected. It went up and down following the river. And you had to climb down quite a bit to get to the river. At about half a mile mark, I spotted a large pool. I rounded the corner to see if there was a better alternative and then climbed down for it. I was exhausted by then and I wasn't feeling ambitious enough to look for a better one.

I couldn't locate the pool when I got down. I walked about a bit, and asked the topless girl who just came out of the water if the pool was deep enough to swim. She said it was in the middle of the pool. I considered for a second and then climbed back up to see if I can locate that pool again. Turned out, it was that pool. The thing only looked larger from distance. I didn't feel like going down again; I got exhausted getting down to it and then climbing back up. I figured I would take a dip in the main pool at the trail head. A few hundred yards from it, however, was a bigger pool that was easier to get to. 

I spent an hour in that pool alternating between dipping in the water and sunning on a rock. I didn't swim; I was cramping all over in the cold water and cramping is the last thing you want to do in water. More people came as time went on and the pool was getting packed: family with children; a group of young people with a tent for shade; a man and a naked women further upstream. This trail is popular with nudists.

I left there around 12:30. I was going to plug in my car in Grass Valley and have lunch there before heading to The Range for a shooting practice. But the Tesla charger at the hotel was kaput: it only did 2.5kw instead of 17kw. Now I didn't have enough electrons to make it to Mountain Dog and then back home. I decided to give up on Mountain Dog and go back home after the shooting practice. It's close enough; I can come back for it any time.

A gun show was going on in the parking lot of The Range. The guy at the door said the lanes weren't open because of the gun show. No Mountain Dog, and now no lane. I thought things weren't working out today. Then the guy next said they might be open and told me to ask at the desk. They were not only open, it was free. It was the Father's Day and lanes were free for fathers. I wasn't going tell them I wasn't one, of course. The day worked out just like that, after all.