ATVOBSESSION

Not really a ride per se today, but I went sniffing around to see how my usual access roads are doing. Yikes. Tons of snow.

FIrst, the southwest end of FR-19 - only got about a mile from Emigrant Gap before the road was impassable. It's probably 1/2 mile ABOVE the winter gate!



The other end of FR-19 is even worse. The road down from Yuba Gap is one lane in a couple of spots from drift snow that hasn't melted, but probably 100 feet from the start of the dirt is completely blocked. The campground at Lake Valley didn't even open for Memorial Day. I cannot imagine how thick things are on the north side of the road past the turnoff from Huysink Lake - it'll probably be July before that's rideable!



Bowman Lake Road conks out just after Fuller Lake, though there was a private plow (gigantic tracked snow-cat with a blade) doing some work above it.



There's even still snow on the Rucker Lake Dam!



The South Yuba, as advertised, is running pretty high. This is at Lang Crossing and 7 Pools.

awesome pics of the yuba !

I ran out of day - I should have gotten out earlier and checked out the Middle Yuba too. Well, plenty of time - and the snow isn't melting real fast with 45 degrees at 6000 feet!

o come on you could of made it over those slushy snow drifts, you have big horns.

I didn't even take a quad - or even a jacket! I knew it was probably going to be impossible. I just wanted to get up in the mountains for the afternoon - I'm having withdrawals!

Today's weather probably isn't helping. It's snowing again, and we've already picked up about 5".

On the glass-half-full side, it is really thick and wet snow, so it might be falling as rain just a few hundred feet lower than here (I'm at 7100').

What a Long Strange Spring It's Been
(with apologies to The Grateful Dead)