Camp Nine

Yesterday, when queried, our sister-in-law suggested the end of //camp Nine Road, off Parrotts Ferry Road between Murphys and Sonora. It was down at the end of 9 mile of rocky, twisty, mostly one lane road;

The weather was strange today. Smoke from a nearby fire blanketed the sky, making the sun orange and the sky gray, but fortunately not low enough to smell

But, at the end of the road, which at the end, had run along a long arm of New Melones Lake, was a power plant, with seemingly no source of water.

Nearby, a metal footbridge crossed over the water to a trail on the other side.

After a short walk though the high chaparral we came to the Stanislaw  River.

Mark, Brigitte and I went down to the river and explored a bit, while Georgia and Mary watched from the rocks over looking the river:

I managed to find and identify two California specific butterflies, this Acamon Blue, which was new to me:

And this Common Ringlet that I’ve seen elsewhere in similar environments:

All in all, not a bad hike, despite having to drive 18 miles of bad road. At least it was Mark’s car.