After our drive down Forest Service Road 1N10 to check out the Lumsden Campgrounds for future reference we decided to use the Geo-referenced MVUM we had downloaded from the Official Stanislaus National Forest website to find an undeveloped site to enjoy for a few days. We had seen several open Forest Service Road gates while on Hwy 120 out of Groveland and so decided to check a few of those out.
Again, this is after a couple of bouts of dealing with less-than-considerate fellow campers so our main criteria for this new spot was: No Neighbors. Our second hope was for an AT&T signal. I know, I know, I am asking a LOT. So we drove around and checked out every little nook and cranny all the while having the app Open Signal running on our phone and telling us, in real-time, how good or poor the available data signal was. A couple of options were available to us and we chose this little clearing towards the end of one of the offshoots from IS17.
The general area has numerous pine tree plantations so the main component of the ground cover is pine needles.
You might think that such a thick layer of acidic pine needles would prevent growth of other plants but that is not the case. All over the place we could see small, beautiful flowering plants that had fought their way through the dense blanket and were doing quite well.
Just over the rise from our spot we found an area that obviously was in the middle of the Rim fire in 2013. There was evidence of a hastily cleared staging area for fire fighting equipment and acres of scorched earth and burnt timber in all directions.
After that hike we ended back at our nice, unburnt little clearing and both had a nap. I, in the shade of the trees, Willow in the shade under the Tacoma.
Since this spot was near enough to Hwy 120 we did have a usable AT&T signal and so started the process of getting these posts up-to-date as well as keeping up with the San Jose Sharks playoff hockey!
We stayed here a few days and then had to head back into the San Francisco Bay Area for a family function but the GPS waypoint is saved so we can come back and stay here next time we are in the area.