YOLLA BOLLY
TRIP REPORT

    Well, I'm back from five days of hiking/bushwhacking in the Yolla Bolly wilderness. A day by day synopsis is as follows.

May 2, 2000
    Leaving Walnut Creek at 8:00 am, I arrive in Covelo about noon. I check into the ranger station to get a fire permit and learn I'm the first hiker of the season to venture into the backcountry this year. I inform the ranger of my route and I'm told my route will likely take 10 days or more to complete. I take in this information and put it aside. I figure that most rangers overstate the severity of hikes and this ranger is much the same as others. I later learn differently. I'm asked to check back in after my hike with trail conditions for the rangers and trail crew. "No problem", I say. I arrive at the Indian Dick trailhead at 2:30 pm and depart. Immediately something is amiss. The trail I want to take is not to be found at the trailhead. Instead the trail is called the "River Trail". Regardless, I take that planning to hook up with another trail downwards a bit. It's a nice sunny day and lizards abound. Lots of bear scat on the trail. I come to a glade (a grassy area void of trees) and look for a branching trail that is shown on the map and heads straight down to the river. It's not to be found. I find the Asa Bean Trail and take it south for a couple miles. It is a nice graded trail hugging the contours and weaves in and out of the forested hillsides. I pass a few ponds choked with lily pads and venture down to the Middle Fork of the Eel River. I cross the icy water at Asa Bean Crossing in thigh deep water. Once across, I scan for the continuation of the trail. After 15 minutes of bushwhacking I find a resemblance of a trail and take it. The trail is more like a game trail but I stick with it and it generally follows the direction I want to go. Many blow downs and debris littered miles I come to another glade. Cairns are placed about I follow them up a steep incline and then back down towards Henthorne Lakes. My map shows the trail skirting by the edge of Big Henthorne Lake. but it actually passes THROUGH Little Henthorne Lake. Just pass the lake I run into a maze of un-maintained roads which aren't on the map. I start to get frustrated. The big lake is not to be found. I continue till 7:00 pm and make camp at nice glade. 
I set up my tarp of which I just spent 20 hours cutting material and sewing only to have it rip in half. Damn it! Oh well. I get water for dinner and begin cooking dinner. While the water is heating I take in the view. I can see Castle Peak with snow on it and other peaks in the distance with the same. As I look around I spot a huge black bear about 100 yards away sniffing the ground. It didn't notice me. I watched it for a few minutes and then shout at it. It turned and we had staring contest for a few minutes. Once I started waving my arms it bolts up the hillside. That was cool but now I knew the bears were active. I tried finding a decent tree to hang my food but none were suitable. Night fell and the billions of star were out. I had a lousy nights sleep with movement in the bushes all night long. Animals spotted today: Black bear (1), white tailed deer (4), lizards (100's), gopher snake (1), garter snake (1), quail (9), dove (4), scrub jays (20), woodpeckers (5), mallards( 4) pond turtles (7).

May 3, 2000
    The night was astoundingly clear up till 4:00 am and then the clouds came in and begin drizzling on me. I pulled my tarp over my as a blanket and tried to stay dry. When the rain stopped I packed and hit the trail at 7:00 am. My destination for today was a place called Morrison Camp but first I wanted find that damn Big Henthorne Lake. I backtracked a mile to the maze of un-maintained roads and took one that headed downwards. I came to another pond with lily pads and adjacent to it was a cabin. No trespassing signs were plastered about the area. I continued onto the property. This is private land within the wilderness and the cabin is part of the Lake Henthorne Wilderness Camp. It consists of main dining cabin with kitchen, a 10 room bunkhouse, 4 tent platforms, outhouses, and boathouse. Sure enough, I found the lake. It's a 10 acre lake nestled in a valley of the mountain. Nobody was present here and I scoped out the area for awhile. Having an uneasy feeling about trespassing, I took off for Morrison Camp. My map indicated a fire road that would take me there. Well, there's quite a few "roads" here that are not on the map. I took one and ended deep within the forest before it petered out. Backtracking, I took another branch which also led nowhere. Took another that look promising... it petered out. I finally decided to just cut up through the forest to the top of the mountain and scope out the area. Two hours later I was atop. Unmaintained roads were everywhere! I dropped down to the closest one and being frustrated I took it. I took it for six miles till I came to a gate and more no trespassing signs. Private property of the Covelo Hunters Assoc. I backtracked the six miles and continued another 1.5 hours in the other direction. At least this one was going in the general direction of Morrison Camp. Came upon another gate with "no trespassing". I was getting pissed. I was never lost as I knew how to get back. I just couldn't find were I wanted to go! Pissed off, I continued on past the signs. After awhile I came across a small cabin, corral, and stable. I was beat tired and decided this is it for today. The cabin was in nice clearing of grass and I laid my bag out in the middle of it. Had dinner and checked out the buildings. Everything was locked. I ventured to the rear of the stable and viewed the back wall was torn open. I peaked in to discover a torn apart sleeping bag and foam mattress and bear prints in the dirt. Oh great! I made a nice fire and kept it going most of the night. Popped some advil to relieve my aching legs and slept like a baby. Clouds moved in again during the night. Animals spotted today: quail, jays, lizards, woodpeckers, gray squirrels, chipmunks, butterflies, deer.

May 4, 2000
    Awoke at 6:00 am to deer grazing not more 20 yards from me. Birds were waking up and making a racket. I gathered more firewood to fend off the morning chill. Dew had soaked my bag and I was quite chilled. Had a couple of pop tarts and then back to bed. Awoke again at 9:00 to the yipping of coyotes just up the valley from me. The sun was shining nicely. I got up and toured the cabin area again. This time I read the "no trespassing" sign on the cabin door and discovered that this place was Vann Cabin. I checked my map and found my location. Damn it. The map didn't show any "roads" or trails leading here but yet there obviously is. I realized then the map wasn't worth the paper it was printed on. A compass would of helped greatly but I decided against bringing it. I was warned by a fellow lister (Bluemoon) to bring it. Live and learn. Yesterday's excursion had fouled my plans and I decided to just go back to Henthorne lakes. While hiking back along the "road" I could see numerous bear tracks and scat. It was quite fun except that I pulled a quad and had a minor limp now. Also blisters. I made it back to the wilderness camp about 3:00. I was planning to camp on one of tent platforms next to the lake but my curiosity took over. I checked the cabins of which all were locked. I then started thinking how this place is situated so out of the way there must be a spare key somewhere. I studied the building lay out for a bit and started thinking like a wilderness camp owner. Where would I hide a key? I had a good idea! Sure enough I found a set of keys. A key for every cabin. I checked myself into the main lodge. Nice spread. Dining room, wood stove, liquor cabinet, showers, fully stocked kitchen and pantry. This place was too good to leave. Heck, the ranger said I wouldn't see anybody while I was out here. I got the wood stove churning out some serious heat. Borrowed a folding cot, helped myself to 10 oz shot of Jim Bean and sat on the back deck overlooking the lake. Lily pads dominated the shores closest to the lodge but the far side had accessible shorelines for fishing. I just sat on the deck the rest of the day and relaxed reading the memoirs of John Audoban (sp). When night fell I lit a few coleman lanterns in the lodge and checked out a map of the area that was already in the lodge. It had the marked route of which the owner used to get here. I had already been on the some of the route the previous day and figured there was no way he would be able to get out here. The route had three feet of snow on it. I was all alone. I retired about 10:00 pm to the sound of frogs croaking. It was deafening! Every once in awhile the croaking would stop and be dead quiet. Kind of spooky! Then one by one the frogs would start again to the deafening cacophony. Animals today: deer, redwing blackbirds, jays, quail, lizards, owl, hare/rabbit, chipmunks, 'peckers.

May 5, 2000
    Awoke at 7:00 freezing cold. The stove had quit and I could see my breath on each exhale. I stoked the stove again and went outside where it was actually warmer. Had breakfast and then grabbed some fishing gear at the lodge. I trekked over to the far side of the lake and cast out a yellow rooster tail. Wham! A nice 18 inch rainbow. With each cast I got a hit. I lost a number of the fish because all the lures are single hook and barb less. Still it was fun. I ventured back to the cabin for breakfast and contemplated what to do today. Did I really want continue hiking and have to fight through the weave of game trails and blow downs or stay here another night. Well, I did the latter. Went down to the boat house with fly rod in hand and launched a row boat to the center of the lake. I spent four hours sitting out there. Sometimes fishing, sometimes checking out scenery. I saw an osprey perched on a dead tree above the lake. It would fly down and grab a trout every once in awhile and take it to a nest in a neighboring tree. Redwing blackbirds made their shrill call, and woodpeckers and jays could be heard all day long. Deer would venture to the bank and graze, clue less I was out there in the middle of the lake. What a nice sunny day. Total fish caught, approx. 40. One a whopping 22 inches on a tiny mosquito dry fly. Literature in the cabin described the lakes chemistry and ph values and explained how this lake is perfect for the trout. The owner has a catch and release program in effect with the hopes of raising monster trout. It looks like he's on his way. Down for the night at night fall to the chorus of frogs again.

May 6, 2000
    Awoke to the pitter patter of rain. A quick glance out the window and I couldn't even see the lake. The mountains were socked in clouds. Hmmm, should I stay put till the weather clears are move on. I found a radio and turned it on. Weather reports indicated rain for the remainder of the weekend and into the week till at least Wednesday. There's no way I'm staying here for that long. I'd go stir crazy. I cleaned the cabin and made it like no one was here. Locked everything back up, pulled the row boat back onshore, and cleaned the ashes out of the stove. Keys back in place, I vacated my paradise retreat. The map indicated a trail heading back down to the river. I found something resembling a trail and took it. It lasted 100 yards and ended at the top of a massive rock slide. I could see the river 1/2 mile below. With the rain coming down hard, poncho on, and sneakers double tied, I slowly made my way down the rock slide. Huge boulders of angular limestone and shale were my path. It took me over an hour to climb down to the river's edge. Now I had another problem. I had to cross the freezing water which was much deeper than the previous crossing. I scrambled upstream looking for the best place to cross. Finally I spotted an area. The water is so clear it's difficult to tell how deep it really is. I was already wet from the rain so I took the plunge. Within a few yards of venturing into the river I was waist deep into quickly flowing snow melt. I unhooked my hip belt and raised my pack over my head. Mid way, I plunged into chest deep water and was swept away with the current. I had to to jettison my pack and swim for the shoreline. The river was only 50 feet across and I quickly came to shallower waters. I stood up and watched my packed flow downstream and down a few cascades until I lost sight of it. I climbed ashore and boulder hopped along the bank. After 30 minutes of bushwhacking and rock hopping I spotted my pack wedged between two rocks on my side of the river. Wading back into to the chilly water I managed to snag my pack. Back on shore, I inspected everything. Everything was relatively dry except for my sleeping bag. The one thing I'd rather have stay dry. Damn it. It was still raining and I was getting pretty chilled. Forget about backtracking and finding the missing trail. I had had enough adventure for the week. I decided to make a beeline for the trailhead. I quickly studied the map and decided to bushwhack 2000 feet up the mountain to an un-maintained road and then follow it to a connector trail back to the trailhead. Six hours later I found the "road" and followed. No connector trail. I kept following the "road" and it led me to the trailhead from a different direction. I arrived at my truck at 4:35 pm and quickly jumped in to warm up. I was numb. After warming up I went over to the trailhead kiosk and viewed the sign in sheet. I was indeed the first person this year to enter the wilderness from this trailhead. The last people entered on Oct. 31 of last year. The rain was still coming down as I drove down to Covelo. It took an hour to drive the 30 miles of dirt/mud road and then another 30 minutes to Covelo. I passed the ranger station but it was closed. I didn't really feel like giving them a report anyway. Back to Hwy. 101, I headed to Willits and stopped for pizza and beer. Quite the hang out on Saturday evenings. The place was packed. Had a pizza and pitcher of suds. Everything was turning out good. I got up and left the dry, warm, and friendly pizzeria. Once outside, it was still raining hard. As I walked to my truck I felt good about my foray into the mountains. One look at my right rear tire and everything changed. I had a flat! Damn it! So there I lay in puddle changing my tire. I finally made it home 10:45 pm dead tired. Now that I'm warm, dry, and well rested, I realize I'd do it all over again. But next time, I'll bring my compass!

    That was my trip. I liked it very much but if you plan to venture into the area here's a few tips.

1) The Yolla Bolly Wilderness is Large. I underestimated it's vastness. I was probably never more than 7 or 8 miles from the trailhead as a crow flies but yet I hiked about 40 miles.

2) The map is outdated. Many un-maintained roads. Dead ends. Replanted logging roads, etc...

3) Trails are not marked. Only twice I saw signage. Once at the trailhead and once deep in the forest and it was upside down laying on the ground. A few cairns were present. Many trail signs were on the interior walls of the wilderness camp, though, and were obviously stolen.

4) I'm used to contour intervals of 20-40 feet. Not 100 as the Yolla Bolly map is.

5) I found it better to bushwhack through the forest than seek out the mysterious trails indicated on the map.

6) Water was very abundant. I passed a spring every mile or less. Later in the summer, I was told it's quite more difficult to find water.

7) Mozzies were absent but I'd imagine once it warms up beware!

8) Not really a tip... but I purchased some of those dehydrated meals sold at REI for the first time. They were terrific and I'd definitely buy them again. No more mac-n-cheese or ramen for me.

9) Entering the wilderness from the west side took forever. Next time, I'll try entering via Corning or Red Bluff off I-5.


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