Hittin the Old Dusty

As the season moves forward in the Sierras, the air is getting colder and the water flow, lower, thus patronage at the campground has dropped greatly. In a few short days, the Roamin Gnome will be moving on from its home at Dinkey Creek and onto the next adventures. In total we worked and lived ~70 days in the campground and we are itchin to hit the old dusty trail. The workload was fairly benign and as much complaining that occurred on the last posts, it wasn't all that bad to have money coming in and a safe place to park WITH the luxury of water/sewer/electric hookups. We have been enticed to seek employment with Dinkey Creek and CLM again next year for the whole season but are hesitant to make that sort of commitment just yet.

As for the next steps, by weeks end, we will be dusting the cobwebs, airing the tires and moving forward; albeit not that far. The gnome will travel up the road a few miles to a free camp spot while we tie up some loose ends in the area. Liz has spent hours combing through the voluminous Yosemite books from the library and is getting a list together of must-see's. I have been fairly laid back in planning so once work is done, we will set into full scale ops. Aside from Yosemite, the Gnome anticipates travelling a southern route to end up in the Denver area by mid October to visit some friends.

The cold Denver air will limit our tent campers ability to stay up there and so we will move forward past that point to somewhere warmer.

A tentative visit to our good friend Nancy is hopeful for November. Her stay in Saskatoon Saskatchewan is close enough to meet up with us around the border. These plans are still TBD and weather dependent.

As we work our way into December we may attempt another WWOOFing opportunity for a week or so to pace ourselves and help a local farmer with crop and stock. Hopefully they have Alpaca's :)

Finally, we have our eyes set on Christmas in San Diego with the Fulton fam followed by the first week of January in Arizona to see the Glaser gang. Then a potential swing-by Roswell NM as we head back to the east cost via Texas and the Southern states.

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Since our time has been fleeting in the Fresno area, we made sure September did not go to waste. Last weekend we visited Los Gatos which is owned and operated by BLM and is on the other side of the Fresno valley. We pasted through hundreds of acres of farm and orchard lands, past the oil derricks east of Route 5 and into the foothills of the dry golden grasses of Laguna Mountain. Numerous small (5-10 sites) and FREE campsites dotted the road we traveled and being on a Monday, we had our pick of the privacy. We set up at Laguna Mtn at the top post. The view was incredible and Liz of course took some wonderful photos. The claim to fame of the region is its rich geology in Serpentine which was a main quarry for Asbestos manufacturing. The greenish/blue/teal rocks scattered around the hill sides were too good to pass up and we managed to snag a few good specimens for our collection. They also made for a cool Birthday present for our newly found friend Thor (a fellow rock hound) whose birthday was on the 16th. [Now you may be worried about my health while handling Asbestos related rocks but its only as a powdery dust form and inhaled over the course of some time in which Mesothelioma can be prevalent. We should be OK] We also met two lovely tarantulas on the trails.

View from our campsite

Hiking trail to a waterfall

Tarantula!

Additionally, this past weekend, we finally made it up to Mono Hot Springs (a Thor recommendation). The 2+ hour drive follows the contours of the mountain range and continues up Kaiser Pass which is a one lane width yet multi-directional use road that has just enough turn out space to not drive you off the cliff face. Blind turns around boulders the size of a house sometimes had you face to face with another vehicle and someone was left to put er in reverse. Upon entering the region, we stopped by the ranger station and received the best info on FREE camp sites that also allowed fires. This is a rarity since we didn't want to spend the 22$ for the cost of most basic sites in the area. We also received cookies from the older ranger lady on duty that day!

The road splits to either Florence Lake or Mono Hot Springs & Lake Edison. We parked at the resort which has rustic cabins, a general store, massage hut/bath house and a campground. The mile-ish hike to Doris Lake was a little demanding but the serenity of the destination was amazing. After that, we headed back to the car to put puppy away while we ventured to the hot springs which were tubs 5' deep and constructed of concrete. The temperature in the Iodine Pool was about 85 degrees and incredible with natural methane bubbles surfacing every so often. All the other pools were occupied and we were unable to find the old mud pools on this venture.

Following the advise of the ranger, we took Kaiser Pass back towards civilization and took the turn off for Sample Meadow. The dirt road was rugged at times but no match for the Subaru. The campground had very private sites with bear boxes, tables and fire pits and the facilities were clean and stocked with TP. Our site was the last in the lot and super exclusive right up against a stream giving us great white noise and uber privacy. We mostly enjoyed the company and campfire in the quiet of nature and not a busy populated campground. Hammocks were choice and we spent much of the next morning enjoying the sun rising over the pine tree tops while Ziggy patrolled the perimeter.

We packed up by early afternoon and decided we needed one more adventure so we took the turn towards Mount Tom Fire Lookout. With no expectations and no hesitation we followed more dirt roads snaking the mountain sides which offered beautiful vistas but it was nothing compared to the final view. The steep one lane and very tricky road which was not recommended for all vehicles took us to the peak of Tom mountain at 9,040'. We were invited into the lookout tower by the friendly young ranger lady on site. She spends the season tending the tower and spotting fires in the valley to radio to the fire crews on the ground and in copters. Although the seclusion of being alone on top of a mountain all summer is daunting, the view is absolutely phenomenal. We spent about an hour talking and learning about the instruments she uses, the mountain range we had a 360 of, and just life in general atop the rock. The journey down the steep rocky switchbacks was cautiously made and we returned back to paved roads eventually.

The rest of the waning daylight was spent driving the offshoot roads near Shaver Lake to find our next temporary home. Since the start of hunting season, these dirt roads have been crowed with hunters in tents and RVs living off the land and finding the prime spot for our pup is tedious. We have a few in mind and will settle over the weekend for a short stay before moving on once more.

Some Things We Quickly Learned as Campground Hosts

As previously stated, the Dinkey Creek Campground in the Sierra Mountain Range in California is home to 122 non-hookup sites. It is the fun zone for many families, friends and long time visitors. As you can imagine, a campground of this size requires a full time team of cleaners, greeters and maintenance. In the last two weeks of our employment at DCCG, we have come across many things that most would find bizarre and yet to others, this is the norm. Heres a short list of our ongoing discoveries of the human camper psyche.

A large portion of our work is spent making sure the facilities are well stocked and clean for the guests.

1. If someone knocks on the bathroom door and you are inside, reply with "occupied" or "Im in here" or even "Go away". We understand that what happens to us in the bathroom can be considered a private matter but we all poo and when no response is given, we assume you are incapacitated or mute. I dont automatically go in for the handle shakedown like most do, a knock is more pleasant than hearing frantic handle tugs at the door. Just please respond so I know we can move on with our tasks and we know youre in fact not dead on the toilet.

2. We all poo in all shapes, sizes, colors, smells. . . But there is something special about the camping feast. While camping, folks eat food they might not normally chow on and thus their bodies produce an output that is weird to them. Some like to bask in the glory of their creations and thus think that other will want to see, smell ... their business too. We do not. Please flush it down. DCCG is blessed with enough flush toilets to keep all campers happy so there is no reason to let the sh!t sit in the bowl for my discovery. We understand that some behemoth bowels consume the entirity of the bowl and overwhelm the flushing capacity. Please dont press press press the flush button. It only makes the matter worse. Our 'manual grinder' which is usually a stick from the wild will do the trick to unclog the beast and let the action continue down the drain.

3. If you do clog with your log, dont hide it under TP. Other guests dont need that surprise in their daily deuce. The other night on rounds, a lady flags down our golf cart to warn us of a potential log clog. We investigate to find a bathroom with a trickle coming from under the door amd out to the sidewalk. As we open the metal door, a surge of toilet water pours from the room and the bowl is seen gushing water like something from the exorcist. Luckily, we were not on the duty of fixing this doodie and radio'ed it into the next guy. The mess was solved with the manual grider and a squeegee to get the water out.

4. Toilet paper can be flushed. To my understanding, alot of other cultures use the waste bin as a recepticle for all TP generated. This includes ones used for number 2. Often enough, the trash bin will be a container for peoples poopie papers instead of flushing it down the loo. I dont want to touch that so please flush em down. Luckily gloves are provided for our hands to stay 'clean'.

5. People love to make their mark. There is something about sitting in a stall that makes folks want to inscribe their name, number  and relationship status into the walls, sinks, doors, toilet seat etc to let the world know they found the bathroom. Im sure they could invent a graffiti proof bathroom, resistant to all spray and scratch marks, but people would still find a way to leave 'Bill ♡ Sue in '92' on the walls. No one wants this so please dont do it. Also, name carving in trees is not cool. That is unless you tattoo an image of the tree on your body; scar for scar. The tree will outlive your relationship.

6. Dont steal things. Most everything is hard fastened to the walls and is made of prison style stainless steel yet guests find a way to fiddle with whats loose. Five gallon buckets serve as the trash bin and in the past, they would go missing as people used them for filling water from the spigot or hauling trash to he dumpster.  Holes were drilled in the bottom of each pail to prevent water from being toted and this detered most but theres always the few who snag the bucket and use it for other deeds. A pail was found outside a tent that was know for its late night party the prior evening. Upon confrontation, the young man proclaimed the bucket was his but with inspection of the drilled holes in the bottom, his story carried as much water as the bucket did. He did manage to use the bucket as a pee pot and thus earned himself the glory of cleaning it out and throwing his waste away in a proper manner in his hung over stupor.

-- Additionally we have had numerous thefts of the sink handles. The push button to operate the water flow has been somehow mehanically ripped from the faucet making the sink unusable. If they left the handle there, a fix might be possible bit of course it is never to be seen again. The reasoning behind this action is still unknown since the handle provides no worth or merit to the theif. Since DCCG workes on a stickt budget, we dont have the option to head on down to the hardware store and buy a new one. A incident report will be filed and submitted and maybe by next season, funding will be alotted for the fix. This means this sink is out of order for everyone for the rest of the season. THANKS.

7. Drop toilets are NOT dumpsters.  In addition to serving the two dozen toilets on site, we also clean a handful of pit/drop toilets on and off site. The pit toilet is a simple device that only requires two things of you: Close the lid when complete. This allows the stink to air out via the exhaust pipe up top and not back flow into the stall. Second, do not dump trash into the pit. It is extrememly difficult and messy to extract and no one wants that. I would rather you leave your bag of trash out front the door for retrieval instead of dealing with an upset pump truck operater with a grabby claw and elbow-length gloves.

8. If you muck up the seat with your backdoor business, use some TP to wipe it down. Dont let it set and stick on as a dry crust. Once again, no one wants that. Our industrial clean and get it off but we have to provide the muscle and mental strength to complete the task.

9. Use the whole roll. Most restrooms are equipped with three if not four tp rolls. When restocking, I will position the rolls with less left closest to the hand that will be grabbing it. Of course folks dont want to use the scraps so instead will go for the new roll. This leaves four rolls in limbo with little left to use. The roll will remain in place until used but if all little rolls are left, it is surely the case that new tp rolls will have to be added in a short amount of time. It boggles my mind why people wont just use the last of the roll and be the victor for its demise. The world my never know.

Thats about it for now. More lessons learned to come including check-in/check-out times and what that really means.

Where the hell is Dinkey Creek?

Its been just about a week since the Gnome made its way into the Sierra Mnts about and hour and a half east of Fresno to join the Dinkey Creek Campground team. Little did we know that this momentus move would generate such an attachment to a place.

Dinkey Creek lies about 13miles north of Shaver Lake,  a popular destination for the valley and costal folk to escape to the mountains. Twisty mountainous roads lead to the area that has been historically a popular destination for vactioning and also the lumber industry. The massive pines, some of which stretch hundreds of feet high, have been growing in the forest for almost a century  or more. Nearby is McKinley Grove which is home to 150+ giant sequoias that have surpassed age definitions and are the true giants of the forest. Each day presents a pass by of these wonders as we work the satellite sites in Buck Meadow and Dinkey Fisherman.

For my part, the "challenges" of each day vary including power washing the 30 some odd bathrooms, brushing our the dumpster areas and general clean up/maintenance. Daily tasks also include compliance with campground rules, processing checkin and check outs and helping all the campers to have a wonderful time. Liz's role is namely in the entrance kiosk to help campers get in the grounds and answer any questions they may have. Puppy petting is optional but she gets to meet and greet most campers who come on by. The days are a bit longer than 8 hours but the time flys by fast and the people are extraordinary.

We may not be making millions but we get to live in the natural beauty of the area for free including water and power hookups which is a new feeling for us. So far, we are hooked on the location, grounds and people we work with. The gnome team anticipates working at DCCG for the next few months as the summer season comes to an end. This should give our bank accounts the necessary boost to keep on exploring the states post employment. We also hope our experiences and connections made will provide us with the support to move onto the next thing; what ever that may be.