On May 7, 2023, I wrote that the day before I was up at 8:45 and had the food at the front desk of my motel in Willits California before heading out at 10. I walked up the highway to Walker and on to Shaffer. I was fascinated by the greenish and purplish stones everywhere. This became a theme and I collected a few.
I have been concerned about strangers, but that went away when I got on the NWPRR trackway. It was easy at first but I had come to discover tracks on North slopes are always overgrown. I had to walk through some guy’s yard and then the water treatment plant. I saw a makeshift shooting range. I also had to climb over a ruined culvert – my first experience of many.
This all left me worn out as I got to the 101 undercrossing. I spent about a half an hour there. I noted a road crew on the highway and the abandoned RV. There was momentary rain.
I followed Davis Creek to the historic place called Ridge. I was fascinated with how the creek followers the Maacama Fault. I also noted that the CalFire station in that area created their own special trail to reach the creek. I had a few problems following the track through this section. I noted too that the trackway through Ridge has a loading spur.
I decided to follow the road for about 2 miles. That section was this is just off Ridgewood Drive. The area is operated by some kind of equestrian group. When the road started to disappear, I looked for and found a trail — a bespoke trail with little arrows. A bit later I crossed the track and found another trail, which eventually turned into a directionless cow path. I was able to walk back down to the trackway there.
Later, on the tracks, I discovered a major blowout but had no problem with it. I came off the track a bit later, where a new road appeared. I could see it on my google map. However, here the road went further down slope, and was mostly cattle trails. It also dropped to connect to the highway. So, I followed side paths and crossed some fences to get back to the tracks.
From here the tracks were a bit more rugged because the slope was greater to the south. I also noted that the tracks were at a greater incline here. It was only a short while before I encountered a series of giant blowouts about a half mile apart each which I had to climb over one at a time. The last one I had to climb above and I got my foot stuck and was thrown into a patch of poison oak.
I almost opted to follow powerlines at that point but at Heart Arrow Trail I decided to press on. However, a short while later, I made it to the dirt road which brought me down to Laughlin Road and said goodbye to the tracks. On the way I encountered a bunch of horses who were nice.
I walked to the highway and caught a local cab to my hotel in Ukiah. Later I took the same cab to the brewery where I had dinner. I saw a model train in the bar. After that I went to the Forest Club for the rest of the night.
This is an occasional series chronicling my life. This Notebook Analysis series is meant to be contemporaneous piece developed as an agglomeration of my notebook pages. In each of these posts I used my notes to develop my recent thoughts.
I have been concerned about strangers, but that went away when I got on the NWPRR trackway. It was easy at first but I had come to discover tracks on North slopes are always overgrown. I had to walk through some guy’s yard and then the water treatment plant. I saw a makeshift shooting range. I also had to climb over a ruined culvert – my first experience of many.
This all left me worn out as I got to the 101 undercrossing. I spent about a half an hour there. I noted a road crew on the highway and the abandoned RV. There was momentary rain.
I followed Davis Creek to the historic place called Ridge. I was fascinated with how the creek followers the Maacama Fault. I also noted that the CalFire station in that area created their own special trail to reach the creek. I had a few problems following the track through this section. I noted too that the trackway through Ridge has a loading spur.
I decided to follow the road for about 2 miles. That section was this is just off Ridgewood Drive. The area is operated by some kind of equestrian group. When the road started to disappear, I looked for and found a trail — a bespoke trail with little arrows. A bit later I crossed the track and found another trail, which eventually turned into a directionless cow path. I was able to walk back down to the trackway there.
Later, on the tracks, I discovered a major blowout but had no problem with it. I came off the track a bit later, where a new road appeared. I could see it on my google map. However, here the road went further down slope, and was mostly cattle trails. It also dropped to connect to the highway. So, I followed side paths and crossed some fences to get back to the tracks.
From here the tracks were a bit more rugged because the slope was greater to the south. I also noted that the tracks were at a greater incline here. It was only a short while before I encountered a series of giant blowouts about a half mile apart each which I had to climb over one at a time. The last one I had to climb above and I got my foot stuck and was thrown into a patch of poison oak.
I almost opted to follow powerlines at that point but at Heart Arrow Trail I decided to press on. However, a short while later, I made it to the dirt road which brought me down to Laughlin Road and said goodbye to the tracks. On the way I encountered a bunch of horses who were nice.
I walked to the highway and caught a local cab to my hotel in Ukiah. Later I took the same cab to the brewery where I had dinner. I saw a model train in the bar. After that I went to the Forest Club for the rest of the night.
This is an occasional series chronicling my life. This Notebook Analysis series is meant to be contemporaneous piece developed as an agglomeration of my notebook pages. In each of these posts I used my notes to develop my recent thoughts.
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