Saturday, August 24, 2013

North From Oroville, CA to the Feather River Country




After several days of camping near Bodega Bay while attending the Cotati Accordion Fest I'd had enough of the beach and headed north looking for cooler climes. Highway 70 between Oroville and Chilcoot, California follows the North Fork of the Feather River much of the way. The road follows the river; the steep mountains are covered with pines and oaks. I found a respectable pile of bear poop outside my door when I parked to camp near Rush Creek. A welcome change from the more common cow shit.










There is water everywhere. Each canyon has a stream and there are springs coming out of every cleft. Upstream a little way from this trestle are beautiful pools.

















Most of the terrain is vertical. What few roads there are go up the sides of the mountains. There aren't any "tops" so once they reach altitude they follow the side of the hill. It's a little cooler higher up, but level spots to camp are rare.

If you camp along the highway you might look for a place where the train isn't braking. It follows the river, just like the road, but since it's often going up or down the brakes are usually squealing. (Train enthusiasts line the roadway with cameras & tape recorders.).




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