Drought Emergency

Yesterday, Governor Jerry Brown declared a drought emergency for California.

Today I hiked Stevens Trail, from the Colfax trail head to Secret Ravine, down to the North Fork American River. Here's the water level from early last year, when rainfall was low, compared to now.

2013

2014

This is serious, folks.

The low water level is attracting prospectors. I met this young man on the trail. He had carried his gear into the canyon using a pack of his own design. He was cooking a breakfast of oatmeal. He planned to prospect only a few days. (He has a job in Sacramento.) He wants to find enough gold to pay for his prospecting equipment. His name was Miles.

I need to correct something from my last post, where I wrote that the miners who live along the river keep their camps orderly. This observation was from a hike last year, when I passed an orderly camp. Today I hiked down the side trail to this camp. The camp was abandoned and trash was strewn about. This was not good. The authorities should evict anyone trashing public land. (Although at this site eviction is a moot point.)

2013

2014