2024-05: Shaver Lake, Sierra National Forest

Milestones

• 17th camping trip in 17 months. SHOW ON MAP
• 13th county in California solo-camped.

Over 50 Years Ago…

In elementary school, I was a Boy Scout. One summer, our troop went up to Shaver Lake and we stayed at Camp Chawanakee. I remember this because I was one of those kids who always begged my parents to get a pool. Whenever we went on vacation, I wanted us to stay at hotels that had a pool. If we drove past a lake or a stream, I wanted us to stop so I could swim in it. I was relentless. So, when I got to Camp Chawanakee, and you could earn a merit badge for swimming a mile in Shaver Lake…. well you can imagine my excitement. Now, to be honest, I had never swum a mile before. But, I was sure I could do it. I talked to the camp counselors, and begged them to allow me to swim with the other kids in the 1-mile event. The plan was for groups of kids to swim out into the lake with a guide boat following alongside in case of emergency. You know, some kid eats a sandwich and doesn’t wait an hour and immediately sinks to the bottom of the lake. Moms will tell you that story all the time. So, the counselors wouldn’t let me go out “on the open water”, but they would let me swim in between the docks, doing laps, until I earned the merit badge. I was all set.

Then, my mother showed up on the day I was supposed to swim for glory. She came to pick me up early, so I could get back in time for a dentist appointment. OK, if it was someone’s funeral or birthday party, I could have swallowed it better. But, the DENTIST? … Needless to say, I was furious, indignant and all-around put-out.

Later that year, my Mom tried to make it up to me. She found an Olympic-sized pool, and took me to it for an afternoon. I did it; I swam a mile. It took 4 hrs, but I did it. My only witnesses were my mom and a lifeguard. Not the honor and prestige that an 11-year-old would have wished for.

Almost 4 Years Ago…

On September 4, 2020, the Creek fire burned 379,895 acres making it the second largest single fire (i.e. not part of a larger wildfire complex) in California history. Here’s a map of where it reached. The town of Shaver Lake was spared, but through incredible effort by firefighters. I talked with my camp host, and he told me that a huge number of tankers (planes and helicopters) dropped water and fire retardent in order to save the town. In total, 856 buildings were destroyed in the surrounding area, and the combined cost of the months-long firefighting effort and damage to private and county property exceeded $500 million.

This trip…

As I was driving up CA Highway 168, I saw thousands of burnt trees. It was a bit shocking. I pulled over along the road and took this picture because it was the first time I saw the tree line where the fire was stopped. I was afraid that my campsite would be a disaster zone.

However, the campground was NOT a blackened hellscape…

It was a mountain paradise (at 5627ft elevation)…

Am I Smarter than a Bear, a Bear-Box, and a Bear-Proof-Latch?

When I checked into the campground, the host said that someone had left out food a few days earlier and a bear found it. Once they find food, they stay around hoping to find more. They told me to put all food in the bear box at my campsite. I looked at it, and decided I better try and figure out how to unlock it. The picture shows how to shove your fingers up into this bear-proof latch. That was going to be a problem. I then thought of using my phone, which conveniently is finger-thick, finger-long and finger-strong. I shoved my dearest Apple product into the bear-proof-latch and unlocked the door. Yay… the bears would not eat my food, and the only smelly meat around was …. me.

Shaver Lake is a man-made lake named after C.B. Shaver, a lumberman and co-founder of the Fresno Flume and Irrigation Company. In 1893, Shaver built a small dam on Stevenson Creek, as well as a sawmill and flume to transport lumber to Clovis. In 1917 Southern California Edison purchased the lake. In 2011-2012, the lake had to be drained because the concrete dam was in danger of erosion and leaking. So they spent over a year draining/refilling and placing a protective liner along the bottom stretches of the dam that is supposed to last 100 years.

Before I drove down the mountain, I went part way around the lake. About 4 miles away, towards the northeast, I saw more burned forest. The fire came so close.