One Picture is worth a Thousand Words, approximately! 63bkpkr

[63bkpkr]

My Rokon from Years ago, the Beast of back country machines.

A heck of a ride but worth it

Father & Son NFAR Pools we've fished



NFAR upper end of Green Valley

Been sample panning for a long time

Early Miner's Mansions

Front View Roof View

NorCal Fixer Upper only $2,250,000.00. Out of Euchre Bar Trail

Green Valley Not G.V.



~ Green Valley
Alta Store ~ 1966

 

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Treasure of Victoria Peak - Grab it through Amazon!

[The Gilded Lens]

Love them! Wow! I know Mumford Bar! We take a week-long backpacking trip just up river of there every year! That waterfall looks familiar.

 

[2cmorau]

sweet, thank you 63, sure does bring back some really good memories

 

[Duckwalk]

63, that trail breaker in the first picture. Is that the bike you can fill the wheels up with gasoline? (not the tires)

 

[63bkpkr]

Duckwalk, Yup! Hollow rims front and rear with a screw out plug, bring along a siphon hand pump and fill up the tank as needed. I never put fluids in either one but they were all set up for it.

With air in them, or even if both rims were filled, the bike floats without the rider on it and yes, I got to test that out once. She bob's like a cork! Awesome machine, all the rider needs to do is maintain balance and stay on it and it will GO. Maximum sustained speed was 20 mph. The Chrysler marine engine lacked guts and I had a problem with the carb once but it got the bike in and out of the canyon a few times also around and about with two people on it was no problem for it. Got a picture coming of it starting to climb up a telephone pole.

 

[63bkpkr]

Hi Gilded Lens,
I hiked the Mumford for several years with my children and friends. The fire of ~2008 burned the canopy out of the forest so the weeds in the valley are Really tall and thick but they can be negotiated. I went back in there a couple years ago and it is about the same as it was back in the 70's. That waterfall may look familiar however that one is off of the Beacroft trail and heck and back up in the hills. The pool below it Used To Be teaming with trout, only a few now. "Way" above this falls is a box canyon with a 200' waterfall, absolutely beautiful!

 

[Duckwalk]

Duckwalk, Yup! Hollow rims front and rear with a screw out plug, bring along a siphon hand pump and fill up the tank as needed. I never put fluids in either one but they were all set up for it.

With air in them, or even if both rims were filled, the bike floats without the rider on it and yes, I got to test that out once. She bob's like a cork! Awesome machine, all the rider needs to do is maintain balance and stay on it and it will GO. Maximum sustained speed was 20 mph. The Chrysler marine engine lacked guts and I had a problem with the carb once but it got the bike in and out of the canyon a few times also around and about with two people on it was no problem for it. Got a picture coming of it starting to climb up a telephone pole.

They are not very fast but you can climb just about any slope and go anywhere without worrying if you have enough gas to get back. As you say, fill 'er up from the rims and head on back. Gas is buoyant in water anyways so float away (just not with my fat arse on it.) I remember trailing on one with my dad in Kentucky as a child. we would ride up the mountain that my grandfather owned looking at all the old coal mine sites my dad worked when he was young.

 

[djpitr]

cool , i need me one of thees

 

[63bkpkr]

Sailor Flat close to the top or far from the bottom, depends on point of view.

Sailor @ Trinidad when it was standing

Sailor @ Trinidad when 10 Stamp Mill was still standing.

Doug Randolph & Myself coming out of Sailor when the 4 Door 56 Chevy Wagon was very close to the top.

Back in the day when fishing was good and I was silly enough to wear a 44 Mag in a quick draw holster.

Rokon willing to try anything I wanted to try. Background is the 56 Chevy Wagon.

1949 4 x 4 Willys pickup truck undergoing heart surgery, ~ 1965, yes that is also me.

NFAR at its best! From the looks of the hill on the left in the background I would estimate I was up river of Sailor and Wildcat.

 

[Professor of Engineering]

The photos are beautiful! Thank you for sharing!

 

[The Gilded Lens]

63bkpkr, Have I got pics and stories for you! I know Sailor Flat and area very well. Is the waterfall Big Valley Falls down past the big sand bar? I'm so stoked to find someone that loves that place as much as we do! You didn't perhaps know a man by the name of Jim Mills did you?

 

[63bkpkr]

Hi Gilded Lens,
That waterfall is actually upriver from where the Beacroft trail hits the valley floor and on the opposite side of the river at the single cylinder engine sitting uphill from the river.

Are you speaking of the big sand bar down river from sailor flat on the far side of the river with several all steel wheel barrows? Just down river of the Sailor Flat trail, past the narrows, is Big Granite creek that has three waterfalls.

Do you happen to have pictures of the town of Sailor Flat just upriver from where the trail comes down? When I first got to the town site one building was still standing, a two story structure, and it would have been just a bit up river from Sailor Creek. You get up river past sailor much? How about to the spot that looks like a mountain blew up? Its at about that spot sometime in the Month of July that the NFAR goes underground till one gets to the falls upriver.

You ever have any problems with the bears? Sometime in late the 70's they started hitting my food bags and camps. Then I began to come across them on the valley floor trail while I was carrying a cotton sack of fresh caught trout.

Yes, I do love the area and can never seem to get enough of it! Feel free to throw some of your pictures in here, it will only add to the fun!!..........63bkpkr

 

[63bkpkr]

The tent shown here died one night in Virginia, a dog and likely a skunk issue. The dog in the background is my friend 'Woof'. Then there is the old school saw in front of the fireplace, I've had a lot of different saws in there. Just a typical campsite up off of the river from the lack of water showing. After a bit more looking at this picture I realized there is a large amount of Mining Iron to the right of the picture making this location at the Walker Mine about at the Blacksmiths Junk Pile. The Walker mine trail is one bad hunk of trail!

Same tent on gravel bar likely at Mumford Bar and my son yawning early in the morning, he's not much of an early morning type. Great times in there all along the river with my children.

Just some of the best of the best

I believe this is just below the natural slide down river from Sailor Flat trail and the son has a "fish on"!

Looking upriver from Wildcat at the start of the brown rubble where it looks like a mountain blew up.

The river bed as seen from above Wildcat

This camp was right where the Mumford Bar trail comes down to the valley and before you can easily get down to the river. likely what was cooking on the grill in the above picture

Robinson Flat @ water pump with my "typical" pack behind me and note the insurance policy in my left arm pit, likely a .44 Mag back then. What I carry now makes the .44 look like a .22 short!

 

[The Gilded Lens]

Hi Gilded Lens,
That waterfall is actually upriver from where the Beacroft trail hits the valley floor and on the opposite side of the river at the single cylinder engine sitting uphill from the river.

Are you speaking of the big sand bar down river from sailor flat on the far side of the river with several all steel wheel barrows? Just down river of the Sailor Flat trail, past the narrows, is Big Granite creek that has three waterfalls.

Do you happen to have pictures of the town of Sailor Flat just upriver from where the trail comes down? When I first got to the town site one building was still standing, a two story structure, and it would have been just a bit up river from Sailor Creek. You get up river past sailor much? How about to the spot that looks like a mountain blew up? Its at about that spot sometime in the Month of July that the NFAR goes underground till one gets to the falls upriver.

You ever have any problems with the bears? Sometime in late the 70's they started hitting my food bags and camps. Then I began to come across them on the valley floor trail while I was carrying a cotton sack of fresh caught trout.

Yes, I do love the area and can never seem to get enough of it! Feel free to throw some of your pictures in here, it will only add to the fun!!..........63bkpkr

My avatar photo is actually in between Salior Flat and Mumford Bar.

Ok different waterfall. I haven't been to the one in your pic. Yeah, got it mixed up with the Big Granite Creek falls. (Amazing falls!) Yup, the two old wheelbarrows!

How far up river is the town site? I know the old cabin site next to Wildcat Creek. I think it was a two story. It's just walls now and a pile of debris inside now.

Yup! Familiar with the section that goes underground next to the "blown up mountain". There's a good trail up that way.

We've had a few run-ins with bears, but we go with a larger group so they (mostly) stay on the outside of camp. Last year though we had some deer creeping around camp at night. Mostly rattlesnakes and hornets! I got stung 18 times year before last, thought I was gonna die in that gorge!

You ever ride that waterslide?

Ok, you asked for it... pictures coming...

BTW LOVE that shot of your son getting out of the tent. It could be like a backpacking ad! So cute!

 

[The Gilded Lens]

1982 trip that my mother took ( I was made in 1985)




Don't have any bears, but we do get scorpions!


Here's the blown up mountain /underground section.


We call this Secret Falls, but that's not really it's name. Sounds like you've been to it already. Dang, it's rotating!


Pyrite in the bedrock.

The Stamp Mill

 

[63bkpkr]

My avatar photo is actually in between Salior Flat and Mumford Bar.

Ok different waterfall. I haven't been to the one in your pic. Yeah, got it mixed up with the Big Granite Creek falls. (Amazing falls!) Yup, the two old wheelbarrows!

How far up river is the town site? I know the old cabin site next to Wildcat Creek. I think it was a two story. It's just walls now and a pile of debris inside now.

The Sailor Flat town site is above Sailor Creek and in from the waterfall on the NFAR that is also above Sailor Creek and on the opposite side of the river from where Sailor Trail comes down to the forest floor. So maybe 1/3 of a mile up river from where Sailor Trail comes down, on the other side of the river from Sailor Trail. The Apple Orchard is just down river from the town site, now a large sandy flood plain.

I do not recall a falls like the one in your picture, seen lots and lots of others though during all sorts of exploring trips, great place to cool off!

Yup! Familiar with the section that goes underground next to the "blown up mountain". There's a good trail up that way. Are you talking about the trail that comes down next to Wabenna Creek? The only trail I've found up 'thata way' is the river bed itself. The "blown up mountain" rocks are still quite sharp!

We've had a few run-ins with bears, but we go with a larger group so they (mostly) stay on the outside of camp. Last year though we had some deer creeping around camp at night. Mostly rattlesnakes and hornets! I got stung 18 times year before last, thought I was gonna die in that gorge! Yup the yellow jackets can be really nasty when disturbed!!

You ever ride that waterslide? YES I HAVE, fun!! Even let my son go down it ONCE when he was about 7, lost my grip on him as he went by down the slot and he went out of sight into a black pool. When he bobbed to the surface and excitedly asked if he could go again I said no. To loose any of my children on a thrill ride is not what I want to do as a parent. That is why I've never been able to take them rafting down the NFAR, something I've done several times with adults. We would hike in at Euchre Bar, blow up the rafts and be gone for several days, we'd go down to the 2nd Colfax bridge. Some pictures of that later.

Ok, you asked for it... pictures coming...

BTW LOVE that shot of your son getting out of the tent. It could be like a backpacking ad! So cute! He's indicated he still yawns like that, now ~6' 2" 200+ lbs.

See between the lines in your text..................63bkpkr
I came across Scorpions in Green Valley MANY years ago and have never seen them anywhere else.

My first trip in on Sailor Flat I actually went into the top of the stamp mill in a room they had up there and took a picture out of the window which looked out across the canyon.

The pyrite veins up New York Canyon really take ones breath away as they are under water and really shine! Sure makes your heart beat faster for a second or two till you realize you are looking at cubic crystals, the tell tale sign as well as falling apart when struck hard.

The remains of the cabin at the mountain forest junction and right off of Wildcat are still slowly sagging into the ground. The Wildcat has undergone some serious changes in the past few years as water flows in the open for a long ways out towards the NFAR, used to be underground near the cabin. Also some very large log jams downstream on the WC.

 

[63bkpkr]

Gilded,
If I've been to that falls then its a secret to me. It looks to me like its up a side canyon and not right on the NFAR?
That first picture is classic NFAR water and rocks! The "blown up mountain" section is an interesting place but the waterfall at the end of the canyon and the pool there are both special. So many places to go in there and never gonna see them all in this life time............63bkpkr

Jim Mills, hmmm, not certain. There used to a really nice fella hiking in there with teenagers to show them what life could be like if a person chose the good path of life. He knew more about this place than I ever will and caught some of the German Browns when they were there.

 

[The Gilded Lens]

Gilded,
If I've been to that falls then its a secret to me. It looks to me like its up a side canyon and not right on the NFAR?
That first picture is classic NFAR water and rocks! The "blown up mountain" section is an interesting place but the waterfall at the end of the canyon and the pool there are both special. So many places to go in there and never gonna see them all in this life time............63bkpkr

Jim Mills, hmmm, not certain. There used to a really nice fella hiking in there with teenagers to show them what life could be like if a person chose the good path of life. He knew more about this place than I ever will and caught some of the German Browns when they were there.

Yeah, that waterfall is up a super sketchy canyon. It's down river of the Big Sand Bar. Ah, above the blown up mountain where the whole river goes over the falls? Yeah, that's a nice one! One year hiking to that waterfall we came across 7 rattlesnakes! We ate good that night! I never made it the whole way to that waterfall though because the year we did that day hike was my first ever backpacking trip and every millimeter of my feet was blistered and raw. I made it two third of the way and had to hike back after a good soak in the river.

By golly I think you DO know of him! Yes, every year he took a group of teens and some adult staff down there as part of an outreach. It's still ongoing. Actually, that's where my husband and I met and we renewed our vows next to the water slide. Did he have a mustache and glasses?

 

[Prospector70]

Duckwalk, Yup! Hollow rims front and rear with a screw out plug, bring along a siphon hand pump and fill up the tank as needed. I never put fluids in either one but they were all set up for it.

With air in them, or even if both rims were filled, the bike floats without the rider on it and yes, I got to test that out once. She bob's like a cork! Awesome machine, all the rider needs to do is maintain balance and stay on it and it will GO. Maximum sustained speed was 20 mph. The Chrysler marine engine lacked guts and I had a problem with the carb once but it got the bike in and out of the canyon a few times also around and about with two people on it was no problem for it. Got a picture coming of it starting to climb up a telephone pole.

I'm envisioning two of those bikes doubling as dredge pontoons in the middle of nowhere slowly working the hell out of some good pay. haha!
Love the pics!

 

[63bkpkr]

Prospector 70,
That is an interesting mind picture! Historically a Rokon picture was posted of a fellow in Maine/Minnesota, he'd added pontoons to his Rokon and was towing a floating platform that his dog was on. They were going across a lake as the tires acted like paddles. So your idea is not the first that included a Rokon on water though yours does fit this blog better..........63bkpkr.