Ah-Di-Na

Many of you have visited this campground on the McCloud River below the reservoir and we took our daughter Ami there today after many long years. The road takes off from McCloud Reservoir and is not bad as dirt roads go up to the top where it begins the drop to the river and the campground area. Then it gets more rocky and you begin to wish you'd brought the truck.

We took a Hyundai Santa Fe and I was worried about the tires because the rocks were angular and sharp, not like river rock. And there were places where the roadbed was all bedrock, with pointy rock jutting up that was black...the rubber from passing tires. I am told bias-ply tires are better for this kind of road due to their superior sidewall strength. But I had radials. What else to do but move forward?

Only one place was touchy clearance-wise; a culvert had washed bare and we had to creep over it. If you keep your speed down and imagine what rock vs oil pan looks like, you'll be fine.

Ah-Di-Na is not, surprisingly, an Indian name. The Forest Service handout says at least three Indian tribes claim that it is in their traditional territory but none of them named it that. Yet it apparently still was an ancient settlement which was bought from the railroad by a wealthy San Francisco family named Wittier in 1896 for a fishing retreat.

In 1916 it was sold to another rich family by the name of Fitzhugh and finally in 1936 to the Hearst family which also owned the fabulous Wyntoon estate upriver. It was during these Depression years when it was built up the most . .. a telephone system, a good supply road from Wyntoon for the mules, marble baths, you name it.

Then all the buildings were burned in 1958 because of infrequent use and vandalism.

So today all that's left are some foundations, a reconstructed cabin, a chimney, a probable root cellar, several stone pits (water reservoirs? fishing pools? stock ponds?), and an orchard. All these are on a very short and poorly marked 1/4 mile trail which was littered with bear scat.

As the old timers say, where there is bear puckey you can figure there are bear, and in case we had not taken enough notice of the one that had crossed the road earlier in front of the car, sure enough Sally sees something thrashing in the bushes maybe 20 feet from the trail.

I heard the distinctive whoof-whoof sound they make when they warn you and we all beat a graceful (I can say that, now) rearward stroll to the campground. Where, by the way the first camper we ran in to seemed rather calm about it all, given that the bear was no more than 300 feet away from his campsite at that very moment. Bully for you I thought, but no way am I camping here.

So we drove on down the mile or so to the Nature Conservancy's McCloud River Preserve where you have to park and walk maybe half a mile on a semi-improved trail. It's definitely walking stick country here and no restrooms. Fishing is by special permit, artificial lures and flies only, and of course, catch and release. A staff person lives on site where solar panels and propane are the only source of energy. The latter is apparently carried in on the backs of volunteers since there is no way a mule could navigate the trail (in my opinion anyway, but maybe they float the 10 gallong tanks down the river in a raft).

Pristine, quiet, and very peaceful. No wonder the rich and famous came here. There apparently were several private fishing reserves along this stretch in the first half of the 1900's and much of the land is still private so if you visit please respect not only the nature that provides it but the owners as well.