Wild and Scenic River
The Yuba River. Wild. Scenic. Majestic. Powerful. Spirited.
Living in the Sierra Foothills offers consistent reminders of life’s blessings. I am surrounded by exquisite, simple, natural beauty: trees, flowers, birds, cool sweet air in the morning, dazzling stars at night, and the Yuba River…the jewel of the Sierras. Yesterday morning found me at Hoyt’s Crossing, on my well established summer river schedule–my car is parked by 9, I’m at the beach by 9:30, I luxuriate in relative solitude until 11:30-ish, and I am hiking back to my car before noon, just as the crowd begins to amass. Grace is by my side, thrilled to be on the trail, and she knows exactly what side trail to take to our beach.
The roar of the river was impressive as I hiked to Hoyt’s. Glimpses of the water through the trees brought views of high, fast flow. Our beach was not covered by water as several along the trail had been, but there was much less beach available. I’ve chosen this beach over and over again for its fabulous deep, calm swimming hole and the perfectly shaped rocks at the upper end of the hole are inviting to scramble up onto for warming up in the sun.
Not yesterday. The rocks were not only completely underwater, but had created a sort of break point for the flow so that the river crashed into the rocks then split in two as it aggressively flowed downstream. The current was so strong up to the shoreline, that I knew immediately that tossing Grace’s ball into the flow would carry it away and into the next set of rapids at the bottom of the hole. She sensed too, the intensity of the river flow, choosing to stay at the water’s edge instead of jumping right in to swim with delight.
So we ended up hanging out on the beach, barely dipping in our toes, watching the trees and bushes sway in the wind, and simply enjoying the gorgeous river without getting wet. A divine morning.
Next time, we’ll swim.
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