Re: One more day on the Madera Sugar Pine grades....

The right of way follows Big Creek canyon to the southeast for a couple of miles and the road for the most part is built on the grade:


After about two miles the grade heads off to the east through this meadow:


It is not clearly visible in the photo but there was a short spur here. I followed the grade through a grove of trees and came out here:


This might be part of a trestle cribbing, and then again it may not...

I search around trying to regain the ROW and could find nothing. It was now about 2 o/clock and I decided to loop down around Speckerman mountain on the railroad grade that crosses the south side of the mountain and returns to Sugar Pine where the mill was. I had driven this way back in June, but wanted to double check that I had not missed any spurs uncovered by the fires. This area got heavily burned in the Railroad Fire with tree mortality up to 100%:


You can see the Bear Clover is rapidly covering the bare soil. Foresters mentioned this type of growth even in the 1920's after an area had been logged...

Here's a view looking to the southwest from the same location:

The town of Oakhurst is in the distance.

Next: a drive through Sugar Pine...