Re: One last trek to the Madera Sugar Pine Grades

The next stop after Camp 2 was to find the incline used in 1919-20. I had been to the area twice before and finally decided that this was the bottom of the incline:


We are looking to the Northeast. The 1919 camp is directly behind me. The mainline back to Sugar Pine crossed a trestle off the left edge of the photo (no trace remains of the trestle). The road to the right appears to be the incline going up to 1920 camp.

Driving up what looks like the incline brings you to an area where it looks like bulldozers were extensively used. There's no grade visible. I had come up here once before and wandered around trying to figure out where the grade had been. I thought I found a short segment of a spur but couldn't follow it back to where I thought the incline might be due to the bulldozer activity and time constraints. This time I decided to explore the area extensively hoping to find the upper end of the incline.

Following what might have been a spur to the east brought me around to a northern heading and on to a bulldozed trail that led out on to a gently sloping rocky shelf at the top of the hill. I decided to follow this trail as it ran along the crest of the hill to see what I might find.

Here's a view looking Northwest from the bulldozed trail:


A few more feet of hiking and I found this:


Wire rope is usually a good indicator of logging activity. Thick wire rope (such as this) is often found near incline sites.

I hiked a few more feet and suddenly found this:


It looks like a railroad grade going up the hillside!

This is the view looking downhill:


To be continued...