Re: West Side Lumber

Marv, take the road towards Cherry Valley Resivoir and that will take you to the Canyon and a campground located there. Before you cross the bridge of the Tuolomne River you can turn left into the camp if the gate is open. If not you will have to go to the campground entrance which if further up on your right and enter there and drive to the area stated above.
You will see on your left the old bridge tender's shack. Park there and you will see a trail leading up to the right of way. Rail and ties still in the ground so follow up to the small yard and foundation where River Bridge was located. You will find the small turntable still in place from the Bell days. Nothing is left of the River Bridge.
If you stop at the MiWuk Ranger Station in Long Barn on Hwy 108, you can pick up the West Side Trails brochure and follow the route from Hull Creek to the Clavey Bridge. It is very do-able in a 2 wheel drive, but you need a topo map to find the ditch trails as some of the right of way has some slides.
Along this route you will see spar trees still rigged, lots of ties, even car bodys and misc. Camp 24 has lots of junk around still. Near Buffalo landing a donkey still exists.
I was at Camp 45 for the first time Labor Day this year, and while not much remains, you can see where everything was located including the very spot where Alex Ness had his steam donkey tied down.
Hope this helps,
Jeff Badger