October 10, 2012

Sycamore Grove Campground

Mendocino NF, Red Bluff, CA

After a lazy morning we headed out at 11:30 for a bike ride.

  We began the 4.5 mile trail at the nearest entrance to our site.  To the west of us was the East Sand Slough, an offshoot of the Sacramento River.  Continuing on we crossed a small grove of sycamore.  We stopped at a bench to have lunch. 

 The weather was perfect for bike riding as it wasn’t too hot and the trail had several shady sections. 

The end of the trail brought us back to the entrance of the campground where the Sacramento River Discovery Center is located.  We saw that it was open so we decided to check it out.   Inside we met Bobbie who was happy to tell us about the center. 

The Discovery Center is an environmental education center whose goal is to provide educational programs on the plants, insects, wildlife and birds native to the area.  

Bobbie walked us over to a tank that was home to a king snake.  Also inside was a small white mouse she had tried feeding the snake.  But the snake was not interested and not wanting to “waste” the mouse, Bobbie asked Monte if he would be willing to get the mouse out so she could give it to another king snake at the center. 

She explained that she had tried getting the mouse out herself but it was elusive and being vertically challenged (her words) she was too short to reach all the way in the tank.  After a few attempts Monte got the mouse or I should say the mouse got Monte as it bit his finger and would not let go. 

 

Monte had to squeeze the neck of the mouse so it would let go and in doing so might have accidentally killed the mouse.  The reason we think he killed the mouse was because when it was placed in the tank of the other king snake, it lay on its back not moving with its feet straight up.  At first we thought it might be playing “possum” but we watched it for several minutes and there was absolutely no movement.  Another clue to the mouse’s probable demise was evident when the snake showed no interest in it.  Monte felt terrible and apologized to Bobbie.  She assured him it was no big deal. 

When we told Bobbie that we had done the entire bike trail and wanted to do more biking she told us we could walk our bikes across the gate to the Discovery Camp and take some of the trails there.  She warned us to look out for puncture vines because they could actually puncture bike tires.  The vines are so sharp they have been known to puncture ATV tires.  We followed one of the trails after entering the camp and found ourselves on a dirt road flanked on both sides with puncture vines.  At some points along the road we had to walk the bikes because the dirt was too soft and the vines were so thick they encroached upon the road from each side. 

The dirt road ended at Sale Lane, the road leading to our campground.

  We had one more obstacle to overcome as there was a gate across the road with barbed wire on each side.  Monte found a section of the wire where the gap between the upper wire and lower wire was wide enough to get his bike through.  He then held the top portion of the wire up for me to pass through but he did end up getting cut on the tip of his finger.  All together we had ridden 8 miles which may seem far but it was just enough for one day as I hadn’t biked in a long time and was sure I was going to be feeling it the next day. 

 

Back home we sat outside for a while watching these tiny birds in the tree near our rig.  Monte thinks they were nuthatch.  I ‘m not sure what kind of birds they were but they were really cute. 

Hunger pangs finally forced us inside so I could make dinner.  Earlier, during our bike ride, we had noticed a sign for a walking trail where bikes are prohibited so we decided to check it out. 

 It wound around leading us past a pond and continued on ending at the boat ramp at the campground.  It was dark and a little chilly by the time we got home and settled in for the night.  I was thankful for another great day with my sweetheart.