Ted's Hiking World Caples Lake Shoreline
Mokelumne Wilderness

July 9, 2016

"Doc" Caples emigrated from Ohio in 1848 to settle in Placerville and Sacramento.  He bought a shop in Hangtown, and eventually had complete control of the town's mercantile business.  It is said that no miner ever was refused credit at one of his stores.

When his retail businesses faltered due to increasing competition, Caples built a 4000-acre ranch in the meadow at the confluence of Carson and Deer Creeks, and established a trading post there.  The dam was constructed in 1922 to hold the Twin Lakes Reservoir.  So named because the meadow had held two shallow lakes, it was renamed Caples Lake in the 1970s in honor of the area's pioneer residents.

Among other accolades, Doc Caples was a delegate to the 1849 convention that wrote the California State Constitution under which the state was admitted to the union in 1850.

*
The day begins at the Kirkwood rental

*
Judi gets a head start

*
A brand-new sign

*
We will see a lot of water today

*
Spotted Coral Root *
Mule's Ears

*
How did this happen?

*
This dog was not friendly

*
Watch your head

*
The doggie probably is bored

*
Roezl's Penstemon *
Crimson Columbine

*
Black Butte, Round Top, and the Sisters

*
Pretty mellow going at times

*
Lunch time near the southern tip of the lake

*
Balsamroot *
Wild Carrot

*
Oxeye Daisy *
Pretty Face

*
Caples Lake and Elephants Back

*
Shaggy Hawkweed *
Nuttall's Larkspur

*
Leichtlin's Mariposa Lily *
Wavyleaf Paintbrush

*
There's lots of Old-West history around here

*
Woolly Sunflower *
Brewer's Lupine

*
Carrie practices her balancing act

* *

Natural, yet somehow unnatural

*
The rock that fell apart

*
Sticky Cinquefoil *
Western Wallflower

*
Blazing the trail

*
The waterfall was more photogenic earlier *
The pollen is not photogenic at all

*
I drove behind that distant cliff yesterday

*
Compressed rock *
Compressed flower

*
Not much farther now

*
The parking lot is full

Scenery *
Difficulty *
Flowers *
Solitude *

*


---

ON TO THE DEATH RIDE

*

*

*

*

*
The best seats in the house

*
How sweet

*
The riders are smiling

*
Bill returns

*
Finished for the day

*
All packed up

*
The Death Ride Lives!

Go Back