The Road Genealogist: Lake Kaweah & Three Rivers

Friday, April 8, 2011

Lake Kaweah & Three Rivers

Visalia, CA

    While I thought there had been some confusion between the name of of Lake Kaweah and its dam -- not so! Terminus Dam created Lake Kaweah. Since I and my ex-fishing buddy made many trips to Mineral King within Sequioia Natl Park, we had driven by this reservoir many times during the last 30-35 years.
    The photo above is of the upper end of the Horse Creek arm of the lake and the bridge over the creek. On the very weekend during which one of the Bargetto Brothers, a brother-in-law, and two of their sons were snowed in at Rae Lake further north, I drove to Mineral King, slept in my car, walked up to Mosquito Lake #1 the next morning via the old trail, and then walked out just as it got dark -- which it does by late afternoon in mid-October. Stopped at the Horse Creek road (to private property further up the creek) to water some plants, but Mother Nature reciprocated by dropping some raindrops on my head. That ended all ideas of car-camping, as I had done many time, next to the cattle guard on Horse Creek Road.

    The late Emmett Thompson thought it was rather funny that I was whizzed upon while looking to do the same thing to some roadside plants along Horse Crk Rd.
    This second shot is toward the inlet stream; the lake extends virtually to the outskirts of Three Rivers up stream. The Three Rivers Librarian told me there are many establishments in town with free WiFi when I pointed out that Tulare County is one of only three counties I've traversed in my travels which did not have free WiFi at its libaries. The Historical Society apparently has free WiFi along with many restaruants -- some funky, others more up-scale.

    Note the fullness of the lake in this final view toward the dam; as farms, especially those immediately downstream which need water for juicy oranges and other citrus fruits, draw on water in Kaweah Reservoir, it's level drops. However, once daytime highs in the San Joaquin Valley reach 100 degrees daily, residents will seek out reservoirs like this and Lake Success on the Tule River east of Porterville.
    There are no hookups at Corps of Engineers Horse Creek Campground; and if you need to draw water, bring your own container, as you won't be able to connect a hose to one of the Water Valves. Cost is $20/night, though if you have a Golden Age or other Federal Pass, the cost is halved.
    By way of comparison, Lake Success has more sites, many of which are flatter, and a few of which have full hookups; the cost with hookups is $30 or $20 to park for the night.
--
Links: