Boon-Dock East of Long Barn, CA
A view from the Vista Point a few miles east of the Groveland District Ranger Station on CA120. It overlooks the canyons not only of the Tuolumne River, the source of San Francisco's water through its Hetch Hetchy Project, but also several forks of Cherry Creek, which is also part of the Hetch Hetchy System.
[Click 1 or 2 times to see more granitic mountains in the Emigrant Wilderness to the north.]
I had intended to drive to Anderson Valley, which is where the Anderson Valley K-V Crew hung out at night and weekends during the late 50s, except for those of us who went fishing on weekends. But, as you can see from the plaque to the right, I ended up in Coulterville, a former gold-mining town.
The K-V Crews got their name from the two congressmen who wrote the act creating them: Congressman Knutson, perhaps a Senator, and, more than likely, Sen. Arthur H. Vandenberg (R-MI). The 1930 Act provided for reforestation by the US Forest Service; during the 1930s 2.25 billion seedlings were planted by the Civilian Conservation Corps. Twenty years later the demand for knotless plywood caused the USFS to create K-V crews to prune certain pine trees. If ponderosa and sugar pines were pruned up 10, 14, or 16 feet, depending on the trees size, once the cambium had healed in 2 or 3 years much of the lumber peeled for plywood at a later date would be knotless. At that time knotless plywood brought 6 to 7 times more than knotty plywood.
Our boss on the Anderson Valley K-V Crew on the Groveland District was Earl Wothe. It's not surprising that Earl died at a relatively early age (69) as he was overweight and, if memory serves, had asthma; because of the latter, he often worked as the timekeeper at fire-fighting camps.
Here's his obituary.
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Earl WOTHE
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Obituary
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Monday 2 December 1985 Sonora Union Democrat
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Earl H. Wothe, 69, of Groveland died Saturday in a Martinez hospital after a long illness.
Mr. Wothe, a native of Kentucky, had lived in California since 1936. He managed a chain store in Laguna Beach before moving to Tuolumne County in 1950.
He was attracted to the Mother Lode, he once told a Uunion Democrat reporter, because he could buy 10 acres of land for $500.
After settling on property on Smith Station Road, he began a 25-year career with the U.S. Forest Service's Groveland Ranger District. He started as the Smith Station lookout, a job his wife, Dorothy, took over until her retirement about two years ago.
Mr. Wothe worked in reforestation projects and in 1958 started the Groveland district's small sales program. He administered sales of forest products ranging from Christmas trees and pine cones to manzanita stems.
When he retired in 1975, he had the longest tenure of any forest service employee on the Groveland district.
Mr. Wothe was an Army veteran of World War II. He belonged to the Odd Fellows Lodge in Big Oak Flat.
He is survived by his wife, Dorothy, of Groveland; a son, J. Lee of Pollock Pines; a daughter, Judy Wight of Groveland; a sister, Mary Straus of Kentucky, and three grandchildren.
A service is pending at the Heuton Memorial Chapel.
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Links:
- Wikipedia article on Coulterville, CA
- Wikipedia article on Hetch Hetchy
W 19 Oct Actual Route: Sonora Junction - Bridgeport - Lee Vining - Yosemite - Pines CG (Groveland District of Stanislaus NF
Th 20 Oct Actual Route: Pines CG - Greeley Hill - Coulterville - Sonora - East of Long Barn
F 21 Oct Actual Route: East of Long Barn - Mi-Wuk Village - Sonora - 3Links CG
Sa 22 Oct Route: 3Links CG - Sonora - Tuolumne - East of Long Barn
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Finding Campgrounds:
- RV Campgrounds from TrailerLifeDirectory.com
- Family Camping Directories from Woodalls.com
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