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Well, here we go again, for a nice little hike. Headed down, again, the San Joaquin
River Trail, but today Iím takiní it from the other direction. Starting in the San Joaquin
River Gorge area, and gonna head over to Big Sandy Creek. Talked to some bike guys on the
mountain bikes, and they said itís about two miles. So, weíre gonna check that out.
And I got my buddy with me, Buster, of course. Now I donít think I can go anywhere without
him. Huh, ìBusì? So, it looks like itís gonna be a nice day. Buster found himself
some water. Oh, heís gonna lay down in it! Come on, you nutcase! Come on, Buster. Come
on, Bus. Buster, no. Come on. Some pretty nice views. Rolling hills, of course. Wooded.
Wouldnít mind campiní out here. Little tiny creeks crossiní the path every which way.
Buster has decided heís just gonna lay in most of íem, which is alright. Buster! Come
on, buddy! Heís goiní back and forth, and back and forth today. Come on, Buster! Letís
go! Come on! Now heís probably gonna follow you now.
Hello again! Hey, howís it goiní? Alright, Buster, donít
go too far without me, buddy. I need you. Come on, ìBussyì. Donít go too far. Well, today itís -- you can see Iím weariní
a short-sleeved shirt. It must be seventy-three out here right now. I mean, the sun is out
today. So much so that these are almost a necessity. Of course these, I mean, you know,
you use these -- you know, somethiní like this if youíre in the snow. You know, say
you were in Washington State -- well, we wonít go there. But, uh, yeah - this is my winter,
out here with Buster. Passiní over another creek. Oh, man, that sun though. Oh, man.
This is tough. See the smirk on my face. It ainít that bad. If you donít mind the electric
power lines, thereís my first view of the -- you know, I donít know if thatís the
big sandy, maybe, or if that is the river cominí through here. But letís head down
this hill, and weíre gonna find out pretty soon. Oh, Buster. Heís out. Heís had enough.
Come on, buddy. Thereís more. Thereís more. Now, thereís a view right there. Alright
right. Well, appears to be a downhill trick for a little while. Well, apparently I was wrong. This is the
San Joaquin River. Cominí out of the gorge, headiní down. And then this is The Big Sandy,
right below me here, entering. And The Big Sandy heads up this way. And then the San
Joaquin River heads back out -- straight out there, towards Millerton Lake. Well, besides
Buster splashiní around, I hear somethiní up behind those rocks. Iím assuming this
trail may take me -- well, I canít see any further down in there, but thereís a real
cool breeze shootiní up out of there, and definitely some water goiní on. Well, apparently
I was wrong the second time. Maybe this is The Big Sandy, entering the San Joaquin River.
And the only way Iím gonna know is if I find a bridge over this trail here. There we go.
This is the bridge I was interested in finding. It goes over The Big Sandy -- Big Sandy Creek.
What do you think, Buster? Pretty interesting. Not much water flowing, but this is it. We
made it. So, the Big Sandy, goiní out to the San Joaquin River right there. And on
the other side, well, it looks like it kinda cuts through the rocks there, for sure, and
a little swimminí hole there. But yeah, not much water flowiní. Which is, you know -- I
was kinda curious what I was gonna find. Off trail, tryiní to make our way to the water.
Itís kinda weird, this looks like a -- it used to be a rode of some sort. Not -- not
paved or anything, but -- looks like thereíd been vehicles back here, but I donít know
how. Iíll take a look down here, though. Well, we found our way to the water. Thatís
what Buster wanted. Couldnít stand it another minute. Huh, Buster? Yeah! Thatís my water
dog right there. Yeah! Okay! No! No! No! Donít do it! Haha! Haha! Okay. Yeah. Come over here
and shake again. Oh yeah, get in the mud there. That will help. Well, unfortunately Buster
and I went down to there river, and what looks like reeds, kinda, over there - not reeds.
Stickers. He is covered in stickers, and itís all my fault. Gonna have to try to get some
of íem out before we go any further.
So, this is the bridge at The Big Sandy Creek. Big Sandy Creek dumps into the San Joaquin
River here on my left. And the thing about this bridge is they packed everything in here
on mules, or something. Horses, mules. So all the block, the concrete that the footings
are made out of, and the understructure, was all packed in here. I believe the understructure
-- metal understructure there, on top of that form, was all packed in here. Then the aluminum
sections of the bridge -- looks like one, two, maybe three sections, were helicoptered
in here by the local air or Army National Guard in the area. So they brought these in
with a helicopter and planted ëem on the then existing foundation that had been built
by volunteers, and packed in by volunteers, from what Iím hearing. Iím gonna try to
put a link to some information on this in the description of this video. So check down
in the description for links to information on this bridge.
Well, Buster and I, weíre takiní a break. Haviní some Justinís. You ready for some
more of that? And I just wanted you guys to see -- I mean, we -- I donít know if you
can see. Iím kinda sittiní on a rock here. The trail is right below us. And this is what
me and Buster are doiní. Just takiní in the view down the river. Huh, ìBusì? You
gettiní the view, Buster? Let me show you what we got here, whatís this way. So, if
it werenít for the power lines -- but even with íem -- there goes Buster, slidiní down
the hill. Anyway, this is our view for lunch. Trail right at our feet, headiní up this
way. We came from down below, so itís been uphill all the way from the water. Down in
that sandy area down there, on the left side, left bank, and actually beyond that, is where
the bridge and the creek came in. The Big Sandy Creek. Anyway, weíre up here tryiní
to grab us somethiní to eat. Huh, Buster? Yeah, I know. Youíre just dyiní for some
more peanut butter. Arenít you? You love your Justinís. Right, buddy? More to follow.
Buster and I are on our way back. Canít see the river anymore where we are, but in the
distance you can see where these power lines lead. At some point we passed underneath those,
and down and to that river. Thereís a power station right here too. A hydroelectric power
station is right down on the bottom there. So, itís been another good day. And I know
it was two and a half miles in, so, may have -- may have spent six miles -- or -- Iím
sorry, three miles to the bridge and -- and a little beyond. So this is gonna be a six-mile
day, it looks like. Iíll check that for more accuracy. But nice and warm today. Real warm.
Definitely in the 70ís. Buster had himself a good swim. We sat on a rock for a while.
And itís been all uphill on the way back. Thanks for coming, by the way. Hope you enjoyed
seeing the Big Sandy Creek, and the bridge at Big Sandy Creek.