My wive and I took advantage of an opening in our schedule this past August and headed up scenic and historic Highway 49, along the stunning North Yuba River corridor, to the Lakes Basin region for a special birthday celebration. A bonus was that we would be only 30 minutes from the Graeagle/Blairsden area. Our travel log showed that we had been there five years ago for another birthday. A quick call got us the last room at the High Country Inn in Bassetts, which is known for reasonably priced accommodations in a beautiful garden setting with views of the Sierra Buttes. The inn’s owner is a fish and game commissioner in Sierra County. Another call was to Big Springs Gardens, between Sierra City and Bassets, for a Sunday brunch reservation. On the way up from Nevada City, on a route that at times parallels the North Fork of the Yuba River, we checked out Downieville. This Gold Rush town suffered greatly in the economic downturn, and all the restaurants that I reviewed a few years ago were gone. On the day of our visit, a mountain bike rally of thousands filled Downieville’s streets and all available parking spots.
Smaller Sierra City, another historic Gold Rush town 12 miles upriver, fared a bit better. We stopped briefly at an art gallery, then headed directly for Big Springs and had a scrumptious outdoor brunch on a terrace overlooking the water. Karen wandered the gardens, while I checked out the ponds, hoping to find rising trout. This spring-fed water is a major contributor to cooler summer flows on the upper North Yuba. But there are no longer trout in the ponds. My innkeeper, the fish and game commissioner, told me at breakfast the next day that three illegal plantings of river otters had wiped out the fish here, as well as at ponds on several other properties in the area.
That afternoon, we hiked in the Lakes Basin and checked out Salmon Lake and its across-lake resort. You speak into a phone box at the dock, and they send a boat to pick you up. Later, we drove a few miles to the Sardine Lake Resort. As we did five years ago, we showed up an hour early so we could have a drink in “the Playpen” at lakeside. It’s a weathered wooden gazebo connected to the boat dock and livery. The alpine setting is one of the best in the Sierra. Sardine Lake laps near your seat, and the almost 9,000-foot high spires of the Sierra Buttes loom above to the west. There is a small, full-service bar in the Playpen, and you get to meet and talk with other guests. An employee rings a brass bell when it is time for your seating in the rustic lodge a few steps away. If you are lucky, the rays of the setting sun will flirt with gentle ripples on the lake as you go in for dinner. Across the lake, a lone angler in a canoe was casting flies for dimpling trout. Farther in the distance, an osprey hovered, looking for a careless fish.
Sardine Lake Resort isn’t a majestic, high-ceilinged Montana lodge, but the cabin ambience, varnished timbers, mountain lakeside setting, and rustic memorabilia on the walls make it very cozy. I tried a succulent rack of lamb, and Karen chose a tasty salmon filet in a dill sauce.
It’s hard to get a reservation for a cabin or for a table in the dining room in season. Family-tradition summer visits go back generations. Phone well in advance. There is an unimproved gravel boat launch on the grounds. It’s on my bucket list to fish the lake next year.
At the breakfast table the next morning, we met a nice couple and invited them to join us that evening for dinner. Like my wife and I, they were headed out exploring, and being restaurant owners, they were checking out the competition. Our day trip took us to even more rustic Elwell Lodge, which is popularized by hikers and anglers targeting the many area lakes and peaks. We worked our way through the basin and down the mountain to Graeagle in a light summer rain. I checked out access points along the Middle Fork of the Feather River. Like many streams, it was suffering from the drought, but a recent presentation at the Gold Country Fly Fishers by guide Jon Baiocchi made me want to return next year to his home waters in Plumas County. We explored a creditable art gallery and an antique shop (no junk, T-shirts, or candles), where I found a collection of cast-iron cookware and Native American artifacts. An antique two-inch-deep skillet came home with me.
All these areas are within half an hour’s drive or so of each other. We returned to Bassets, napped with the sound of rain on the roof, read, and readied for dinner. Packer Lake Lodge is in another, even more rustic setting across from a smaller lake. Log-cabin sides and peeled log beam ceilings with wagon wheel light fixtures, along with more mountain memorabilia of every description, characterize this intimate setting. We were pleased with the menu choices, and the corkage fee for our wine was very reasonable. As with Sardine Lake Resort, making reservations for cabins and the restaurant is a good idea. Packer Lake Lodge also has its cadre of multigeneration families that come year after year. We helped close out the restaurant and drove the four miles back to Bassetts, carefully watching for deer on the roadside.
In late September, the Gold Country Fly Fishers held the second of two annual fishouts at Lake Davis. Weather forecasts suggested light rain with periods of calm. Some members canceled with the forecast, but two groups of us rented a cabin and a motel room near the lake from Sylvia at the Lake Davis Resort. It was a good choice, because the rain was heavier than predicted, although still very welcome, helping tame the dangerous King Fire and lowering the threat of more blazes up and down the Sierra after a summer of everyone being on edge.
After fishing all day and cleaning up a bit, we headed seven miles down the mountain into Portola for dinner. The Log Cabin Restaurant, which I had enthusiastically reviewed a year ago, was closed because of a family health issue. A cell phone call confirmed that the nearby Beckworth Tavern was out of business, leaving few late-evening options for dinner. Lena’s Cantina, a small Mexican restaurant, was getting ready to close, but we found out that the Canyon Bar and Grill had been resurrected with a cleanup and facelift. There are many good restaurants in the Graeagle area, such as the Iron Door in Jonesville and the fabulous Longboards Bar and Grill at the Plumas Pines Golf Course, but it is another 10 miles or more of driving each way after a full day of fishing in the wind and rain.
We chose the Canyon Bar and Grill. I remember ducking a punch there on a rainy night in the 1970s in the once-dilapidated, raucous bar that was patronized by loggers and railroad crews. This was shortly after we had discovered Lake Davis. The Canyon was purchased by a Hispanic family a year or two ago, and the new owners did a nice turnaround. Their dining room and separate bar are now very comfortable, with excellent hospitality and service. This is not Longboards at Plumas Pines, the Iron Door, Frank Lloyd Wright’s Nakoma, or even the Log Cabin, but it was pleasant enough, with a five-dollar corkage fee and a tasty $19.95 rib-eye steak that included baked potato or French fries, vegetables, and a salad. Other choices included a $23.95 flat-iron steak, bone-in pork chop, blackened ahi tuna. and a scampi dish. The menu also featured several burgers and appetizers. We were welcomed with open arms, and they apologized for the five-dollar corkage fee, which for us was a steal.
One of our angling companions is in the restaurant/wine business. He travels with his own Riedel crystal wine glasses and always comes up with an interesting bottle of wine. Two grape grower fly fishers from Santa Rosa saw the bottle on our table and came over to chat. We compared notes on the day’s sparse Callibaetis hatch.
Saturday night and Sunday morning brought drenching rain and winds. That and a lake approaching fall turnover sent us packing. We stopped in Portola at Nicole’s Coffee Depot for a quick cup of warming coffee and a breakfast sandwich, all the while relishing the rain, then again in Sierraville at the southern end of Sierra Valley for another cup of joe to go before the long pull up the grade toward Truckee. On previous trips, we have stopped at the Sierraville Kitchen for chicken-fried steak and eggs. It is a hangout for Sierra Valley ranchers and has a rural ambience that brings back memories, if you have country roots. There’s also a decent Mexican restaurant named Los Dos Hermanos and a new funky sandwich shop and bakery called Smithneck Farms. It’s across from the firehouse. If you are lucky, you will catch live guitar, mandolin, or banjo music being played by the owner. I like all the sandwiches and fruit scones, but the pulled pork that he does out front on a smoker, next to two old-time crank gas pumps and an occasional farm dog, is very good. He did me up some breakfast burritos to go when I was headed for Davis last June.
Don’t forget to visit the exceptional summer farmers’ market at Sierra Valley Farms near the junction of Highway 70 and the county road from Satley and Calpine that goes to Beckworth, Lake Davis, and Portola. My fishing buddies and I often load up on fresh produce there when camping. The market is operated by the Romano family, who say it is the only farmer’s market in California that actually is on a farm. It is open from mid-May into September, and the Romanos also have a booth at farmer’s markets in Truckee, Tahoe City, Quincy, and Reno. Check out their Web site at http://www.sierravalleyfarms.com/farmersmarket.html and consider the special dinners they host in the barn on site.
The Lakes Basin isn’t well known outside of eastern Northern California, yet it offers many angling and hiking possibilities. If you locate a base in Graeagle, Blairsden, Clio, or Portola, or on the southern end at Bassetts or Sierraville, you can access the upper North Fork of the Yuba, the basin, as well as the Feather River and Lake Davis, and Frenchman Lake (also known as Frenchman’s Reservoir) to the east. Restaurants range from hot dog and frosty stands to fine dining and accommodations from cozy B&Bs to lodges, inexpensive cabins or motels. Whether visiting for a fishing trip or for family recreation, there is something for everyone. All of the venues mentioned can be found in four Google queries: Sierra City and Lakes Basin, Graeagle, Portola, and Sierra Valley. Remember that restaurants come and go in resort areas and that hours can change, particularly in the off-season. It is always wise to call ahead.
