It has been a big winter and a late spring, so finding a trail without deep snow was a challenge. We decided on a trail through some of the hydraulic mining areas mostly because of the low elevations, but also because it was an area where we had no experience. You can see on the map that the trail is supposed to start in Grass Valley, but that is a pretty long way so we tried to take a shortcut across the Bear River starting at Magra. We got across the river by the Chicago Park power station, but further access has been blocked by a gate. Apparently the area had been extensively abused by various yahoos and closure was the result.