Revised Jan 9, 2005
The January meeting and campout with party will be held at the Hidden View Campground at Hensley Lake, seventeen miles northeast of Madera on Road 407 (off Road 603, see map) near Raymond CA. (Please be advised that Road 407 turns to dirt north of the campground.) There will be food, beverages and music as well as any strong drink you wish to bring to consume or share. This will be a little different than the usual January meeting so read for BBQ details below. As always the winter meeting will begin at 4 p.m. See you there!
The tour will leave at 11:30 a.m. from the restaurant, Doug’s Place on Redwood Road at Castro Valley Blvd west of I-580 in Castro Valley (510 538-9155) Although there will be sufficient gas and comfort breaks along the route, the later departure and early barbeque means that there will be no official lunch stop planned . Look for awesome little tacos (even better than last tour’s) from the wagon at the corner of J-16 and SR-33. The following route is subject to change depending on atmospheric conditions and the whim of the tour captain: I plan to take you east on I- 580, exit at Vasco Rd, take Patterson Pass to Greenville Rd the cut east on Tesla. Tesla becomes Corral Hollow Rd which we will take to I-505-S. At the Westley, exit we will leave the freeway for gas and head east on CR-J16/ Howard Rd. Traveling across the valley on J-16 we will head for the foothills around the Merced River. We will take Hornitos Rd to Old Toll Rd and work our way down to SR-140, east of Cathey’s Valley. From there it is over to Yaqui Gulch to Buckeye to Ben Hur to Road 613, then Road 600 toward the town of Raymond. Continuing on Road 600 we will come into the campground from the south via Roads 603 and 407.
The site: Hensley Lake is about as nowhere as you can get within in a half day range of the Bay Area. We are likely to be the only folks there. This isn’t anywhere you want to be in mid August, which makes it the perfect spot for winter party. Hidden View campground is over a hill from an unassuming recreational lake in the low sierra foothills. On-site there is a wheel-chair accessible twenty by forty-foot sheltered, open pavilion protected from the south and west by an earthen berm. If the weather is bad, we can move the picnic tables aside for room to pitch six or eight free-standing tents in the covered space in the lee of the hill. (I promise at least two of us will remain in good enough shape to help pitch them!) We will have my old 70-watt Denon stereo with XM radio. Please bring your favorite CD, or even cassettes. Come, eat, drink, get down, kick out the jams, get jiggy wid’ it, or do whatever your idea of a party is.
Here’s the scoop on the BBQ: Rain or shine, Chuck Bell and I, accompanied by the Tennessee Queen, will be hosting a feed of barbequed chicken, scratch-made baked beans, salad, garlic-buttered French loaves, soft drinks and homemade brownies and lemon cookies for dessert. The meal is by reservation, but snacks, hot mulled cider (sorry Brits – it’s the soft variety) and other hot drinks will be available for all upon arrival. Please email Chuck Bell at keys2@pacbell.net (please reference "Norcal BBQ" in the subject) by Friday 6 p.m. to reserve your meal ticket. Donations to help defray expenses are requested as the dollars are coming out of the tour captain’s pocket. An Abe and a couple George’s are suggested. If you don’t have a reservation (do you really want to take your chances?) you will need to get a ticket from me (Leni) in order to eat. After the tickets are given out to those who reserved a spot, preference will be given to those who have shown up for the tour on their motorcycles, then other campers on bikes, and remaining tickets, if available, will be handed out on a first come-first served basis. You are also welcome to bring your own food for grilling and after the barbeque is served there will be a microwave available for heating your grub.
Area information: In addition to the great tacos mentioned above, there is food available eleven road miles north of the campground in Raymond, CA. On the main street there is an eighteen hundred’s building that houses a general store, carry out, bar, and a small restaurant that is opens from six a.m. to nine p.m. Also there is a gas and convenience mart about three miles south of the campground on Road 600/ Ave 41. The park phone number is 559-673-5151. Cheap lodging is available in the town of Madera.