Pioneer Cemetery Trail

You may not know this, but I'm a road-trip girl. If we can get there by car, I'm all in...and I will find every interesting place we could possibly stop so we can explore as much as possible along the way. I once planned a trip from San Diego to Portland and had to cut it down to four days! So, when I saw in the McArthur-Burney Falls brochure that there was a Pioneer Cemetery on the premises, you know I had to check it out.

One thing my adventures have taught me is to do my research before hitting the trail. The reviews for this path said it was buggy and boring. I have run into bugs before so I figured I would just use my old-lady-fan to blow them away from my face, and I never believe the 'boring' reviews. Those people just don't know how to appreciate how much is going on underneath a bunch of dead leaves on the ground, or how many little creatures can exist under a fallen tree. My point is that someone calling a trail boring will never stop me from exploring nature, especially when there might be a unique historical relic to view and a secluded little cove to enjoy.

I arrived at the park about an hour after it opened. Most day visitors are there to see the falls, and it was early enough that campers were still enjoying their breakfast. Cue the music and warm up those vocal cords because I had the trail all to myself. I hopped out of the car, grabbed my backpack and stopped dead in my tracks. Well, what I really did was spin around a few times while looking up into the tree branches above. I heard all of this clicking, like millions of little somethings making clicking noises in the trees.

Now, after my run-in with a couple of little snakes on my last trail, you know my first thought was that there were some giant rattlesnakes up in the trees and they were going to strike at my neck from the branches about 20-feet above me. But then, after a few more spins, I realized the sound was coming from all of the trees, so it probably wasn't snakes. And, once again, if they were going to attack, they would have done it by now. (Of course, it didn't occur to me until right now that there were dozens of other humans around who would have been easier prey as they slept beneath those same trees the night before.)

After coming to my senses, I headed out on the path. I don't know why, but for some reason I expected to be walking through a meadow. There were some areas that opened up and allowed tall, dry grass to grow, but I was still in the forest surrounded by trees. And you all know I love trees. And it's a good thing, because they were the focus today.

Even though I was walking away from a river and toward a lake, the ground was very dry. I don't recall seeing one flower, but I did see massive pines and millions of fallen pinecones, and branches that bent and curved like crooked fingers, and brown and black hairy-looking lichen dripping off of the crooked oak branches. It was fascinating.

After walking on the flat trail for a while, I spied a very old fence to my left. Directly inside were two headstones, one for a minister, and the other marking the area as Burney Falls Cemetery and listing the names of all of the people laid to rest there.

While I find places like this fascinating, I am always very respectful of the sacred ground. I feel like I'm in someone's home, so I don't want to go snooping. If there are obvious markers to view, I will stop and read about the person whose bones have been laid there. In this case, there were only a couple, so I honored those souls, and said a quick prayer for the others who may be lingering to find their path home. That might be a little more than you need to know about me...but there it is.

Continuing on, I was eager to get to the cove and see the water. Heading downhill and noting that I would be walking up that same hill on my way back, I came to a tree that had fallen across the path.

As I approached, I wasn't sure if I wanted to try and climb over, but then I saw that two stumps had been placed on either side, making the climb a bit easier. I stopped, kicked the stump and the big tree to see if any snakes were going to jump out at me (yes, please believe that I did my research and will be tapping and kicking things in front of me to check for snakes for the foreseeable future), stepped up on the first stump, steadied myself, swatted away a couple of giant mosquitoes, and climbed down on the other side.

And this is where the trail gets 'buggy'. I was wearing a light-weight hoodie and had planned on removing it while I sat along the shore of the lake. What really happened was this...I approached the water, and a gorgeous eagle was gliding toward me, and as I lifted my camera up to try and get a picture, there was a mosquito on my thumb. So, instead of taking off my hoodie, I pulled the sleeves over my arms and hands and flung the hanging sleeves around my face and head as I simultaneously put my hood on and tried to cover most of my face. Listen, I felt like that little alien dude in Lilo and Stich. I swear that every single mosquito on planet E-arth was in that cove at that moment, and they all wanted to feast on me. And some of the more evolved insects actually knew that they could bite me through my clothes!

I tried to escape and still enjoy the lake by following a trail out of the cove toward the main body of water. Unfortunately, a tree had slid down the hill so I couldn't get to the lake, so all I actually did was extend feasting time for those little buggers. Turning around, I sprinted (okay, I was walking, so whatever a walking sprint is called, that's what I did) back up-hill with my hood on and my arms flailing, huffing and puffing. I don't think I have ever climbed so fast over a tree in my life. Snakes be damned, I was getting the hell out of there and away from all of those mosquitoes!!

On the plus side, this trail definitely was not boring. And, because of my experience, I probably saved the actual life of the lady who was heading down to the cove in shorts and a tank top. Let's chalk this one up to - I'm glad I did it and I never have to do it again. I'll stick to the falls next time, and I'll be sure to explore the lake from a different location.

On a personal note: This is part of a California State Park, but many places I hike are in National Parks, of which, a portion of the land may be coming up for sale. The People own those parks, the government only manages that land for us. Please contact your US Senator and tell them not to sell YOUR land. You can find an easy pre-filled and editable letter HERE on the Environment America website.