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Every once-in-awhile one of the Flight Platoons in the 126th (there were once two) would be able to pack field gear, tents, and barbecue grills into their helicopters and spend a day or so camping in the Sierra.  We'd take time to do some training in survival, mountain flying, and other related topics but we'd also take advantage of the opportunity to enjoy a totally unspoiled setting.  

The Rubicon River in the northernmost reaches of our Mountain Training area, runs through an extremely steep and inaccessible canyon--that is, unless you have a helicopter.

We'd surveyed a spot on the canyon floor sufficiently wide to get two and perhaps three UH-1s in safely, depending on how that year's runoff had reshaped the beaches.  For quite literally miles in either direction, there is absolutely no access by land and the canyon is more than a thousand feet deep.

  Here, the river is utterly untouched and unspoiled, running crystal clear and serene over and among smoothly sculpted boulders of granite and limestone.    We'd fish, pan for gold (I never found any and neither did anyone else), and just enjoy some well-earned time in a very beautiful hideaway in the state we served.

Of course, one of the best aspects of the Rubicon River is the fact that its path through the canyon is nearly north-south.  This means that the water gets significant exposure to sunlight every day.  Combine that with its relatively slow flow and shallow depth, the temperature warms nicely and you have an ideal environment for swimming.    In the deep, natural lagoons the river had carved from the bedrock, this made a late-summer visit even more enjoyable.  

As much as greedy developers might dream about bulldozing it for condos, this is one pristine part of California they'll never touch.