Gold Country

Fall is a great time to visit the California Gold Country.  The days are mostly sunny and warm with cool, crisp nights. The tourists have gone and accommodations are a snap to get, especially in the middle of the week. So we're back on the road again (cue Willie Nelson).

San Luis Reservoir before the rains

Strong winds kick up a nasty dust storm in the valley

Sacramento our model capitol  Not! NO diamond lanes

We start our trip off  by camping right next to the American River at the Coloma Resort. It's deserted and we are practically the only people around. Since it's a big camp ground, we are glad it's empty. We'd hate to be there on a big holiday weekend in the prime summer camping season.

American River

Campsite

Now that's a nice bedroom view.

Our friend Matt from Grass Valley joins us for the night and we have a great time catching up and swapping stories.

Peter and Matt at breakfast

Matt takes this photo of all of us

Sooo Where's the GOLD?


Let's start off answering that question, by looking at where the gold was (can you tell I was an educator?) After Matt leaves, we visit the nearby site were gold was first discovered at Sutter's Mill. According to the historical plaque:

"This replica of Sutter's Mill was based on research from many sources - a drawing by James Marshall, on old photograph of the mill, the results of several excavations mare on the original mill site...  The structure is assembled with wooden pegs - no nails were used.  As in the original mill, all timbers are adzed by hand..."

Reconstructed Mill

Mill wheel

Mormon Cabin showing living quarters

Needless to say, once word got out that there was "gold in them thar hills" the California Gold Rush was on. Some struck it rich and others found only hardship. Oddly it was the merchants who made the most lasting fortunes, mostly notably Levi Strauss & Company  started out selling working overalls they made out of canvas from ship sails. Although the fabric has been much improved, they are still selling us blue jeans today.

The Gold in the Hills

So if most of the gold has already been taken (at least the easy nuggets), where is it now? One place is in tourist dollars (including a few we left behind).

Casino close to Jackson

No - this isn't the casino, just the Public Safety Building The main Casino is HUGE, but hard to photograph

Another good place to leave some of your gold is in the picturesque towns that still retain much of their historic character. My favorite is Angels' Camp.

Art Deco sign

Main Street of Angels' Camp

Historic Buildings

We stop for lunch at the Sidewinder, a Mex/California fusion restaurant with an amazing array of handcrafted beers on tap.  After tasting a few, we decide on our pints and settle down for a wonderful meal.

Marti - after a pint
Notice original old stone walls (not my face flushing)

Angels' Camp is known for it's Calaveras County Fog Jumping Contest, first made famous by Mark Twain, who once lived in a cabin nearby. In fact, it was his story "The Notorious Jumping Frog of Calaveras County" that first brought him to national attention. Consequently, Angels' Camp is literally hopping with frogs of all sorts and sizes.

Embedded into the sidewalks, like the stars along Hollywood Blvd.

On street banners

And hopping to sell real estate.

Other than the gold in the leaves of the trees, my favorite gold is in the late afternoon sun.

Historic building outside of Groveland

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Yosemite in the Fall

The best thing about visiting off season is NO CROWDS!

Short entry line

Classic tourist shot

Great weather and no traffic

The Road Home

Since Mary has become quite ill, we cut our Yosemite visit a day short and make a beeline home for a vet appointment. Even though we had great weather and clear roads, it can turn dicely, dangerous and even deadly (as the Donner Party found out the hard way) this time of year in the Sierras. In fact, Tioga Pass was closed for the season a few hours after passed its lower end.

We head down Hwy 140 which follows the Merced River. The flows are *much* lower than when we saw it in flood last July.

Merced at normal Fall flows

Last winter's landslides close part of road

Temp bridge around landslide

The road is beautiful, but not without it's dangers.

Merced in a placid mood

Canyon narrows

Now that's a Road Hazard Glad we don't have to pay for this one

We make it just in time for Mary's vet appointment and it's a good thing we do. Turns out Mary has Addison's Disease and was going into kidney failure brought on by her adrenal glands shutting down. After two nights and a day in doggy ICU plus new medications, she is almost back to normal... altho it's costing us an arm but not quite a leg, we are happy she is back from death's door.

Mary feeling ill

The whole experience makes us realize once again that we never know what's around the next corner and to appreciate what we have and those we love at all times.