In my previous diary, we (that is, me, hubby, mother-in-law, and her little dog, too) had just visited the ghost town of Bodie high up in the mountains east of the Sierra Nevada. The next day, was a travel day, taking us from the Owens Valley to Placerville, near where the gold rush took place in 1849. The following day, we visited the site of Sutter’s Mill, the gold discovery that started the rush.
Photos and more below the fold…
But first, a word from our sponsor!
Here at Top Comments we strive to nourish community by rounding up some of the site's best, funniest, most mojo'd & most informative commentary, and we depend on your help!! If you see a comment by another Kossack that deserves wider recognition, please send it either to topcomments at gmail or to the Top Comments group mailbox by 9:30pm Eastern. Please please please include a few words about why you sent it in as well as your user name (even if you think we know it already :-)), so we can credit you with the find!
The second day of our road trip, we drove north of Mono Lake, almost to Nevada, and then turned west on the Monitor Pass, north of the Tioga Pass, which goes through Yosemite National Park, and south of the Donner Pass, where I-80 passes. CA-89, which takes you through the pass, is a road less traveled, through sparely populated places. As such, the vistas were stunning.
As we reached higher altitudes, the trees changed from pines to aspens, and there was some snow on the ground. (Unfortunately, I have no photos of this.) As we started descending into the next valley, the vegetation became more lush, with lots of Ponderosa pines. At the bottom of the valley, by the Carson River, there was a charming little town called Markleeville, where we stopped for lunch.
Just spending an hour or so there, it became clear that the residents of this town were all a little bit quirky, and it probably would not be too difficult to create a sitcom based on these people. After a final ice cream cone, we visited Grover’s Hot Springs, a little bit off our route, but very close to Markleeville. The hot springs themselves had been developed, but the valley in which they’re located was very beautiful.
From here, we continued our journey further west. Throughout this drive, we saw evidence of the damage due to recent fires (probably last year’s). There were many blackened standing trees in some of these isolated valleys, but the trees that managed to survive were doing well, profiting from the winter precipitation in the area.
After passing over the next ridge of mountains, we descended from the western slopes of the Sierra Nevadas toward Placerville. The vegetation had changed again. Now there were live oaks among the pines, and buff colored hills.
After an overnight stay near Placerville, we proceeded north on CA-49 to the site of Sutter’s Mill. While the gold discovery at Sutter’s Mill was the one that set off the gold rush of 1849, it was in fact the third such discovery of gold in the area, rather than the first. We learned that the oldest buildings on the site date to the turn of the 20th Century, that none of the early buildings survived. Indeed, in the early chaos of that period, nobody really had anything. Before the gold rush, California was sparsely populated with Spanish speaking ranchers raising cattle for the leather and tallow. There were at most a handful of blacksmiths throughout the entire territory. Now, suddenly there was a flood of gold-seekers spilling in from the east, and they brought nothing with them. There were no tools, nor were there the resources nor the expertise in the area to make them. They ended up sleeping in holes because there was not enough shelter for them. It is estimated that about one-third of the one million or so would-be prospectors who came to find gold died, either from disease, violence or starvation.
There is a reconstruction of Sutter’s sawmill, though away from the river where it was constructed. (Note the water wheel below the floor.)
However, the site of the original sawmill is marked, for what it’s worth, and I dipped my feet in the American River (South Fork).
Thus ends this portion of the trip. Next stop, Sonoma and Santa Rosa.
Now, to the comments!
Top Comments (July 1, 2016):
From Chrislove:
SneakySnu flagged this comment by RepublicanKos on something impressive Donald Trump has accomplished this election cycle. From R o o k’s diary It’s not just the Trump campaign that’s broke; his Super PAC is too!
Also, Wednesday Bizarre flagged this substantive comment by Visceral on democracy in Asia. From TeqTam’s diary Is Democracy in Asia Going into Reverse?
Top Mojo (June 30, 2016):
Top Mojo is courtesy of mik! Click here for more on how Top Mojo works.
Top Photos (June 30, 2016):
Tonight’s picture quilt is courtesy of jotter!