Grass Valley and Beyond

We spent a pleasant week at the Nevada County Fairgrounds RV Park.  We stayed here a year ago when Michael's brother was moving from the Bay area to Lake of the Pines. 
The RV Park is quiet, in a pretty setting with a small lake that is stocked with fish for the young 12-and-under anglers. We didn't see very many young folks fishing but we were entertained by the many Canada geese with their new spring brood in various stages of maturity. There are also a couple of ducks and a rather large goose. They looked at us with suspicion whenever we walked around the lake.


















The large log in the pond is home to a family of turtles that like to sun themselves on the log.
One morning I saw several tiny turtles and assumed they must be new spring additions too.


The RV Park is located about 12 miles from Kevin and Jennifer's home in Lake of the Pines. We visited them and also celebrated all the May family birthdays (including my bus driver's!). 

can you tell they are brothers..... M and Kevin

We also went exploring in the area.  Several years ago we followed the Gold Rush Trail along Route 49, stopping off at all the major towns that grew after the discovery of gold. We traveled north as far as Grass Valley where we visited the Empire Mine. 
(Link to the previous 49-Gold Rush trail posts: There's gold in them thar hills)

However there are a few remaining towns further north that we missed.  Last year when we were here, we visited Nevada City. This visit we drove the 160-mile Yuba Donner Scenic Byway loop and stopped off at several of the remaining gold rush towns.
Route 49 northbound from Grass Valley takes you deep into the Sierra Nevada Mountains. We twisted and wound our way across. The scenery was quite pretty and also rugged. It made me wonder how on earth folks back in the 1850's managed to find their way to establish towns in such remote areas, let alone discover gold in the first place. 

Downieville, nestled between hilly outcrops

Downieville, one of the towns along the Route 49 Gold Rush Trail, remains frozen in time. Nestled in a forested canyon at 2,950 feet, the town is now home to about 325 residents who welcome curious tourists that stop to visit this quaint relic of the California Gold Rush. 

First settled in 1848, Downieville is historically one of the most important and colorful towns of the northern mines. Gold deposits were discovered in 1848-49.  The spot where the town later developed was first known as Jim Crow Diggins, Washingtonville, Missouri Town, or simply The Forks (referring to the two rivers that converge here.) In the spring of 1850 it was named for Major William Downie. By May of 1850, the town had 15 hotels and gambling houses, 4 bakeries, 4 butcher shops, and every piece of ground was claimed. In 1851, it had in excess of 5,000 inhabitants. Philo Haven and Francis Anderson were credited with being among the first to discover gold a short distance above Jersey Bridge. When Sierra County was established in 1852, Downieville was named county seat.
Gold was everywhere. A housewife discovered $500 worth when she swept the earthen floor of her kitchen. The earliest and richest mines were Sailor Ravine, Blue Banks, Tin Cup Diggins at the forks of the two rivers in town, and The Gravels of Durgen Flat. 
Over the years, $30,000,000 in gold has been taken from the ground in Sierra County. Gold miners still seek riches in the creeks and rivers in the Downieville area. Fortune seekers can still be seen dredging and gold panning up and down the many streams and rivers throughout the summer months.

Life must have been tough but also dangerous judging by the number of murders and hangings.  One of the most often told tales of the Gold Rush was the hanging of Juanita, hanged for stabbing John Cannon after the 4th of July celebration in 1851.

apparently Cannon in his drunken stupor became a little amorous towards Juanita who then protected herself from his advances....

The Jersey Bridge, now a historical landmark, where gold was discovered,
 and where Juanita's hanging took place

Apparently hanging was the chosen method for meting justice. A gallows remains as a reminder, though according to the plaque it was used only once in 1884 for the last legal execution in Sierra County and never used again. Perhaps its presence remains deterrent enough.

thankfully there is no rope attached above the trap door

There is one other historic bridge, and we crossed it as we strolled through the sleepy town. The forks of the Downie River and the North Fork of the Yuba River converge below.

confluence of the two rivers below the Durgan Bridge

This ski fence around a home caught my eye. It certainly is a creative use of skis, though I did wonder whose they were and how the skiers became separated from them....

Further along the scenic loop, we stopped at Sierra City to pick up something to eat from the General Store along the main road. The whole town seemed deserted and empty, the store closed for the season. 
We noticed that there were banks of snow along the road. In May. And there was snow in the mountains above. At this high elevation snow is a factor for most of the year.
 

Further along the route, there was more snow and we soon realized that this area is a popular winter haven and ski area. There were several cabins and resorts along the way, all closed and boarded up now until winter. 


Around Yuba Pass we stopped at an overlook above the Sierra Valley, formed between 2 and 7 million years ago when massive blocks shifted along the faults, causing the valley to lower and the mountain range to rise. The views were expansive, the valley below dotted with farms. 



During the California Gold Rush, the Sierra Valley provided native hay for the livestock for Downieville, Sierra City, and the gold fields to the west.  When silver was discovered in Nevada in 1859, new markets opened up to the east. Lumber from the surrounding mountains helped build Virginia City and was used to shore extensive mine networks.  Hay, beef and dairy products from the valley helped feed the hoards of silver seekers who descended on the Comstock Mining District in Nevada. Many of these exports were produced by Swiss-Italian immigrants who found their knowledge of mountain agriculture especially suited to this high valley. Descendants of these pioneers still live in the Sierra Valley today.

the Sierra Valley

We eventually dropped down and drove across the expansive valley, snow lingering along several of the highest peaks.
Eventually Route 89 curved towards Donner Summit where we stopped at the Visitor Center and Memorial to the Donner Party.  
The story of the Donner Party is a tragic outcome of western expansion that went terribly wrong, and a sobering lesson in human behavior when faced with extreme conditions and the will to survive. 

In the spring of 1846 several pioneer families set out from Missouri on the overland trip towards California and the promise of a better life. The Donner family, together with five other families, chose an alternate route based on a guide book written the previous year recommending a shortcut that would be 300 miles shorter. 
Unfortunately the author, an Ohio lawyer named Lansford Hastings, had never seen or taken the shortcut he recommended in his guide, until 1846 during his return trip from California when he attempted to map the route. 
And, unfortunately the Donner party did not know about the messages Hastings left to warn wagons not to take the shorter route, which resulted in a far more arduous and difficult journey for the emigrants who only reached the Truckee Meadows and Truckee Lake in late October.  The supposed shortcut cost the party three weeks while crossing Utah where they were forced to abandon vital supplies and livestock. The travelers were exhausted and chose to rest and gather strength, a six day delay that proved to be fatal. 
Snow was already on the ground and the travelers made three unsuccessful attempts to cross the pass. The snow-bound party decided to settle in for the winter, erecting tents and makeshift cabins of logs covered in hides. Food supplies were scarce and hunting or fishing unsuccessful.  This is when things became ugly, and families refused to share what little meager supplies they had.
In December, 15 members of the party set out to reach Sutter's fort in Sacramento. Storms added to their difficult journey, delaying them. The group lost seven members. One month after they set out, 2 men and 5 women reached a ranch 40 miles north of Sutter's fort. They had survived on a deer they shot and on the bodies of their deceased companions.
By January the snow was over 10 feet deep. In mid-February rescuers reached the snow-buried cabins where the remaining Donner party camped at the lake to find several dead of starvation. There was evidence of cannibalism. 
Of the 91 in the Donner party, only 45 survived the bitter winter. 
A pamphlet explains that "The monument is dedicated to all the pioneers who came overland to California. Its base stands 22 feet high - to surpass the greatest depth of snow that may accumulate at the lake."

And although this was May, there was still plenty of snow surrounding us in the mountains as we continued along the loop road back to Grass Valley. I could only imagine what it must be like in the dead of winter or the conditions that the Donner party faced. 


On another day we visited the quaint town of Grass Valley with its many historic buildings. The main attraction was the chocolate and ice cream store, to celebrate Michael's birthday. 

so many choices......

Grass Valley's quaint main street

Tomorrow it's time to move on and begin our trek north. Our next destination is Redding where we will visit Alpine friends and where Alpine will have a service done at A&N Diesel with Steve Ash.