Gold Rush Country

Today we are leaving Yosemite. Before leaving the Park, we took one last hike to the bottom of Bridalveil Falls. As you can see, there’s not much water left. (Yosemite Falls, by our lodge, was completely dry.)

Leaving the park, we had no cell phone service and our car navigation wasn’t working. Unfortunately, I hadn’t looked up the route ahead of time. I wanted to leave by the north entrance, going on Highway 120 to Groveland. Instead, we ended up leaving the same way we came in. In Mariposa we stopped for breakfast at the Miner’s Roadhouse. The food was definitely better than the breakfast we’d had yesterday at the park.

Heading north out of Mariposa, one of the things I wanted to do was to see where my great-great-great grandfather, David H. Gilbert, had settled when he came to California. In the spring of 1852 he left his home in Leonidas, Michigan and set out for the gold fields of California, with his pregnant wife Margua, who gave birth to my great-great grandfather Marion near Salt Lake City.

When they finally arrived in California, he purchased a small mining claim in Michigan Bar, southeast of Sacramento on the Consumnes River. In August of 1856, David wrote home to his family in Michigan:

I halve been mining this year and have done very well part of the time and a part of the time nothing done very well. At the beginning of the year took up a claim and worked it six weeks. And took out $900 for the three of us. And then I sold my interest for $250. I was coming home on the next boat but gave it up until next spring.

He never made it back to Michigan. In the same letter he wrote “It is summer here year around. It is one of the most pleasant country’s that I have ever saw or heard of.” Instead of Michigan, the family headed for Santa Cruz where David started a General Store.

Looking at Wikipedia, I found that Michigan Bar had been destroyed by the introduction of hydraulic mining in the late 1800s. So, leaving Mariposa, we turned north on Highway 49 and headed into the foothills. One of the first towns we drove through was Angel’s Camp, where we stopped for an ice cream.

Angel’s Camp is the backdrop for Mark Twain’s short story, The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County. Every year the town has an annual Jumping Frog Jubilee, and the winning frog is given a brass plaque on the sidewalk. For instance, in 1959 the frog “Two Snap” won with a jump of over 16 feet.

Angel’s Camp is charming, but still feels really authentic. This week is the homecoming week for Bret Harte High School; there were banners over the main street, and every store had a poster with the name of one of the football players. The team is named, naturally, the Mighty Bullfrogs. We spent an hour walking around, looking at the historic buildings, like Angels Hotel, built in 1855, where Samuel Clemens first heard the jumping frog story. 

One of the apps I use a lot on my phone is Libby. Libby allows you to check out e-books and audio books for free from the library. All you need is a library card. (I have Orange County, Newport Beach and LA County cards, so I can check out books from all three libraries.) Leaving Angels Camp, I checked out Twain’s short story and we listened to it as we headed towards Grass Valley, driving through the tiny, rural towns.

In Grass Valley we’re staying at the Sierra Mountain Inn, a cute set of cottages, a few blocks from downtown. We got here about 4:00 PM, unloaded the car, and went out for a walk.

The town is cute, with a lot Gold Rush era buildings, but it just doesn’t seem as authentic as Angel’s Camp. There are a lot of jewelers, boutiques, and restaurants, all with Newport Beach prices. 

On our way back to the Inn, I found the local Elks’ Lodge. I belong to a weekly men’s Bible study at St. Andrews Church. One of the guys, Ed DuPont, is an Elk, and each month he takes us to the Newport Beach Lodge for Taco Tuesday.

We got back to the Inn at about 6:00 PM. In the morning we’re headed to Klamath Falls, Oregon.