Friday 31st August

Today we set off early for a long journey of about 260 miles, further than we had intended due to hotels being full as it is the Labour Day weekend.

Our journey took us up into the Sierra Nevada mountains just north of Lake Tahoe.

Some of the mountainsides have been denuded due to high pressure water being used to unearth the gold-bearing rock.

Just over the Donner Pass we admired the views of the lake and mountains.

We had a picnic lunch by a small stream as we descended the other side of the mountains.

At a junction of Highways 89 and 70 we turned right and followed this river upstream into the mountains.

As we got out of the car by the edge of Almanor Lake we could smell and see smoke. A helicopter appeared and collected water from the lake to dump onto a forest fire. Not long after we saw many firefighters at their gathering point.

In some areas the forest opened out onto wide flat fields where there were cattle ranches.

We stopped at a viewing point as we descended into the Sacramento River valley and saw the destruction caused by a forest fire. The crew nearby told us that this fire had started two weeks ago.

We passed miles and miles of grassland peppered with volcanic rocks.

Thursday 30th August

We set off early to visit Empire Mine State Historic Park. Most of the labour force from its opening in 1850 was provided by ex-tin miners from Cornwall.

www.empiremine.org 

Next to the mine are the houses and grounds where the owners lived when visiting. This was the oldest and richest gold mine in California until it closed in 1956.

This was one of the smaller machines that crushed the ore before the extraction of the gold.

The machine shop is presently being restored by volunteers.

We were able to descend to the entrance to the mine and look down the main shaft.

We next drove on to Nevada City to explore this well preserved Victorian town.

Wednesday 29th August

After shopping for a coolbox and camping chairs we drove to Auburn State Recreational Area and saw some stunning views on the way in.

We drove down an extremely narrow winding road to Lake Clementine and at one place we had to back up as we met a SUV pulling a boat.

This lake was created by the dam here and only 25 boats are allowed on it at any one time.

Lower down the valley we parked and walked down to the confluence of both parts of the American River where we spent 3 or 4 hours enjoying the cool water. Downstream there were a couple of people panning for gold. Further up this river there is a huge working gold mine.

At the end of the afternoon we built a small stone tower to mark our presence there.

As we were leaving we stopped to look up the river to the place where we had just been.



Tuesday 28th August

This morning we set off early and crossed the San Mateo Bridge with the morning rush hour traffic.

After crossing some dry hills we passed miles and miles of fruit farms, with orange, peach and apple trees, fields of strawberries, vines, walnut and almond trees like these below.

This is our Jeep Patriot SUV which is very comfortable and spacious.

We passed many hills including these with their unusual layering.

Just after passing through Sonora we came past the scenic New Melones Lake.

The scenery changed as we got into gold mining country with many disused mines dotting the landscape.

As we neared tonight's stop in Auburn, we drove over a bridge spanning the American River.



Monday 27th August

We have now arrived safely in San Francisco. On Sunday we enjoyed a very quiet and relaxing journey to London.

This afternoon's flight was one of the smoothest that we have ever had. The route took us over Greenland where we saw many icebergs and dramatic coastal scenery.

After crossing into the USA we saw the extensive Black Mountains in Nevada.



Sunday 29th July

Russell and Christine took us to the Manchester Museum of Science and Industry. As it was Sunday many of the machines were working.



Saturday 28th July

We drove to Lyme Park where we explored the house and walked to the nearby tower from where the views of Manchester were superb.

Friday 27th July

We visited the SAA Show where we watched some painting demonstrations and attended several workshops. Glenys won an original work of art by Fraser Scarfe.