Folsom - April 2013

Folsom, CA is a city near Sacramento which is also one of the original Gold Rush towns in California. The city is located on the American River and has a rough and tumble history matching most old towns in the area. It is also the home of the Folsom State Prison. These days, there are far more professionals and suburban warriors living there than convicts, but the downtown area still retains that frontier charm.

Along Sutter Street, there are many shops and restaurants in the old restored buildings. You can browse antiques, get your fortune told, buy some Christmas ornaments in one of the best places for such I have seen (seriously, sushi ornaments!), and even get a good local beer from the Lockdown Brewing Company - my favorite is the Scotch Ale.

Within walking distance from downtown Folsom is the American River, downstream from the Folsom Dam. Legend has it that they named the dam after the town. The dammed river is used by many boaters and makes a nice backdrop for hikers and bikers. The Jedediah Smith Memorial Trail (aka American River Bike Trail) is pictured above crossing the river and is used by many brave commuters to bike downtown. There is now a light rail train that can provide the same service for those afraid of skin-tight lycra. Please enjoy the rest of the Folsom pics below:

Calaveras Big Trees State Park - April 2013

First off, I want to apologize to all the people who had to walk around my tripod and wait for me to take my pictures. The Calaveras Big Trees State Park is just such a nice place to take some serious pictures, and there are plenty of volunteers reminding you to stay on the sometimes muddy path. The park is about 30 minutes past Murphys along Highway 4 in the Sierra Nevadas and has a large grove of sequoias that are very old and very tall. This is probably why the park is named Big Trees.

I took the North Grove Trail which is about 1.5 miles long and close to the parking lot. It should take a normal person about an hour to hike the loop, but toting photo equipment and stopping all the time made my trip nearly three hours! Tall sequoias are always much more impressive than their SUV namesakes seen in a neighborhood Target parking lot. The hike is perfect for nearly everybody and has lots of big trees!

The loop takes you past all the key sights of the park, although you need to hike further to see the Tuolumne River. If you go, make sure to bring some water and food since the park is pretty basic. And yes, part of the trail involves walking through a tree. I was fortunate to have a warm, clear spring day for my adventure which made the pictures even better. Please enjoy the rest below:

Murphys, CA - April 2013

If you ever travel to Calaveras County, you will notice a higher than normal amount of frogs. They probably have the normal number of real frogs, but ever since Mark Twain published The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County the region celebrates the frog at every opportunity. That said, there are plenty of other reasons to visit the county, especially the quaint little town of Murphys.

The town only has about 2,000 people, although on the weekends there are about 2,000 couples visiting for a romantic weekend of drinking wine, shopping antique stores, drinking more wine, hiking in the forest, drinking even more wine, enjoying a nice dinner, then finishing their day drinking more wine. Yes, most of the regional wineries have tasting rooms in the beautiful small downtown area, and they get used very often. Other than the good wine, the scenery is beautiful with a river and lots of beautiful trees in the downtown area.

The region also has many caverns - Moaning Caverns and Mercer Caverns - and remnants of the gold rush. Some people even say that the old water flumes crossing the hilly landscape are used for things other than carrying water...

I can say that I know 0.3% of the town's population, all 6 of them! Don't forget to check out the annual Frog Jump and the Calaveras Big Trees State Park when in the area. Enjoy the rest of the Murphys pictures below: