Peachstone Gulch Trail

This is a great time of year to go hiking and the wildflowers will be spectacular this year! Here’s a great hike, from GetOffYourGass:

Peachstone Gulch Trail

(Western States Trail)                                                                          MAP

20 miles from Auburn Courthouse. Easy-steep 15 miles, one way.

If you enjoy hiking where you aren’t likely to see anyone except during the Western States run this is the place for you! This is one of the most remote sections of the entire trail and because it is more difficult to access, seldom used. With 15 miles of trail between Foresthill and Ford’s Bar you get great views of the Middle Fork Canyon with some easy walking stretches high above the river, but it does drop 2000 feet overall. Southern exposure means hot and dry in the summer but it also crosses some creeks that run wet all year. The trail can be reached as an extension of Driver’s Flat, from Foresthill, or from Todd Valley estates. You could also camp at Ford’s Bar and stay for days or, until State Park rangers notice you.

Directions: Go 20 miles from Auburn to Foresthill. The trail is accessed from California street or from Mosquito Ridge Road right out of town. Otherwise you can get on it closer to Ford’s Bar from Todd Valley estates using Nugget to Alton Road. Or my favorite, go to the end of Oakwood, park and take the trail south that winds around the ridge to drop in 8 miles from Foresthill.

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Wine Adventures await in El Dorado County

Passport 2017

The El Dorado Winery Association invites wine adventurers to a wine tasting sojourn through the Sierra foothills featuring great wine, music and food at the annual Passport Wine Event on April 22 and 23 and April 29 and 30 with a special wine-maker dinner on April 21 and 28.

Guests will enjoy touring through the spectacular foothills and visiting the participating El Dorado Wine Association members’ tasting rooms and vineyards.

“Each year sets a new tone and theme at Passport. This year we are offering Adventures in Wine,” said Carey Skinner, owner of Skinner Vineyards and president of the El Dorado Winery Association. “We love opening our doors and setting the stage for the new theme each year.”

Tickets are on sale at passporteldorado.com

With more than 150 years of history steeped in gold and agriculture, the El Dorado region is poised for its new found resurgence in viticulture. Unique vineyard soils and a high elevation create a superior environment for a vast array of varietals. The region is gaining recognition for its ability to grow quality grapes that exhibit a sense of place.

For more information about El Dorado and its wines, visit eldoradowines.org

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Satellite Reveals End of “Unending” N. California Drought

With more rain and snow on the way, the supposed “unending drought” that the New York Times reported on last year has, in a matter of weeks, ended — at least in Northern California.

Yesterday’s color satellite imagery from NASA shows the dramatic changes which have occurred since the same date three years ago:

NASA Aqua MODIS color satellite imagery of N. California separated by exactly three years, showing dramatic snowpack increase, vegetation greening, and river discharge into the Pacific Ocean.

– Widespread and deep snowpack
– Greening vegetation
– Rivers overflowing their banks
– Strong river discharge into the Pacific Ocean

Here’s a zoomed version of the NASA Terra MODIS image yesterday covering the San Francisco Bay area northeastward toward Sacramento:

NASA Terra MODIS zoomed image on 13 January 2017 covering San Francisco to Sacramento.

The latest GFS model forecast for the next 10 days predicts another 2 to 10 inches of rain, depending on location, with several more feet of snow at higher elevations.

Source: Satellite Reveals End of “Unending” N. California Drought « Roy Spencer, PhD

‘Parade of Lights’ and Tree Raising in Georgetown

Georgetown’s Annual “Parade of Lights” is December 3rd,
with the parade lining up over by The Stamp Mill at 5 p.m.

Heavy snow covers the 2009 Christmas Tree after an early December storm.

The afternoon kicks off with the tree raising in the center of town by volunteers of the Georgetown Fire Department. The Parade of Lights is sponsored by the Georgetown Divide Rotary and has become the community’s favorite event, ending with a visit by Santa Claus.

All are welcome! Floats, walkers & friendly animals are encouraged to light up and join in the festivities. Choirs, youth groups & other entertainers are also needed. It’s a fun event for the entire family. Soups, stews, hot chocolate & cider will be available to those in attendance. It will be on the cool side this evening, so please dress warmly. Hope to see you there!

MOTD: ‘Dirty Cello’ to Perform at IOOF Hall – November 20, 2016

rebecca-dc
Rebecca Roudman of ‘Dirty Cello‘

From China to Italy, and all over the U.S., Dirty Cello brings the world a high energy and unique spin on blues and bluegrass.

Led by vivacious cross-over cellist, Rebecca Roudman, Dirty Cello is cello like you’ve never heard before. From down home blues with a wailing cello to virtuosic stompin’ bluegrass, Dirty Cello is a band that gets your heart thumping and your toes tapping!

“The group seamlessly careens from blues to bluegrass and rock in a way that really shouldn’t make sense but somehow does.” LA Times

Dirty Cello at Music on the Divide

When: Sunday, November 20, 2016 at 3 p.m.

Where: IOOF Hall – 6240 Main St, Georgetown, CA 95634

Cost: $20

More info: 530-626-7234 or http://www.musiconthedivide.org/

Halloween on Church Street: Candy and Cash Donations Needed!

trickortreat

Received via our Contact Us page:

Each Halloween, Church St. gets between 1,000 and 1,200 children trick or treating. I appreciate all the people and Rotary who donate candy or money to help buy candy each year. However, each year many people on Church St. run out of candy and have to shut down before Halloween ends at 8:00 pm. Also, many have had to go out and buy candy because much of it is donated at the last minute and people feel they won’t have enough. So, please donate candy and if you do please do so a week or more ahead of time so I have to distribute it to the many houses on Church St. You can leave candy in the can at my door at 2942 Church St. or at MarVal. Also, this year the county is charging $200 to close the street.

Jackie Morgan, candy lady

Wilderness Survival Guide: How To Stay Alive If Lost, Hurt or Stranded

How to survive when the SHTF

Surviving in the Wild

Ammo.com

Imagine a fun afternoon hike around Mt. Baker. You’re enjoying the quiet of the forest, the dappled light shining through the trees, and the intoxicating smell of the leaves when thick fog rolls in unexpectedly at 4:00 p.m. In a panic, you follow the wrong trail for hours along a progressively steeper face until you’ve run out of daylight.

Imagine being on a snowmobile in the back-country with friends, zipping through the powder and chasing each other between the tree trunks when a blizzard sets in and the last snowmobile doesn’t show up at the rendezvous point.

Or imagine the mountain biking trip you’ve been daydreaming about for months, bombing down the mountain with the wind in your face. You get separated from your group on a tricky portion of single-track, and decide to press on when you come to an unknown fork in the trail. Feeling exhausted and dehydrated, you take a corner too fast and crash, tacoing your front wheel and breaking your collar bone.

Lost, hurt, stranded – these scenarios and others like them play out over three thousand times per year in the United States. Folks heading outdoors in search of adventure don’t plan on getting lost or hurt in the wilderness. It can happen to the best of us, and when it does, people underestimate the challenges of the wilderness and overestimate their own ability.

To help you avoid becoming a statistic by rightly explaining the dangers of the wilderness and ensuring that you are physically and mentally prepared for any snags during your adventures, we’ve put together this wilderness survival guide.

Read more…

El Dorado County’s Incredible Wood Fueled Model T Ford

What can you do with a 1913 Model T, an old propane tank, CO2 container, and a piece of an old metal bed frame? Local historian and naturalist, Guy Nixon, explains how his father, Bill Nixon, and brother-in-law, Mike Kearney, created a wood burning engine for their Model T. The burning at high temperatures gasifies the wood, so the vehicle runs on hydrogen. The exhaust is H2O! Enjoy the ride!

video h/t to: scatv2

GetOffYourGass.com: The Ultimate Guide to Hiking on The Georgetown Divide

“Hikes from the North Fork to the South Fork of the American River”


 
With a brief respite from winter’s El Niño storms and temperatures nearing 70° across the Georgetown Divide, there couldn’t be a better time to get out and enjoy the great outdoors! While snow at higher elevations limits trail use to snowshoes or cross-country skis at this time of year, lower elevation trails are open and are often lightly used during the cooler months.

For local hikers, GetOffYourGass.com is the ultimate guide to hiking on the Georgetown Divide. GetOffYourGass was created in 2007 by Philip Liberman to provide a source on the web for hikes in the American River watersheds above Folsom Lake. “Get Off Your Gass” was the name Tom Petersen used when he lead hikes in the region during that time period.

The site contains more than 300 pages of hiking trails and detailed, hand-drawn maps. This is a collection of hikes from the books: Auburn Outback, Georgetown Hiking Trails, Lost Trails of the Sierra Nevada, Placerville Paths and Take a Hike! by local authors Tom Petersen, Robert J. Griffis and Evan W. Jones.

visit: GetOffYourGass

Tree Pruning Clinic on Saturday, February 27

Get a Jump On Spring! It’s Time to Prune Your Trees!

WHEN: February 27, 2016 at 10:00am

LOCATION: 6639 School Street, Georgetown

HOSTED BY: Divide Supply

TAUGHT BY: Nancy Ottow and Janice Hoyt

Rain cancels and class will be held at the same time and place on Saturday, March 10th. Bring your pruning tools.

image: faithfulwon.com