The California Tour: Auburn to Placerville

I hit Hwy 49 in Grass Valley but I didn’t stop. My head was still reeling from Hwy 20 so I rolled on down through Auburn, Coloma and Placerville.

Having grown up in Sacramento I was quite familiar with these little towns but I had not visited them in decades, no matter though because as I rolled into Auburn I got the distinct feeling that this place had not changed in many, many years. Auburn was like a movie set. It was real but only because “they” told me it was was real. It sure didn’t feel real.

The American River

Just past Auburn came one of the most spectacular views of the entire trip, a pretty big statement when you consider that just about every corner I turned was even more incredible than the one before. But this one was a memory maker: Crossing the North Fork of the American River. Just outside of Cool, CA. This was part of the same route I had taken the day before on my Victory Ride.

As a kid the American River was a huge part of my life especially during the long hot Sacramento summers. On this day the heat was exceptionally high for early April closing in on the triple digit mark and the river was a glorious site. Needless to say childhood memories came flooding back. I stopped for about 15 minutes and let it all soak in. I’ll let these pictures speak for themselves…

Having stopped in Cool just the day before I rode on through and hung a left at the town’s one and only stop light which kept me heading south on Hwy 49. A few miles down the road I was rolling into Coloma and Sutter’s Mill. If you grew up in Northern California nearly every grammar school class takes a field trip to Coloma the site of the first discovery of gold in California and the beginning of the California Gold Rush. For you history buffs the date that gold was discovered was January 24, 1848. I love California history but this is not a history blog. Visit Coloma.com, a great site with all the details.

Sutter’s Mill