East, Into The Mountains
Time and time again, I realize just how important The Sierra Nevada are to me and my sanity. The dramatic elevation change after I leave home in the valley that is paired with the freshest pine smell one could only dream of. The endless backroads off of Highway 50 that are just asking to be explored. There are only a few places in my little corner of the world that bring me as much peace and inspiration as The Sierra Nevada do.
On the last Saturday in September, I met up with a childhood friend at his house in Placerville, a small town tucked into the foothills of the Sierras, that is 40 minutes east of where I live. Once I arrived, we hopped in his truck and hit the backroads to an old mining town by the name of Georgetown1. Georgetown is the northeasternmost town in the California Mother Lode2 (a long alignment of hard-rock gold deposits stretching northwest-southeast in the Sierra Nevada of California). It is a town that has been on my radar as I’ve been endlessly making notes/photographs for an ongoing project that documents the idea of the “American Dream” from the often romanticized mid-to-late 19th century; a period of time associated with the discovery of gold and the great migration out West that followed the discovery.
Our first stops in town were to check out some antique mining equipment and old buildings. We then continued on the backroads until we felt like pulling over and exploring on foot.
The next stop was an old bar named Uncle Tom’s Cabin (not to be confused with the novel by American author Harriet Beecher Stowe).
“Purportedly named for the original builder and owner, Tom Markham, the original cabin was built around 1864. By 1870, Tom had moved on and the cabin was used as a hunting and trapping supply base camp by John Brock and John Saucerman. Later still, the cabin was taken over by William Vaughan and Benjamin W. “Dick” Hartless as a beer bar and store and then expanded to a full service inn.”3
After driving down an old dirt road with cabins on both sides, we parked right out front of one with a sign that read “UNCLE TOMS CABIN”. We walked in and were greeted right away from the two barkeepers that are in charge of the bar & lodgings nearby. They were very friendly and seemed to enjoy the fact that we were interested in knowing the history of the place and surrounding area. After chatting for a few minutes, we signed/stapled a bill on the ceiling and got back on the road.
On a whim, we decided to go to a favorite reservoir of ours: Loon Lake4. It was the perfect ender for this day of adventure as we took a quick dip in the cold water on the far side of the dam and admired the beauty all around us.
On our way out, I noticed a placard for whom the Loon Lake Dam was dedicated to:
And once again, I learned how interconnected and “small” Northern California truly is..
Dear Phoenix - I particularly love the photo with half of it seen through the glass, and the mysteriously and restlessly sparkling dark water. Love, Rachel
I love the view out of that old window. Beautiful images!