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| View of Giant Gap from Iron Point |
I'm always awed by the view of Giant Gap from Iron Point. Back in the 1870s, after the transcontinental railroad was built, and when nearby Dutch Flat was the largest town in Placer County (due to its hydraulic mining activity), rich folks from San Francisco would take the train to Dutch Flat, to enjoy the air, and they would travel to Iron Point for a look at Giant Gap.
In case of emergency, I had my cell phone, but it would work only at the higher elevations. Same with my Kenwood TH-F6 ham radio. Deep in the canyon, surrounded by the steep hillsides, only the signal from my ACR ResQLink personal locator beacon would reach out. And even that depended on the amount of tree limbs overhead.
While still atop Iron Point, I made a radio check with my ham radio to the Sierra Foothills Amateur Radio Club 2 meter repeater in Auburn. I got a reply that my signal was weak but readable. Considering I was transmitting on five watts, and the repeater was about 27 miles to the southwest, I thought this was pretty good.
I shouldered my Osprey pack. Now I was ready to go.
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| My destination |
The ground was a bit wet from the rain the previous day, so I had to be careful of my footing. The trail is steep, a drop of some 1,800 feet over about 1.25 miles. I find walking down a steep trail more taxing on the leg muscles than walking uphill. There's that extra bit of control needed to slow down due to gravity.
Near the bottom of the canyon, where Euchre Bar Trail connects with the North Fork North Fork Trail (an old miner's trail, now very seldom used), is the foundation of a small building that dates to the mining days of the late 1800s. Back then there was placer mining and drift mining and hard rock mining on this river and the ridge above. Miners were all about. The building that stood on this spot was a general store, a saloon, and a brothel. Besides the concrete and stone that was part of the foundation, there remains some metal objects such as pipes and cans, and broken glass, and ceramic shards from plates and such.
The history of the building was given to me by a man I met at the spot early this year. He was from nearby Alta and very familiar with the local history.
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| The foundation of the building |
The trail continues downhill, past large boulders from a glacial moraine from the Ice Age, and then it reaches the footbridge over the North Fork American River. After crossing the footbridge, the trail climbs about eighty feet, and then largely remains level, as it parallels the river. This is where Euchre Bar Trail is at its glory. There is a roar from the river below. The forest canopy largely blocks the sunlight. The forest has a rich smell. There is the solitude. I wonder if around the bend ahead is a black bear walking my way.
I reached the turnoff to my gold panning spot. This hike was really exploratory in nature. I wanted to check out some different spots. I plan more trips in the weeks ahead. There is a pile of iron pipes by the river. These likely date back to the late 1800s. People hauled them all the way down here for mining operations and then apparently never used them.
My test pans showed no color, but I made the tests in spots I never worked before. I plan on more trips and I will get some gold.
This was really just a lazy day down on the North Fork. I enjoyed the fresh air and the scenery and the solitude.
I have many years of good hiking ahead of me, but the day will come when my legs won't have the strength to get me out of these canyons. Until then, I'm going to get in as many hikes as I can.
The angle of the sun meant it was time to pack it up. I gathered my gear and headed up to the trail. I reached the footbridge and looked to the water below. Several nice sized trout were lazily swimming about. I don't think many fishermen come down here.
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| View upstream from the bridge |
From the footbridge, it was all uphill to my truck at Iron Point. I made the walk slow and steady, and I made it without stopping. Never before had I hiked out of the canyon without stopping. But then again, I was well hydrated, and I had not spent hours shoveling river gravel into buckets.
I reached my truck, and it was the only vehicle there. Just as I was ready to drive away, another vehicle arrived, but it was too late for those folks to hike to the river. I put my truck in drive and headed home.
