Exploring California’s Gold Country

Exploring California’s Gold Country

I’ve been in California for fourteen years, and until now Gold Country was simply something standing between me and the mountains. We’d drive through quaint old west towns on our way to the high country, and I’d always tell myself that one day we’d come back to explore. Last weekend was finally the time for that exploration. Over two days, we drove from Sonora to Auburn via the historic highway 49. Along the way we learned a lot about the history of California’s gold rush, explored antique shops, stayed in a ‘haunted’ hotel, and spent a night on the town in one of the bigger remaining cities along the route.
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Horsetooth Reservoir Bouldering and New Belgium Tour

Horsetooth Reservoir Bouldering and New Belgium Tour

The reason for our road trip to Colorado is the Great American Beer Festival, so once we reached Fort Collins beer took a priority on our itinerary. But that doesn’t mean we couldn’t also have some outdoors fun!
We set our alarms early (we’re not THAT dedicated beer drinkers…there is far too much to do in the morning!) and headed out to Horsetooth Reservoir for some bouldering among the rocks that helped kick start the sport years ago.
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Speed Goats and other Wildlife in Grand Teton

Speed Goats and other Wildlife in Grand Teton

We left West Yellowstone Monday morning at sunrise, heading south to Jackson. It was a beautiful sunrise, but it was so cold outside!

We took the short scenic drive to Mesa Falls and found the place deserted. The 28 degrees and misting fall water kept us from enjoying the place too long. Brr!

Upper Mesa Falls:

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Elf Country, i.e. Yellowstone and Big Sky, MT

Elf Country, i.e. Yellowstone and Big Sky, MT

We woke up on Sunday morning and did a double check: nope, not dreaming, parks still closed, Congress still run by selfish asses. Grr. So instead, we decided to head out on a recommended wildlife-spotting loop for spring when the snow has not yet melted, followed by a visit to Big Sky. We drove around Hebgen Lake and did not see any wildlife, but we did see the fascinating remnants of an earthquake that decimated a local recreation area and essentially created a new lake. It was windy and 25 degrees, though, so we didn’t linger.
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Southern Germany (not Backpacking)

Southern Germany (not Backpacking)

Rothenburg ob der Tauber

Rothenburg ob der Tauber

I’ve been on the road for most of the past month, first traveling to Germany for work and then, after a short 48 hour turnaround time back in California, on to Michigan to visit the family and hang out on the beach. I’ll be returning to my backpacking ways this coming weekend, but in the meantime, at least I have some pretty pictures of southern Germany and Lake Michigan to share.

Although I was crazy busy and spent too many hours in the office in Germany, I was still able to check out some of the local towns during the dinner hours and even spent a full weekend playing tourist. I stayed in Reilingen (near Heidelberg, which is just south of Frankfurt), and visited the other local towns of Walldorf, Wiesloch, Speyer, and Schwetzingen on different nights. During the weekend, a coworker and I hit the road to explore some touristy destinations within a few hours drive – on Saturday it was Rothenburg ob der Tauber, a medieval walled city, and on Sunday we headed south to the Bodensee on the border with Switzerland.

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