Holbrooke Hotel, Thursday, 11/5/20

What a lovely day!  Warm with bright sunshine ... Jimmy and I knew to make the most of today because clouds will finally (FINALLY) move in overnight, temperatures will plunge and rain is possible, or (dare I say it?) even probable.  Fingers are crossed to end the many-months-long drought, and bring seasonal weather (instead of 80° temps).  We had plans for the entire day, including our usual brisk walk around the fairgrounds loop, a stop to visit shops in downtown Grass Valley, photographing brilliant fall tree color, and a tour of the newly renovated and reopened historic Holbrooke Hotel -- by reservation.  

Our walk was perfect.  We so appreciate that the fairgrounds was opened to walkers, hikers, bicyclists, and doggie people this week.  It's been closed since March and we missed being able to add this to our regular walking cycle.  It's flat and it's paved, accessible to all, and we saw lots of people enjoying their walks today, as well as a biker gang terrorizing the pathways (joke).  Little kids on their bikes were so darned cute.  Tree color here was at its peak.  The center pic and the purty orange tree in the collage are from the fairgrounds, as well as the pics above and below.

Downtown Grass Valley was next, with a visit to our friends at Stucki Jewelers who suggested Jimmy and I have lunch at MeZé, a Middle Eastern Eatery, and a most excellent choice.  Mill Street, the block-long main drag through town, has been transformed:  Closed to traffic, it's now attractively lined with flowering plants and picnic tables, and it's where we enjoyed our lunch.  So good and so filling.  In fact, I was almost too full to eat two complimentary chocolate chip cookies at the Holbrooke, but I managed. 😊 A trip across the street to The Book Seller finished our local business ... just in time for our tour of the Holbrooke.

Last week we learned that we could tour the soon-to-open hotel if we made a reservation, so I jumped on it.  The only other time we were in the (then-closed) building, water was leaking from the ceiling and it was in terrible shape.  Built in 1862, this two-story structure replaced the previous ones that burned to the ground.  It's gone through several owners and it fell into major disrepair, till the new company took it over and made it shine inside.  The next two pics I lifted from the 'net.

"This building has been made from canvas, wood, soil and stone, burned to the ground, rebuilt, renamed, and gussied up for innumerable guests. It’s seen gambling, gunfights, good times and bad. Fortunes made and pure gold lost. Haunted by rough cowboys and Victorian Madames, their secrets forever safe within the storied walls. Legend tells us even Prohibition didn’t stop the whiskey from being served in the Saloon."

"Over the years, the Holbrooke has hosted many famous guests that include U.S. Presidents Ulysses S. Grant, Grover Cleveland, Benjamin Harrison and James Garfield, and prize fighters “Gentleman Jim” Corbett and Bob Fitzsimmons. Authors Mark Twain and Bret Harte spent time here, surely watching the world go by from the Golden Gate Saloon. Rumor has it that the infamous highwayman Black Bart was a guest, sometime between stagecoach robberies and writing poems. On the right evening you might have encountered famous female entertainers Lola Montez, Lotta Crabtree or Emma Nevada in the lobby."

Today the tour guests were herded through every fifteen minutes -- plenty of locals wanted to see how the hotel looked with the remodel, and the overall consensus was "beautiful."

A Benjamin Moore Simply White paint (Jimmy asked) contrasted nicely with the hotel's raw structural elements of brick, wood and stone.  Though my camera didn't much like it.

I believe the guide said this is one of the longest operating barrooms west of the Mississippi River.

The original flooring was used wherever possible, accented with fabulous Persian rugs. 

Above, our guide is showing us one of the rooms.  We were shown several -- the Bridal Suite, Presidential Suite and one more -- and they all featured classic and modern touches with vintage furniture and fixtures, nicely done.

At least two of the rooms featured usable balconies, overlooking downtown's Main and Mill Streets intersection.  I wouldn't mind an overnight here!

Vintage touches.

After our tour, we drove the couple of miles to Nevada City, to the Rood Center, location of our county's government offices, because I figured the trees lining the entrance would be aflame, below.  Too bad, we were about two days late.  Still colorful, but past their peak. 

And when it's over, it's over.  Down they come.

Everywhere in town, all over these hills, autumn leaves sparkle in the sun.  This particular house is on a steep hill.

Late afternoon shadows come earlier and earlier in November -- lengthening before we're ready.  This last picture is looking down Nevada City's Broad Street, with Banner Mountain in the distance.  Time to go home.  What a fun day!  Tomorrow we'll warm by the fireplace, gaze hopefully out our windows at rain falling, and remember today's warmth.

Walking on Water, Monday, 11/2/20

As crazy as it may seem for the first week in November, the days remain sunny and warm, as in 80° warm (whew, bordering on hot!).  We know sunny and warm won't last much longer ... Friday the temp will pivot on its tail and drop 30 degrees.  Knowing that, you can bet your bippy that Jimmy and I would find our way to a trail outside somewhere.  The high country would top out in the more-comfortable 70's, and this might be our last chance to enjoy the mountains before snow and ice keep us nearer to home. 

In the past couple of years, we'd talked about hiking the Lake Van Norden loop trail, off Soda Springs in the Sierras, but never got around to it.  We assumed skeeters would eat us alive in spring, and summer's blazing sun would toast us.  Well, now it's fall and a near-perfect time.  The trail is essentially flat with an elevation of 6750'.  Flat is good.

You've heard me talk of the South Yuba River in previous posts.  The river "flows" into Lake Van Norden before heading downhill.  Although not today.  In fact, we couldn't find any water.  We also couldn't find a trail, so we traipsed through the dry lake, our footsteps loud on the crunchy grasses.  No water.    

Jimmy's standing at the far edge of the spillway cut into the dam some years back.  Before the spillway was cut, the dam ran straight across.  Funny to see this dam with no water behind it!  I Googled Lake Van Norden and learned that the lake held a vast amount of water years ago, giving you some idea of how much water it used to store.  Then, it got complicated with changes of ownership (PG&E and Truckee Donner Land Trust). "The Land Trust wanted to sell the valley to the Forest Service which would not take the valley with any lake. The Land Trust did not entertain any other solutions and so opened the drain and completely drained the lake."

2019 was the last year that Lake Van Norden existed. Destroying Lake Van Norden seems an odd move for a state that seems to always be on the verge of a drought.  We knew none of this till after we came home this afternoon.

No river, just a muddy puddle.

You do see interesting sights in the area.  The spillway/dam is in the background behind Jimmy, but this wheel apparatus remains a mystery.

Is that a bony hand clasping the rock?

With every step we trod through grasses, some ankle high, others up to our knees, and I was grateful that I had on jeans!  The golden grasses were lovely amid autumn's earthy tones -- the ochres, siennas, and umbers -- all of which made the hike really pleasing on the eyes.

We came upon these two poles buried in the "lake," and I was reminded of goal posts.  You see we scored a touchdown!  Ah, look in the distance -- Castle Peak towers above my hands.  We smile when we see Castle Peak, appreciating our successful accomplishment:  We conquered the summit!

Old rusty stuff.

Such a stellar peak.

In the (mostly dry) riverbed, we found pockets of water.  Where the sun didn't reach, the water was still covered with ice!  So, while the days are warm, frigid nights in the 20's keep the shallow water frozen.

This little hut is the Merrill Family Hut.  Snow country is dotted with huts like these, where people can get warm, take a break from cross country skiing or snowshoeing, or just sit and rest.  Jimmy went in the hut, but it was too hot today to do more than open the door and back out.  We sat on the steps to rest a bit, eat our granola bars and slurp some water.

Our Prius is parked at the top red X.  We turned around at the hut where the lower red X is.  In effect, we walked down the left side of the lake to the hut, and up through the meadow on the right side, partially on Snoop's Loop, to return to the Prius.  Four-and-a-half miles R/T.  We crossed the dry river at one point.  We saw no trail signs till we were almost back to the car, when we saw the Snoop's Loop sign.

The lakebed landscape was dotted with colorful willow bushes, so pretty.

This would be the South Yuba River.  No water.

The dark areas are damp mud.  What a shame.

Below are two pictures I lifted from the Internet, both showing Lake Van Norden in earlier days!  Obviously.  Looks so inviting!  No walking on water in the first picture.

The pic below shows a before and after, taken from above, but I don't know the years.  If I could've taken a pic today from the same place, you would see instead, golden grasses and reeds and shrubs showing off their autumnal finery in those classic earth pigments.

Well, now we've done our Lake Van Norden hike, not quite the way we thought it might be, but a truly fine hike on a gorgeous day.  Plus, nobody fell in and got a soaker.  The only things to fall into as we strode across the uneven ground were gopher holes and we dodged plenty of them!